Our interactive package takes you on a room-by-room tour of new ideas at various cost levels.
Remodeling room by room
Home
office
Project:
Home office remodel
Many
home offices have to be multifunctional,
doubling as a guest bedroom, kids' playroom,
hobby room or game room. Or a couple
might share the space, each with different
business needs.
What that
means in a remodel: plenty of preplanning
and lots of thought about phone lines,
electricity, outlets and wiring.
A midlevel
home-office renovation averages $13,143,
according to the most recent survey
by Remodeling
magazine. And you get about 72.8 percent
of that cost back when you sell.
The big
trend: more power. Office machines,
computers, entertainment systems and
gaming systems use a lot of electricity.
If you're doing a remodel, you want
to look at all the ways you'll use the
room. Then consider what machinery you
have now and what you plan to add over
the next few years.
Lighting
is also more important. Homeowners are
mixing different sources and types of
light (natural, incandescent) from a
variety of fixtures (task lighting,
overhead, indirect).
And, like
every other remodeling project, homeowners
are personalizing the home office, adding
mementos or design touches of their
own.
DIYers
can handle a number of home-office projects.
Wiring is something best left to the
pros, "but an earnest DIYer can
do wall and ceiling patching, painting
and, depending on their abilities, assemble
office furniture," says Paul Winans,
chairman of the board for the National
Association of the Remodeling Industry.
What should
you look for in a professional? A contractor
with plenty of experience with home
offices and access to pros skilled in
handling special wiring needs. "The
average electrician can't deal with
Cat 5 wiring," says Winans. "So
your contractor might have to bring
in a specialist."
A good
contractor also will suggest ways to
upgrade as new technology becomes available.
"With every advance, it gets more
complicated," says Winans. "It's
hard to anticipate what the needs will
be down the road. So if you can, have
a contractor run more wire or run in
a flexible conduit. That gives you greater
flexibility and won't entail tearing
the walls up."
