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SOHO sources enhance function

Space-efficient setups still sport lots of design flair

By Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, April 27, 2008

New heights
Plug-in convenience

High Point — If there's one story that home office sources are telling better, it's that they're offering more functionality and versatility in their products.

Companies are adding charging stations and power strips to their home office setups while other sources have new pieces more geared for consumers using laptops at home.

And companies are expanding on command station concepts in the home for high- traffic areas. Sligh started the trend several years ago with its Family Communication Center, which offers a stylish, space-efficient destination for paying bills, checking e-mail and doing homework.

Hooker is among the companies thinking harder about how to pack a lot of function into a small space. The company expanded its Small Office Solutions collection at this month's High Point Market with four new groups.

The small computer cabinets that Hooker introduced are the most compact it has ever offered. They are designed for any room in the home.

"While the executive home office format is our 'Suburban,' we need some smaller, more 'fuel-efficient' home office models," said Hank Long, senior vice president of design and merchandising.

Recently, Hooker began offering office hutches that could be used for storage or as a stylish hidden cabinet for a flat-panel television. And it has brought out some new smaller-scale desks that are meant to appeal to women.

New heights

This market, Broyhill and American Drew introduced counter-height workstations to provide a solution for cluttered, high-traffic areas in homes.

Broyhill's Summertime counter-height activity station is a multi-functional piece that offers a casual work space for paying bills or doing homework and features a charging station with power strip and laptop port. Broyhill uses woods that are similar to those that might be seen in kitchen cabinets, said Michael Foster, vice president of case goods merchandising.

"By going to counter height, (this activity station) can either be an expansion into the kitchen or the room off the kitchen, which used to be the utility room where you'd do laundry or the mudrooms that are generally high-traffic areas," Foster said. "It also just fits right in with the counters in those rooms."

At Stanley, the American Perspectives computer desk and hutch provide a good example of how the company combines function with a great design, said Kelly Cain, vice president and product manager.

Plug-in convenience

Stanley is including more electrical features in its new products, such as an electrical outlet in the back panel of the hutch that provides an easily accessible location for charging cell phones and Blackberries.

The American Perspectives desk also includes a laptop port with a place to plug in laptop computers and additional electrical components.

Sligh includes a laptop docking station on all of its credenzas. The station features power, Internet and data ports that all are concealed in one area under a matching wood top with a touch latch.

The key to adding up-to-date functional features is do it is subtly and stylishly, said Bob Kreter, Sligh's marketing and communications director.

"Our goal is to provide a beautiful, quality product that accommodates today's technology — technology that is hidden but easily accessible," Kreter said.

But it's not just functionality that's drawing attention in today's home office. Design versatility also is in the spotlight.

With its Kingstown Adelaide writing desk, part of the Tommy Bahama line, Lexington Home Brands is hoping to appeal to a consumer who wants their furniture to do double duty, working as an accent piece or a functional desk.

"You could use it in a foyer, as a sofa table or a console table. It's very functional and flexible," said Cheminne Taylor-Smith, director of marketing and communications at Lexington Home Brands.

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