KITCHENS
HOME OFFICE TRENDS MEAN MERCHANT MARGINS
Working from home has become the norm for many people, not all of them with the luxury of a study or home office. Kitchens and dining rooms are being adapted to house home workers which means opportunities for merchants.
T
he past 12 months have been life changing. The way we live day-to-day was turned on its head and the things we took for granted were removed from under our feet almost overnight. As a result, our lives and, in turn, our homes are likely to have changed forever. But this change – and the want and need to use our spaces differently is a big opportunity for builders merchants. Elizabeth Briggs, category manager - sliding, room & building at Häfele UK, says that although Covid-19 restrictions are starting to ease, 77% of UK employees say a mix of office-based and remote working is the best way forward post COVID-19 according to research by the Adecco Group UK and Ireland. “Likewise, we surveyed 2,000 consumers who told us they expect to spend over half of their week working from home in 2021. We also found that 40% of home workers in the UK are planning to create a dedicated office space in their property within the next year, equating to a potential spend of £700m,” she says. This means, in the coming months, merchants can expect a surge in builders looking for home office products and solutions that allow their customers to create this additional space.
The rise of broken plan While open plan living has been around for some time, Briggs says there has been a rise in broken plan living, and especially when it comes to the home office.
“Where open plan refers to where two or more traditional rooms in a home – such as a kitchen and dining room – have been joined to form a bigger space by taking down partition walls, broken plan is a space which is separated into zones, using levels and semi-permanent structures to create distinct areas,” she adds. “Whether open or broken plan is best for the consumer is driven by a number of factors, including whether they need a permanent working from home space and if they are sharing the environment with other family members. And as always, budget, floor plan and space available must be considered.”
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For broken plan designs, Briggs says that merchants can recommend sliding and pocket door systems which are perfect for creating a semi-permanent structure.
“Using sliding door or pocket door systems, homeowners can partition off an open plan kitchen or dining area for example, making an office space that’s there when they need it but can be hidden away at 5.30 pm. Sliding and pocket door systems also have an added space-saving bonus as they take up around 1270 mm less operating space per door versus a traditional hung door.” Häfele UK’s Hawa Concepta pivot sliding system hides away within a wall recess and doesn’t need a floor channel, making it, Briggs says, the perfect concealed option. “As well as being a great solution for the homeowner, it’s also designed for easy fitting with all adjustments carried out from the front, and thanks to scissor technology, it’s highly versatile. The system can carry up to 2.6 m in height and a maximum door weight of 50 kg. This allows the builder to create a substantial hidden office space for their customers.” Briggs says an easier retrofit partition option, is the Hawa Junior 80/b top hung system, which creates a sliding interior door to divide a room and hide a working space when not in use. “Moveable walls are also becoming a flexible option for the home and as such, one that merchants should consider adding to their portfolio if not already available. Roomflex or Slido 100T are two options from Häfele that allow a quick change from a large open lounge or dining area for example, into a closed off workspace as required,” she says. Alongside broken plan designs, Briggs also says there is a rise in innovative open plan approaches largely driven by limited space.
“One of these is the cloffice – a desk within a closet or wardrobe space. Clever systems such as the Accuride 0116 Sliding Track System are useful here. This ball bearing mounted carriage system has a huge 360kg load, meaning it can be used to create extendable, pull table top workspaces that slides away when not needed. Likewise, table top swivel fitting sets can also be used to allow one piece of furniture to have two functions, for example a dressing table and an L-shaped work station.”
What consumers want Whether open plan or broken plan, merchants can also support their trade customers by having a well-stocked range of office accessories and finishing
touches.As part of the research, Briggs says consumers were asked to describe their perfect home office in more detail.
“In their responses, home workers chose good lighting as their top requirement, with 89% of home workers rating it as a crucial design factor. Technology also ranked as a key consideration, with work-from-homers choosing charging points for phones (84%), power sockets (83%) and ways to hide cables and wires (77%) as other important factors in their dream home office,” she says. “The biggest opportunity is in lighting, indicated as a clear winner for home workers who were asked to select the factors most
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net May 2021
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