If you work remotely or online, you need several key factors for an effective work-from-home environment: good lighting, temperature controls, and a distraction-free space to name a few. In the previous post, I mentioned that a spare room gives you the best control over these key factors. But without one, you would likely turn to other living spaces which are potentially good options – but also potentially killers of productivity.

Besides a spare room, the next best room for working from home is typically either the living room or the bedroom. While the living room is typically the largest room for setting up a desk, the bedroom is the most private, quietest, and coziest space for the disciplined remote worker to excel.

What are the exact differences between locating your home office in the living room and the bedroom?

Living room vs bedroom hustle: 5 key factors

Working in the living room triumphs over a bedroom that is too small for a comfortable workspace. Yet, if you take care of the spaciousness and organization of your bedroom office, as well as the position of your desk relative to your bed, you can effectively work and rest in the same space.

Here, we have a side-by-side comparison – with 5 key factors to determine whether the living room or bedroom is the better site for your daily hustle.

Amount of space

How much desk space do you need? This depends on how many monitors/screens you use, the desk accessories you have, your desk size, and how many desks you need.

For a bedroom, is there enough space for your desk without impinging on your resting/sleeping space? Think about this. If you are working on 1 laptop, it doesn’t really matter. If you have multiple devices, you may need to consider how to organize and lay out your stuff alongside personal items. For example, in a bedroom, will you be using just 1 desk – combining your office items and other personal items?

The limitations of a bedroom office are obvious, compared to a larger living room or spare room. It is hard to have multiple desks. If you use paper and printers you may not have space for that. You might have to go digital and minimalist. 

Another key difference is that you do not want too much clutter in your bedroom, but having boxes, tech devices, and extra ‘stuff’ lying around is probably fine in your living room.

Better option: Living room

Key spatial considerations (living room vs bedroom workspace):

• No. of screens you use (PC, monitors, laptops, tablets)
• Size of your desk
• Number of desks you need
• Boxes, files, tech devices, or personal items stored off your desk
• Amount of floor space you need

Function

How many uses does one room have? Related to the problem of not having enough space, is the problem of function.

Whether you locate your office in the living room or bedroom, you have limited control over its design, layout, and customization, just because you are using that one room for multiple uses.

But having an office in the living room gives a little more leeway for re-organization and re-design. 

You can turn most of your living room into a home office if you like – but this is provided that you live with no or few family members who want a say on how you structure your living room space.

In contrast, functionally, a bedroom is strictly a sleeping space. You can’t toss your bed out or downsize it without affecting your sleep quality. When you bring in work, you bring in external sources of interference. Some people do fine with them, but others don’t.

Thus you have to be extremely careful about functional problems if you must set up a bedroom office. Specifically, ensure that you ask yourself these six questions before you let your bedroom double up as your home office.

Better option: Living room

Functional issues of working in the bedroom:

• Blue light: Excess exposure to blue light in the evenings, emitted by screens and devices, can affect circadian rhythm and sleep.
• Stress: Stress may be introduced into your resting space, particularly the room in which you sleep
• Worsened self-discipline and productivity: A bedroom may be too comfortable – you may find yourself lying on the bed when you are meant to be working

Lighting

Your body needs daylight during the day for alertness and productivity, but the light it needs at night is different.

Maybe you need to clock extra hours at times as a knowledge worker, or maybe you are building your side business after your day job. If you work in the evenings, this adds a layer of complexity to your lighting setup – particularly for your bedroom.

You need different types of bedroom lighting if you work beyond the evenings. Cool white light is useful for focus, while warm light helps you relax and fall asleep.

Better option: Living room

Lighting ideas for multifunctional work-rest spaces:

• Use cooler lighting for productivity and warmer lighting for relaxation
• Delineate different zones of lighting for different purposes
• Make use of desk lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces or recessed lights to illuminate specific areas of your bedroom
• Use smart bulbs to deliver lighting of varying colors and intensities, for multiple purposes

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Distractions

Distractions are ever-present in your home. They kill productivity. Unfortunately, people do not set up their home environments to mitigate them. 

If you are living with someone else, the bedroom by default will be less distracting compared to the living room. After which, it depends on how you manage the distractions of your bed, other personal gadgets, and maybe the bedroom TV if you have one.

Think about what distracts you. 

In the living room, can your TV be turned into a monitor, or be switched off entirely? Can you sit and not face the TV while working? 

In your bedroom, can you have your desk set up such that you cannot see your bed, with a simple left or right turn of the head? Can you have a large enough desk with ample space and organization, so that you are not tempted to work in bed? Can you get an ergonomic chair that you can sit in for hours and still feel comfortable, without needing to lie down every hour or so?

