BENGALURU: Must as Bengalureans get back to working from office after over two years of working from home due to the pandemic, they are finding innovative ways to make use of their home workstations. While some are turning it into a reading corner, others are reusing the furniture as study and dressing tables. Khadija Aalam, who has been working from home since the first lockdown, bought a table in mid-2020 after struggling for the first couple of weeks without a designated work space.
“I bought the table because working from my bed affected my productivity. But ever since we bought it, my little daughter has been waiting to take over the space. She now sits at it to draw, colour, and complete her homework,” says the consultant. The dining table, seating area, and even the side of the bed doubled as working stations for Ahmed Shariff, global lead with an MNC, in the first couple of weeks of 2020. He then got a desk custom-made after work from home was announced by his company.
“The fear of aggravating my neck and back pain made me purchase an ergonomic chair to accompany the desk that I got custom-made by a carpenter. I suggested designs as per my convenience, which included an electric plug point built-in the table for my laptop charger,” says Shariff, adding that returning to the office, even in a hybrid model, has made his office-in-home set-up obsolete.
“The work desk has turned into a leisure corner for my family and me, where we read books and relax with evening tea,” says Shariff, adding reselling or disposing of the desk is not an option, as the design of the table matches his room’s aesthetics. “Someday, it will go into our little home library,” he says. For Gautham Battineni, working from home necessitated that he get a dedicated workspace at home and to do that, he had to buy a new work desk and a swivel chair.
“It was fun while it lasted, but work from home did end after close to two years of traffic-free work life. And the work office at home was neglected,” he says. During the long lockdowns, Battineni got into building Lego sets. “It always made me sad to break them up and pack them back into their boxes since I did not have any display shelves. Since I was no longer using the work table for work, I started using it as a workstation- cum-display space for my completed Lego sets.
Thus, a place of work has now turned into a space for fun. And the swivel chair was apportioned by my sister for herself,” says the working professional. The list of ideas is long. Shajidha P A, who got back to work a month ago, turned her desk into a dressing table. “I had to accommodate the desk somewhere and I felt this was the perfect idea to reuse it by hanging a round mirror above it. I keep my makeup in a decorative way to give my room an aesthetic look,” says the IT professional, adding, “I also use my ring light as the table had enough space to accommodate it.”