The Ergonomics of Home, and the Kitchen Table Office
For generations, the kitchen wasn't just where meals were prepared; it was the HQ of the home. Bills were paid. Schedules were organised. Household finances were managed. Letters were written. Family decisions were made. Long before laptops and Zoom calls, the kitchen served as the administrative heart of the home.
In the 1920s, architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky's revolutionary Frankfurt Kitchen transformed domestic design by applying scientific principles to reduce unnecessary movement and physical strain. Every drawer, work surface and storage location was carefully considered to support efficiency, comfort and wellbeing. The kitchen became one of the earliest examples of ergonomics being applied to everyday life.
Fast forward a century, and we're once again working from our kitchens, except this time, the design hasn't kept pace.
Today, millions of remote workers find themselves balancing laptops on kitchen islands, dining tables and breakfast bars. For many women, this space continues to act as the operational centre of family life while simultaneously serving as an office. Research following the pandemic found that women disproportionately adapted shared domestic spaces into workplaces while continuing to shoulder much of the invisible labour involved in running a home.
The irony is striking.
The kitchen was once carefully engineered around the ergonomics of domestic work. Yet today's kitchen office rarely considers the ergonomics of digital work.
Kitchen counters are typically too high for seated computer work. Dining tables are often too low. Bar stools provide little lumbar support. Screens sit below eye level, encouraging neck flexion, while prolonged laptop use increases strain on the neck, shoulders and wrists. Add constant interruptions, poor acoustics and the challenge of separating work from family life, and it's no surprise that working from the kitchen can affect both physical comfort and concentration.
Open-plan living has brought many benefits but it has also removed many of the quiet, dedicated spaces that previous generations used for administration, study and focused work. At the same time, our homes have become workplaces almost overnight, without being redesigned for this new reality.
As workplace designers, we often think about the office. Increasingly, we also need to think about the home.
Designing healthier home workspaces doesn't necessarily mean building a separate office. Sometimes it's about creating adaptable spaces with appropriate seating, adjustable lighting, ergonomic accessories and clear visual or physical boundaries between work and home life.
The future of work may mean reconsidering the kitchen, and recognising that the heart of the home deserves the same thoughtful, evidence-based design we've long expected from the workplace.
