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Introduction
Let’s consider some home office ideas (UK) and how to create your office at home. Basically, as a UK contractor limited company, you may find yourself working at home. This could be now and again or on a more regular basis. Therefore, what should you consider for small business office ideas for a room in your home? Also, what should you contemplate when setting up a small home office for work reasons? As a contractor, you can consider various ideas regarding how to design your small business home office. Contractor work from home thoughts will often include where to do the work and if it’s best to use a separate room. Indeed, when working from home, small business owners will consider how to best set this up. In this guide, we’ll look into office design ideas for small business and discover what to consider before we create this.
As part of your UK contractor office design, you may only have a small workspace at home. Therefore, we’ll look into some small office design ideas at your own residence for your limited company contractor business. What’s more, we’ll consider when you’re creating a small home office, how to make the most of small workspace design. There’s lots of work from home contractors in the UK and if you fall in this category, you could have a separate dedicated room for your contracting business. Therefore, we’ll consider the best home office setup ideas when working from home. Also, we’ll look at some small home office design ideas (UK) and how to make the most of home office design ideas for small spaces. This guide has lots of small home office advice and is a good place to start when you’re researching small office home office design.
Initial thoughts
Small business home office ideas (UK)
When you build your own home office, in addition to office space ideas for small businesses, what’s the best way to create a home office space when you’re UK contracting? First, within your research, you can look at small home office layouts. As part of your small office design concepts, you’ll consider where to put your contractor desk and chair. Also, as part of working from home ideas (UK), besides your study area, what’s the other considerations in terms of your workroom at home? In fact, here’s a few initial thoughts on some ideas for small home office:
- When you create an office at home, you should look into the design of your contractor office. Indeed, this’ll be in terms of decoration, shelving, lighting etc. When we consider a home office, you should think carefully about this within your small office at home ideas. What’s more, when we look at own residence workroom office design, contractors should take the time to make their office perfect for their working arrangements.
- As part of your working at home ideas, you’ll need a contractor office desk to do your work. Indeed, when you work at home, you may perform all or the majority of your work at your contractor’s desk. Therefore, it’s important to choose the right desk as part your small home office design (UK).
- When we think about how to create a home office, you’ll also require a contractor office chair. Indeed, this is where you’ll sit to do your work therefore, once again, you should choose the right contractor chair.
Work from home
Today, when it comes to small business office design and small office ideas for home office, hundreds of thousands of people in the UK work from home. Basically, it’s no surprise as it can be good for both the employer and the employee. Indeed, this is also due to lower costs for both the employer and the employee. The main benefits of this are
- Flexible work at home and in the office.
- Increased work rate.
- A better work-life balance.
As a result, for those with a business and no business premises, many may think about some office ideas for their home residence and wonder what they can claim. Indeed, it’s important to identify which are genuine business expenses when you consider how to set up your own office.
You may have been working at home for several years. On the other hand, you may be just about to start working at home now. As a result, you may now be looking at some office design ideas for small office at your own residence. Therefore, having the ideal work area to perform your work-related tasks is key. Indeed, this applies even if you only have a small workspace at home to work in. Therefore, as part of this guide on business office ideas for a room at your property, let’s also ensure we consider how best to create your working space if you don’t have a large space available.
For other valuable tips besides ideas for small home business, please read our guide which covers tax tips for UK contractors. This includes many handy tips and advice you should know when you have your own business. The guide also contains our latest guidance for the best tax planning ideas.
Your small business home office when you work from home
What to think about first for your home office set up (UK)
First, when you create an office space at your place of residence and consider ideas for your new office, it’s best to have a separate room for your work area. Otherwise, you should’ve at least a dedicated floor space to work at. What’s more, you could organise an open-plan office if you’re lucky enough to have a large spare room. Some limited company contractors may also decide to look into garden offices. Indeed, these can be ideal if you want a completely separate space to work in. However, please read on about some good planning ideas for your home office design (UK).
