How we set up our apartment for working and living at home

Contents · 7 sections

1. We turned one of the rooms into an…
2. Internet connection
3. The computer I work on
4. The living and dining area
5. Kitchen upgrades
6. A new bed and mattress
7. The bathroom

The state of emergency that Bulgaria declared because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 changed a lot about how we live day to day. Many people suddenly had to start working from home. A change like that calls for some improvements at home, big or small, if we want to stay as productive as before. So in this post, I want to tell you how my wife and I got our apartment ready for working and living at home more effectively.

Back at the end of last year, we had planned a renovation for February through April. It gave us a great chance to reorganize some of the rooms and get rid of things we no longer needed. The main goal was to make our home more comfortable and convenient, using newer, more modern interior solutions. I can definitely say that all the changes we made are already helping us feel comfortable and work better from home. If you’re curious how we reorganized our place, here are the main things we did:

We turned one of the rooms into an office

One of the big changes we had planned was to turn one of the rooms in our home into an office. I often have to work from home, so an office was a real necessity. We chose a desk and storage units custom-made for this room. It was important to me to have enough space to organize my workspace and fit my computer, printer and everything else I need for work.

Besides being practical, we also wanted the room to look stylish, so we went with custom furniture. One thing that didn’t go quite to plan was the shelves above the desk. We hadn’t measured them carefully, and a large document binder doesn’t fit on them, so we found another use for them. My advice: always be careful and think ahead when you choose furniture sizes.

In the home office, we added two large built-in wardrobes where I keep my clothes, and we used the rest of the space to store things we don’t use often. Another practical choice was a comfortable sofa bed. That way, the office easily turns into a guest room whenever we need one.

We’re a few weeks into self-isolation now, and I can already say that the new office is very comfortable and has a positive effect on my productivity.

Internet connection

Fast internet is an absolute must if you want work to run smoothly. That’s why we made sure the most important rooms have wired LAN connections. We also put two routers in the apartment to get good Wi-Fi coverage everywhere, and bought a new, more capable router for the job. Now we have both wired and wireless internet anywhere in our home. I want to thank my friend Stefan Kolev, who advised me on how to set it all up.

The computer I work on

I want to say a few words about the computer I use at home, because it plays a big part in my productivity too. I’m using the computer of a colleague who went on maternity leave. It’s an HP All-in-One 24-g050nu, which means the whole computer is built into the monitor. That makes it a great choice in terms of both design and practicality. I get a big 24-inch screen that’s comfortable to work on, and it’s powerful enough for me to get my work done efficiently. One upgrade I made before bringing it home was replacing the hard drive with an SSD, which made it much faster.

I also used the opportunity to organize my work files, so it’s easier to work and quickly find what I need. I use cloud storage services like pCloud and Microsoft OneDrive to keep my important files in sync, so if one of my devices ever breaks, I can restore everything without any trouble. This really helps my overall productivity, because I can work from the couch in the living room on my personal laptop or on my work computer without breaking my workflow.

The living and dining area

We reorganized our dining room and living room. We replaced some of the furniture, adding comfortable chairs and a dining table. We picked a new, more comfortable sofa and cleared enough space in the living room that we can even work out there. Especially now, when going outside is kept to a minimum, working out at home is a great way to stay in shape. We bought the sofas and chairs from Napredak furniture, a Bulgarian furniture maker.

Kitchen upgrades

We also made changes to the kitchen to make it more convenient. We put in completely new kitchen cabinets made by Nilo. We also added a water filtration system. It matters to us because we no longer have to haul heavy jugs of mineral water home, and it gives us cleaner, better water than standard filter pitchers. I try to drink enough water every day, which, as you know, is extremely important for your body to function well, and for your productivity too.

We also decided to install a garbage disposal under the sink. It might remind you of scenes from American horror movies, but don’t worry, it’s nowhere near as scary. Even better, it means we throw away less trash.

A new bed and mattress

Good sleep is one of the main things that keep us productive and help us handle our work well. It also gives the body the rest it needs and helps us feel better. That’s exactly why we decided to invest in better sleep and get a new bed and mattress for the bedroom.

We chose a bed with a solid frame instead of slatted bases, so we can be sure it won’t start creaking over time. The headboard is upholstered in soft fabric, which makes it even more comfortable. The bed is higher than standard, but you get used to it quickly.

It was important to us to find a mattress that’s truly comfortable and fits our needs. So we tried out different models and finally settled on a Matterra mattress by TED, a Bulgarian mattress maker. I think investing in a quality mattress is definitely worth it, because it’s something we’ll use for at least the next 10 years, and the difference in sleep quality is noticeable. We ordered the bed and mattress from Mattro.net.

The bathroom

We did a small renovation in the bathroom too, putting in a new shower system with a mixer. Besides the regular handheld shower, it has a rain shower head, which makes showering easier because you don’t have to adjust the shower to the height of whoever is using it. The mixer has a preset temperature, which makes it much more comfortable than standard ones. It also saves us time, which is always welcome and can go into more important things.

Those are the main changes we made to our home. It’s not a small investment, but it gives us a cozy, pleasant home for the next 10 to 15 years. I also want to thank my father-in-law, Anatolie Frumusachi, who was in charge of the renovation. Without his help, all of this would have been much harder.

From planning to finishing the renovation, our main goal was to make our home comfortable and convenient for us. My wife and I both wanted everything in our apartment to look good and be practical at the same time. It helps us be more effective with our daily tasks and with working from home, so we have more precious minutes to spend together. And by the end of this year, there will be three of us.