Better option: Bedroom (if you are living with other people)

Ways to reduce distractions when living with others:

• Communicate with family members or flatmates about not interrupting you during your working hours

• Set up a dedicated workspace in a spare room or bedroom
• Put up a “busy” sign on your door
• Use noise-canceling headphones
• Alternate between working at home and working outside

Privacy

Privacy is a factor that only applies if you are living with others. 

Have a wall behind you so that nobody could come up behind you as you work; no one would walk past and see what you are working on. No one would walk past in the middle of a Zoom meeting and appear to your colleagues or boss.

Better option: Bedroom

Strategies for working in the bedroom

Working in the bedroom is not impossible. If you take care of the aforementioned problems of space, function, and lighting, your bedroom can be an advantageous place to work in. 

The challenge comes with taking care of these 3 factors. 

Space wise, before anything else, do consider: should you locate your desk in your bedroom?

Locating your desk in a bedroom is perfectly fine if it is big enough to fit both your work and personal items without intruding on your resting space – your bed. Set it up so that you face away from your bed; you should ideally not see your bed with a simple left or right head turn.

That’s it. To emphasize, the size of your desk is not something you should compromise on.

• Desk space is a common problem for bedroom offices so ensure that you have enough space to fit your desk. 
• Your desk size determines the minimum size of the home office you need, and ultimately whether you should set up your office in a small bedroom or find somewhere else.

Function wise, keep your desk neat in order to reduce physical and visual clutter. You want a productive yet restful space. So keep your stuff minimal, and go digital as much as possible – if you must work from a small bedroom.

Lighting wise, keep it flexible – have different types of lighting. You may want to experiment a little. I have 2 different types of lighting in my bedroom: cool white light (for daytime productivity) and warm lighting (for late evenings, creative work or winding down). I get them both through a two-head floor lamp. Toggle the switch, and I instantly change my lighting from cool white to warm lighting, whenever I feel like it. Usually, it is based on the time of day at which I work. When I work at night, I usually do not prefer bright white light; it is too harsh and potentially messes with my circadian rhythm.

Strategies for working in the living room

The living room is typically the largest room in an apartment, which gives you more space and flexibility to set up a desk.

A living room is good for placing a desk in an unused corner or against an empty wall. If you need to make space, consider moving your storage items elsewhere in order to easily fit a mini office in the living room. Move your sofa, so that you can place a desk behind it.

Following very similar principles from a bedroom office setup, face your desk away from the TV if the TV is a source of distraction.

If you are living with others, do not have your devices or items hanging off the sides of your desk, such that they can be knocked into by someone else.

‘Heavier’ desk setups

Simply due to more space, the advantage is that you can spruce up your home office, which is much more difficult in the bedroom. For example, fit an additional desk – even a standing desk – if you like in your living room. This may not be feasible in the bedroom; it is a space for rest, so your one desk will likely be a sitting desk. 

‘Lighter’ desk setups

In fact, working in the living room can be very comfortable if you do it in a minimalist way. Your desk does not have to occupy too much space. Perhaps, you just want a small workspace that can be hidden and tucked away from sight when not in use.

To hide your home office in your living room:

1. Use a rollable side table for your desk. This lets you work from the sofa. Tuck it away when not in use.
2. Set up a light foldable table. Such a table is easy to fold, keep, and hide once your work gets done.
3. Work at wall-mounted shelves. For a living room, wall-mounted shelves look sleek and appropriate. Transform the “mood” by placing decorative items and plants on these shelves, once you are done with work.
4. Place a laptop stand on your coffee table. A laptop stand can make lower surfaces functional, such as your coffee table, even though they are not designed for work.
5. Use an ironing board as a standing desk. It provides just enough space for a laptop, mouse, and a tablet or phone. Standing at your ironing board, you can further prop up your laptop using blankets, folders or briefcases, to get it raised to the right height.
6. Get a mobile laptop desk. Such desks with wheels are small, portable, and some are even height adjustable to suit your height and sit-stand needs. They are easily tucked away after use.
7. Set up a standing desk converter atop a cabinet. This can be the makeshift option for your standing desk.
8. Set up an L-shaped desk. An L-shaped desk is great for a corner office in your living room, especially if space is tight.

Summary

Setting up a home office in the living room or bedroom both poses its own issues. 

First, consider the 5 challenges of space, function, lighting, distractions, and privacy. 

Since everyone has different work and tech requirements, personalities, working styles, and living situations, you have to decide for yourself whether the living room or bedroom is more beneficial.

Second, after deciding, ensure that you do the utmost to overcome the challenges that present themselves in the living room or bedroom. 

Use the strategies listed in this article as a guide.