Also, while some business people do their work in their dining room or living area, it’s better to keep your personal and work spaces apart. Indeed, we recommend this with at least with a separate office space along with desk & chair. What’s more, you should consider this even when you only have a small space to work in.
Small business home office design considerations
Next, in your small spare room office ideas plan, you could think about some interior design. As another option, within your small office home ideas, you could leave your home decorated style as it. Instead, in your contractor office design you could research some small business office decorating ideas. As a result, you could redecorate your office to how you see fit. In addition, you’ll need a contractor desk area and a storage solution to keep your business records.
Working from home desk ideas
Let’s now take a look at your office desk as part of your work from home office ideas. Depending on how you design your home office for small business, and when looking at computer desks, you could consider one of the following as your contractor desk:
- An average, free-standing desk.
- Take a look at corner desks.
- Look into a built-in desk.
Other office design ideas for small business home office
Home office space saving ideas
As part of your contractor office design and small business office ideas how about some space saving ideas? If you search online, you can find space-saving and storage ideas for your office such as wall-mounted shelves. Some other space saving home office ideas include floating shelves and other shelving/storage ideas. What’s more, with regard to small work office design ideas, there’s different modern ways to store data. However, as part of your small home office ideas (UK) plan, a filing cabinet and desk drawers may suffice.
Good lighting
As part of your business office design ideas, it’s key to have sound lighting. Therefore, it’s a good idea to ensure your desk space has a window with good lighting close by. Furthermore, as part of a contractor’s small business room ideas, the window should be close to you to let in natural daylight. When you stare at a screen with no natural light all day, it’s not suitable for your eyes. Furthermore, you should avoid having a window behind you as this can cause screen glare.
A good internet connection
Another key item to note within your own residence business office ideas is to ensure you’ve a good internet connection. Indeed, this is paramount when you perform work from home. Basically, if you don’t have a good connection, you could buy a booster. What’s more, you could also have your router moved closer to your working space.
More considerations for a work from home small business
What costs can you claim?
The costs you can claim will include any work-related equipment, furniture and furnishings, and electrical work.
When you’re thinking about small company office design ideas for your new workroom at your residence, typically you’ll first think about claiming an office desk and chairs. An ergonomic office chair would also be worth investing in. This is especially the case if you spend long hours at your office contractor desk. Furthermore, you could also claim for desk lamps, a bookcase, a filing cabinet, and other work-related office furniture for your new office in your place of residence.
If you look for a table lamp for your workroom, it may be a good idea to look up a task light as this will provide increased light in a room where there’s already some light. This is useful if you may need extra light to see fine details more easily.
What sort of equipment can you claim for your small business home office ideas (UK)?
As we consider office ideas at your own property, you can also claim for computer equipment. This will include a computer or laptop, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, and scanner. As part of your office design ideas for small business, you might also buy an office phone. On this website, we’ve another guide which explains what you can claim for your business phone charges.
An office phone is relatively cheap to put in place. Keeping work calls separate from your calls is also be a good idea.
You can also claim a weekly allowance to represent what you can claim when you use your home as an office. HMRC has a benchmark here, and this is to re-compensate you for the business use of your own home utility costs.
What costs aren’t you able to claim for your small business home office?
In contrast, you shouldn’t claim any structural building changes to your house to accommodate your office. Doing this could result in Capital Gains Tax implications for you personally. This will occur if you sell your home at a future date.
Final thoughts
As with all other expenses you claim through your business, you should ensure that you obtain receipts for any office-related costs. In this guide, we’ve highlighted what to consider for contractor office design, as well as some good small business home office ideas. Therefore, if you do work at home part time or all of the time, you should ensure you claim for the business costs which you incur.
Besides performing your work at home, you may also read up on industry news in your new workroom. What’s more, you could also undertake some online training courses at home. Also, you can use your new office at home to run your business website and social media updates.
Finally, if you’re unsure about anything when planning for your office, please consult your contractor accountant.
Link to Contractor Advice UK group on
