Core77

Just because you work from home doesn't mean you should be lying on the couch in your pj's til noon. Sure, it can also mean that—no judging—for some professions fuzzy slippers just don't count as proper work attire, whether you commute to an office or to your dining room table. In fact, the latest project from Synthesis Design + Architecture proves that even small home spaces can be snazzy, at least if you have $11,000. That's what it cost to turn a London investment advisor's home office, a modest 8' x 11' room, into a sleek, CNC-milled birch work space.

The birch wood ribbing serves the very functional purpose of hiding storage (files, paperwork, supplies etc.), office equipment and electrical cords from sight. See if you can spot the "hidden" cabinets and panels in the curved wooden surface. The horizontal spacers you can see in the images that hold the ribs together are in the shape of a world map "created by converting an image into a high contrast graphic bitmap."

Synthesis collaborated with woodworkers, swapping 3D renderings back and forth until all the structural concerns were addressed and the final product was reached. This may be out of reach for many homebound workers, but allow it to serve as inspiration for creating an office that feels separate enough from your living space so that at the end of a long day you don't feel like a shut-in.