Whether you’re new to remote work or need to give your home office some new energy, ceramic tile is the workhorse you need for efficient and comfortable workspaces.
The Rising Need for Home Offices
One-third of U.S. workers are working remotely full-time in an attempt to reduce the spread of COVID-19. About two-thirds of these remote workers want to continue to work from home even when pandemic precautions are lifted.
These statistics signal a cultural shift in society’s attitudes toward remote work: When forced to embrace a virtual workforce, many companies that were previously skeptical found that their concerns were unfounded. If we can work from home, with possible greater efficiency, less business overhead, and a better way of life, then let’s explore ways to create the best home work spaces.
Why Use Tile in Your Home Office
While the initial stay-at-home orders had people scrambling to come up with makeshift work-from-home spaces, it’s now time to start thinking about setting up more viable home offices for those that will make full or partial remote work permanent.
For some, creating a home office may mean finishing an unused space (basement) or converting a seldom-used space (guestroom, man-cave) into a professional nook. For others, a space that can pull double duty during off-hours is a necessity.
Whether your office space is dedicated or must transform each day, ceramic tile provides a durable surface that withstands office chairs and equipment, is quick to clean, and has the enduring style to work with your needs today and however the future unfolds.
Easy Maintenance
Ceramic tile helps minimize your housework with simple maintenance: Just wipe with water and you’re good to go. Tile is also stain-, scratch-, and bacteria-resistant and allergens, such as dust mites, can be easily wiped away (instead of getting trapped in some other surfaces).
Easy care means you can worry less about cleaning and focus on your work while at home.
Hard-Working Options
Another benefit of using ceramic tile in your home office is the wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and designs you can choose from to create your ideal environment. Studies have shown that interior design elements such as color choices and art can affect productivity. With ceramic tile’s seemingly limitless array of colors and artistic designs (including custom-designed unique art pieces) you can tap into an inspiring vibe for efficiency, serenity, creativity, or all of the above, and more!
Ceramic tile’s low maintenance and beautiful options allow you to create a home office space that boosts both your happiness factor and your productivity.
[Related: Low-Maintenance Benefits of Ceramic and Porcelain Tile]
The Kitchen Home Office
For many people without a dedicated workspace at home, the kitchen has become the place where they set up shop. While we generally want to steer clear of make-do home offices for long-term use, the kitchen actually makes a lot of sense as a remote workspace.
Kitchens typically provide chairs and a flat work surface, so you don’t need to rearrange furniture or (as a last resort) sit on your couch or bed with your laptop. Make the most of this ready-to-use space and introduce ways to ease the daily transformation from home to work to home again.
Some tips:
- Create dedicated storage for your work materials and put them safely away when you aren’t working
- Keep your surfaces clean (no one wants PB&J on your R&D report)
- Limit visual distractions—try to set up so that neither you nor your Zoom colleagues can see the dirty dishes
- Make sure you are comfortable and follow ergonomic recommendations
Your kitchen may already feature the easy maintenance and versatility of ceramic tile flooring, countertops, and a ceramic wall or backsplash. On the other hand, kitchens that don’t have ceramic tile may be good candidates for remodeling, in which case you can redesign your kitchen with multipurpose functionality in mind.
[Related: Post-Pandemic Dream Kitchen Guide]
How to Use Tile in Your Home Office
Now that you know why to use ceramic tile in your home office, here are some details on where you can use ceramic tile.
Flooring
Ceramic tile is ideal for flooring in any space and its scratch resistance is especially beneficial for home offices. As you scoot your chair in and out all day, you needn’t worry about the chair maring your tile floor (and no extra expense for a chair mat).
If your office floor also happens to be your kitchen floor, the space will additionally benefit from ceramic tile’s water resistance.
Plus, ceramic tile gives you the ability to choose most any flooring design you can imagine, whether you prefer a classic wood look to match your mahogany desk or a geometric pattern to match your creative muse.
[Related: Improve Any Room With These 15 Easy Ceramic Floor Tile Ideas]
Backsplash and Wall Tile
Next on our list is a backsplash, which can be expanded to a full wall, if you choose.
Backsplashes are important for kitchens — their water and stain resistance protect your wall against cooking mishaps — and a backsplash is also beneficial in a dedicated office space. Backsplashes make it easy to keep the wall behind you (or in front of you) spotless (easy cleaning). Want to keep a sticky note handy on the wall? Go ahead, no worries of damaging the surface of ceramic tile.
Video calls are a daily necessity for most remote workers and that means not only looking professional yourself, but also ensuring that you have a tidy and professional space in which to take your business calls. Regardless of where your home office is located, backsplashes help you have a professional backdrop that will rival any virtual background Zoom offers.
[Related: Bathroom and Kitchen Backsplash Tile: Your Complete Guide]
Shelving
Storage is necessary for most work spaces, whether your space is multi-use and must transform at 5 pm, or you have a dedicated space that needs to stay organized.
Gauged porcelain tile panels/slabs can be used to create lovely floating shelves to match your wall or backsplash tile or other decor in your space. Shelves are storage that’s both functional and decorative (a bonus if your shelves are part of your Zoom view).
[Related: Five Places You’ll Secretly Find Porcelain]
Gauged Porcelain Tile Furniture
Gauged porcelain tile panels/slabs are also trending as a new material for creating custom furniture pieces. Custom design a desk for your office area that works with your other decor elements or functions of your space.
For multipurpose kitchen-home office spaces, design a gauged porcelain tile kitchen counter that —presto-chango— can function as a desk. With the right height calculations and an appropriately sized stool or chair, you can even design a counter/desk that can work for both sitting and standing.
Choose between classic designs, such as marble and granite looks, or add a pop of color. You can even choose a wood-look tile if you want! The beauty of using tile is that you can choose from so many design options—whatever “works” for you.
[Related: Our Favorite Porcelain Furniture on Instagram]
Put Ceramic Tile to Work for You
The work must go on! Invest in a home office space that allows you to be successful when working from home. Putting ceramic tile to work in your home office ensures that everything is working at full capacity — including you and your office surfaces.
For more home office tile inspiration, visit our home office Pinterest board. Then get to work!
