How do you accommodate WFH in your house?

[Houseplantmad]

Another thread referring to a couple who both work from home prompted this. I walk to work locally and pass many houses where I see people working from home, often in what look like makeshift conditions. Now that WFH has become permanent for so many people I'm wondering how it works as I'm not sure I'd be happy to have to give a room over to a home office. Do employers provide equipment so people can work comfortably - what if you don't have room?

Pre Covid Dah and I both worked in office now we're both WFH, DH has to go in for 1 week in 4, I haven't been in the office for over 2 years.

DH has the box room, I gave him that when we moved into the house 12 years ago because he's a gamer and I don't have video games in the living room or bedroom so it made sense.

I have a desk in the corner of the living room. Both employers provided laptops, monitors and basic keyboard/mouse. I chose to buy my own wireless ones as prefer being able to easily and quickly pack everything away when I'm done.

My employer provided an allowance for anyone who needed to buy a chair and desk at the beginning of the pandemic.

We are a couple without kids in a 4 bed house, so we have an office/hobby room each.

@CMOTDibbler

I've WFH all the time we have lived in this house (14 years) so we bought a house with an office then. However DH also needs office space, so a spare room is also now an office and I work mostly up there as the light is better for video calls. Work pay for screens/chairs etc and I get a small allowance extra to the HMRC home worker allowance as well

I thought you could only claim from hmrc if your employer doesn’t pay you any expenses?

I worked from home a couple of days per week pre covid so was set up in the mezzanine with desk, screens and proper chair. Work sorted screen only. Still at home with the occasional day in the office. From March 2020...husband has to work from home although he is back in 3 days now. He has used another space that is next our bedroom. A corridor with doors. His company gave him screens. Desk and chair already in place as we used as an office anyway. I was thankful we had the space to work and be able to walk away at the end of the day. Hybrid working is here to stay for both of us so we are looking to improve our equipment.

@Iamanunsafebuilding

We converted the back 2/3rds of our garage into a dedicated office for DH & I, when we both had to start wfh in 2020 we worked from our dining table but it felt like we were living at work rather than working from home! It was a substantial cost but has been worth every penny, having work separate from the house has made such a difference. We were allowed to claim the cost of equipment like an additional screen or an office chair.

Snap! We converted our garage early 2021. It was £££ but so worth it, I can't imagine what life would be like now if we were both still trying to work from a combination of the dining room table / DC bedrooms.

DH has the tiny box rom with a small desk and monitor for his laptop to plug into

I work on a fold out exam desk in the front room which fits under the TV which was always on an adjustable arm on the wall. I plug the laptop into the TV with an hdmi lead and use that as a large screen and use the laptop screen as a second smaller extension screen. I have a proper office chair provided by work which I put against the wall when I am not using it. It is not ideal in terms of how it looks . I don't like having an office chair permanently in my very small living room but once I have finished work, I unplug the laptop and the TV becomes a TV again and I fold up the desk and slip it behind the sofa next to the TV

IT works ok though not perfect. I am back in the office 2 days a week and at home 2 days now, though I only actually have to go in one day, I have chosen to work in the office for two days of the four that I work

Both me and my partner work full time at home . I can go into the office if I want but no set requirements regarding this so I maybe go once a month? When the pandemic hit we were able to collect our chairs, monitors ( obviously already had our work laptops) keyboard mouse etc. we could collect a desk if we needed it and a few months later we were all paid a grant of £300 to buy home office equipment. I work upstairs in our bedroom on a desk with a computer chair? I use a monitor and my laptop. Partners work hasn't offered much in terms of equipment but he sits at the dining room table with laptop on an office chair we bought. We both really enjoy it and it works for us 🙂

I started wfh March 2020 and I have been there ever since.

I splashed out on this office furniture that doubles as a dressing table and I love it so much. We have a big bedroom so it fitted in well.

Are you all claiming a tax rebate for working from home?
If not have a look.

This is really interesting. What big changes employees have gone through in the past two years! I go into the office each day and would really miss the social interaction. I've freelances WFH before and had to work in our bedroom which I really didn't enjoy and, during winter, found it quite difficult not seeing other people. I can see if you have space and do hybrid working it can work quite well though.

I've worked from home for four years, just sit with laptop on sofa or at dining table. We live in a flat so no spare rooms. Never been an issue for me.

Me and DH both WFH now, though I mostly worked from home pre-pandemic anyway. Long story short we were planning to move house so we upped our budget and bought a 4 bed instead of a 3 bed and turned the 4th bedroom into a double office. Appreciate not everyone can do that though. Sadly my DH is one of the “loud people” we all have in the office, if only I’d known I may not have married him so if he is in a meeting I tend to relocate to the living room for some peace and quiet. Thankfully it doesn’t happen that often. It would have been difficult to maintain long term in our old house, DH worked in the kitchen/diner and I worked from the sofa.

Been WFH for the past 2-years and loved it.
Was working on dining table and left it permanently set up as my work space, didn't really interfere with normal household running as we had sufficient space to work around this. Had a study but this couldn't accommodate my work equipment as well so kept that separate.
Work didn't provide anything for us other than allowing us to bring all our IT stuff home (screens etc).

