Need a Home Office in Your Kitchen? 10 Ways to Make It Work

If you’re one of the many people who work from home, your only option may be to set up your office in the kitchen. However, the kitchen is typically one of the busiest rooms in the house. It’s especially challenging to work there since you inevitably share the space with people trying to grab a snack, make a meal, or simply pass through to get to another area.

If you must create a home office in your kitchen, here are a few ways to make it more manageable and stay productive.

1. Use a Double-Sided Island

If space and budget allow, choose an island with cabinet storage on both sides. Use the side facing your counters for kitchen storage and the other side for your work and office supplies. This divided storage makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, it makes it a cinch to separate kitchen storage from work things. Second, you don’t end up with overly deep cabinets that make accessing items in the back difficult.

2. Put Office Supplies on a Rolling Cart

When you aren’t working, you want your kitchen to be as functional as possible and look like a kitchen, not your office. Therefore, organize your supplies on a rolling cart that moves as needed. When work is done for the day, roll the cart out of sight or tuck it into a closet.

3. Create a Two-Sided Memo Board

To help your office disappear when you aren’t working, it’s important to find double-duty solutions so you don’t take up extra space and can easily hide work-related items. In this case, a double-sided memo board gives you a place for essential work reminders and notes on one side. Then, with a simple flip, it features meal planning tips, recipes, or your grocery list, blending in seamlessly with your kitchen.

4. Set a Defined Schedule

Making your home office work isn’t just about the physical space. It’s also important to create clear boundaries with everyone living in the household regarding your work schedule.

Make sure everyone is on the same page about when you go to work and specific times when the kitchen must be off-limits (for example, during an important Zoom meeting or conference call). Post your schedule where everyone can see it, and review it with all to tweak any areas necessary so that it works for everyone.

5. Utilize Hidden Storage

Choose organizing and storage solutions that allow you a way to hide anything that has to do with your office as much as possible. First and foremost, the room should look and function as a kitchen.

Therefore, when you aren’t working, you want to attempt to disguise all evidence of an office. One good example is using a computer armoire. After working, you close the doors and hide everything away in what looks like a standing pantry. A breakfast nook with bench seating that has storage is another option.

6. Curtain Off the Breakfast Nook

If your kitchen has a breakfast nook, hang a ceiling-mounted curtain rod and use curtains to close off the space when you’re working. If your home is so busy that it’s difficult to keep people out of the space, curtains at least provide you a semblance of privacy as you work. They also make it easy to hide work messes quickly if someone drops by unexpectedly.

7. Add a Cubby Below Your Work Surface

If you do a lot of your work at the kitchen island or table, add a cubby below the surface to quickly slide your laptop and a few essential items out of sight. When it’s time to go to work, a hidden cubby keeps these items accessible without the hassle of moving them in and out of the room.

8. Get a Wireless Printer

A laptop is easy enough to slide into a cubby or tuck away in another room when you aren’t using it. However, a printer tends to be a bit bulkier. Instead of taking up permanent residence in your kitchen, choose a wireless model that lives in another room.

9. Keep Healthy Snacks on Hand

When working from home, many people find they snack more often, perhaps not making the best choices when it comes to their eating habits. It’s especially tempting to grab a quick bite if you’re working in your kitchen. Setting regular times for breaks helps with this. But it’s also wise to resist the temptation of poor choices by keeping nutritious snacks at the ready.

10. Mask Ambient Noise with Music or Headphones

If others are at home when you’re working, asking for quiet the entire workday gets tricky. Use a pair of noise-canceling headphones, play soft music, or use a white noise machine to help mask ambient sounds that could distract you as you work.

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