The New Essential Room
by Linda Sechrist

   The emergence of the home office, the den or the home library as a necessary room in the majority of floor plans offered by Florida homebuilders conjures up the age-old question of which comes first, the chicken or egg. In either case – homebuyers requesting or home builders envisioning – we can say hooray for these changes that bring with them fresh new ideas, diversity and creative applications to fit the needs of many of Southwest Florida’s newest homebuyers.
   Offering a glimpse into “why” the newest essential room in the home is the home office, Builder Magazine’s 1999 statistics revealed that 46 million Americans work at home at least part-time. Of those who responded to the magazine survey, 54 percent reported that they worked in a home office. Adding in the startling fact that these statistics regarding home offices doubled in only two years – in 1997 the Department of Labor reported that 23.3 million Americans work at home – the reason for the most recent focus on this room becomes obvious.
   In The Home Office author Candace Ord Manroe touts one of the great benefits of working at home, “People who have a home office share a secret. They know the pleasure of rolling out of bed, getting a cup of coffee and diving right into work without fussing with make-up or finding a clean shirt.” Though many business people with home offices might be beginning their day in a more relaxed state wearing pajamas and bedroom slippers, chances are that they are enjoying surroundings that are more sophisticated than their corporate office counterparts.
   Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault, a French writer (1844-1924) theorized, “Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.” Southwest Florida’s astute interior designers and custom cabinetry builders working closely with new homebuyers would be quick to agree that this statement is still true today and that the home office has undergone radical changes from its distant cousin, the den with a desk in the corner.
   Catering to the needs of Florida’s fully and partially retired male and female executives living in a second or vacation home, custom cabinetry design experts are finding creative ways to make their clients’ professional lives more sumptuous, more comfortable and more productive.
   Sometimes accommodating the blurring of the functional distinctions of home offices, dens and home libraries, David Asher of EuroTech Cabinetry, Inc. in Sarasota has been designing custom cabinetry and furniture for the area’s high-end homes since 1984.
   Asher, who frequently contracts his custom cabinet creativity out to high-powered executives who are unwilling and uninterested in powering down for retirement, comments, “The majority of my clients are vital people who want to continue working past retirement age.Their brainpower and experience is sought after, presenting them with options for a lifestyle that includes the financial freedom to have sophisticated offices and libraries that suit their style and taste in their home. Redefining retirement, Asher advises that many of his clients serve on the board of directors for corporations or perform services for charitable organizations. In particular, these are the type of people who find working offices and libraries to be a necessity rather than a luxury.
   “Working libraries are popular in the larger homes,” says Asher, who frequently has the opportunity to bundle several functions into one cabinetry design. Such integrated projects can include a computer work station, an attached formal desk, spaces for media equipment and plasma TV as well as shelves for books and collectable items. Cabinetry that integrates several functions meets the needs of those who do not live in a single-family home with several rooms that can be designated for different purposes.
   Integrating a library concept with a study/den presents an excellent possibility for active business people who are condominium dwellers. A fully functioning office for two in the study/den can easily feature a library above dual working spaces, computer stations, record filing areas and a TV for daily monitoring the stock market and investments. The new plasma TV works well in this type of design because it can be put into a 12- to 15-inch deep bookcase unlike the old televisions that required a 24- inch-deep shelf.
   Multi-purpose cabinetry designs require pre-planning. According to Manroe, the first step in planningthe layout of your home office is to evaluate your fundamental needs for the room. “How much time will you be spending in the room? What tasks will you do here? What equipment and furniture is essential? How many square feet do you need? Will you be receiving clients or suppliers in the office of using it as a private space?” The second step, she advises is planning and using a checklist.
   Whether or not a room will be utilized for conducting business, reading, enjoying music or for handling personal or household accounts, its levels of complexity can be addressed with a custom homebuilder during the pre-construction phase. This allows for the custom cabinetry work to be done while the home is being built.
   When personalizing a floor plan offered by a builder, cabinetry designs should be planned prior to closing on the home so that the installation work can begin after the homeowner takes occupancy. Depending on the size of the custom cabinetry project – communicating with the homeowner, creating the designs and working out the details – the planning stage can take from three to four weeks. Planning takes time and collaboration, therefore, it is best to begin before the closing date.
   Being inspired to eliminate clutter and stay organized is easily accomplished by allowing your senses to take in the beauty of the many woods and finishes now being used in building one-of-a-kind cabinetry designs for home offices, dens libraries. Exotic wood imports from Africa and South America are gaining in popularity with cabinetry makers who incorporate them into cabinetry designs.
   “I tell people that I design snowflakes,” says Asher, pointing out that in high-end homes there is no such thing as a typical cabinetry design. More than ever before, his designs include fabulous exotic natural woods with no other finish than a topcoat. “We are using unique woods such as Sappelle, Anigre, Wenge and Afromosia with beautiful grains, patterns and colors that are lighter than walnut and maple.”
   Since a thing of beauty is a joy forever, inspiration to enjoy quiet moments, write memoirs or finish a long list of “to do’s” from your daytimer should flow naturally from spending time in a room surrounded by order and beauty, as well as your favorite books and organized workspaces whether they are for personal or business use.