Recently moved house and made sure the new house had an office large enough to accommodate all our needs, ironic really as I start back in the office next week!

I have two spare bedrooms on the second floor but I hate being up there all day. So I use my dining room table but I tend to work from my sofa in the livingroom 😂

Desk in reception room for DH, my study is our spare bedroom... I want to upgrade to a 3/4 bed flat so that we.have a study in addition to a nursery..

However, his and hers studies might be overkill as we are only WFH 2 days a week and most of the time, they aren't even the same days. I am fully expecting we would be at work 5 days a week within a few years with occasional remote work..

I've had a office in our house since we moved in 22 years ago.

Originally I used it for studying when I was doing my professional qualifications, but I've also wfh/hybrid worked for the best part of 11 years now.

It already had a desk/seat/shelves and whiteboard.

My current employer have provided:

• surface pro
• monitor
• keyboard/mouse
• webcam
• docking station
• headset
• mobile phone

We don't have an inch of spare space. I work on a dressing table in the corner of our bedroom. DH uses the workbench in the garage.

I think in the rest of Europe employers have had to spend money and help employees with costs of WFH. Don't think so in the UK, employees shoulder all the costs I think.

Thankfully neither of us are WFH anymore but I worked at my dressing table sat on a 3-legged stool for 6 months, and DP sat on the floor with his laptop on the coffee table for a month before they went back to the office (IT securities were classed as essential work here so they could go back much sooner).

We live in a 1 bedroom flat, we don't have space for a desk or dining table. It was awful.

We've both got a proper desk set up. I'm in a DD bedroom as I work school hours and we rejigged downstairs to give DH a proper office.

We have a one bedroom house with open plan living space. Literally a bedroom and living area; the only separate room is the bathroom!!!

We have a mezzanine in our lounge and my husband has always had a PC set up there, so he WFH there. I set up on the dining table but having my workstation in my line of sight when I was chilling on the sofa in the evening was a killer for my mental health.

I volunteered to lead the charge heading back to the office (10 min drive away) as I really missed the separation between work and home, I found it seriously unhealthy. I first went back to the office in Oct 2020, got sent home again for the next lockdowns but have been back in 5 days a week since Apr 21 and I love it. It felt very safe, initially only 40 of us in a building suiting to 5k people and they gradually ramped up capacity in line with covid measures being reduced. I’ve only WFH since when I actually had covid. I’m redecorating the lounge this summer to put to bed the “office” memories from home!

@Houseplantmad

Another thread referring to a couple who both work from home prompted this. I walk to work locally and pass many houses where I see people working from home, often in what look like makeshift conditions. Now that WFH has become permanent for so many people I'm wondering how it works as I'm not sure I'd be happy to have to give a room over to a home office. Do employers provide equipment so people can work comfortably - what if you don't have room?

In some places I've seen more construction of those outdoor shed, but designed as office's etc

Both husband & I now hybrid WFH /office based. Due to my husband job meaning he is on a lot of calls during the day he has the smallest room now an office (the old sofa bed had to go ) I use the kitchen table usually but occasionally will use my daughters desk in her room or when he is in the office I then use his room.
I did have a desk space in our bedroom but hated it as it felt I never escaped! So desk went & im happy enough using the kitchen table - I’m used to just using laptop screen - if I do need to do something that needs a second screen will swap with husband so I can use his space. He was able to pick up chair from his office but we’ve paid for the desk etc .

My DH has always wfh so he has a desk in our living room. I'm still wfh 2 years later and have to use the kitchen table. I have an office chair and a second screen provided by work. Hate having an office chair in my kitchen but I can pack away the screen at weekends,

I returned to work last year to a permanently WFH job, We already had a PC and desk set up in a corner of the dining room with a big office chair but DS1 is normally on it for Uni and DS3 for homework.

Luckily we had in old dining table (a 4 person one) in the garage so I set up in our bedroom with an office chair that I bought myself because I wanted one without arms so I could push it right in when I wasn’t sitting there. I felt bit wedged in though and didn’t like being shut away in the bedroom as I’m so busy I can barely get downstairs for a coffee most days!

I’ve moved downstairs now into the dining room. Big patio doors there which I open now it’s warmer weather and can step out into the garden for a break. There’s my table, the PC desk and a 6 seater dining table in there. We can just about still pull it out to eat round it.

My boss told me to go into the office to get whatever when I started I wanted so took have laptop, two screens, mouse and keyboard. I could have taken a chair but i wanted one without arms. I’m really pleased we had the old dining table as I have plenty of space on it with the two screens as well.

DD also WFH 4 days a week in her bedroom, 1 in the office. She has a desk and an office chair but it’s really cramped in there. I keep telling her to work downstairs at the PC desk and DS on laptop at the table or his bedroom but we both have lots of Teams calls and she’s worried we’ll be on them at the same time. She also likes to lean over in bed and log on while she’s still in it.