Boutique offices offer heightened design and comfort, making them an ideal space for any luxury brand. You may be an architect, a luxury designer, or any number of specialists who cater one-to-one with clients. The point is, having a beautiful boutique space that offers everything you need, and can also act as a wow factor for your clients, is a must. 

Enter: the converted period home. 

These properties are the perfect launching point for a truly luxurious and private office space, but they won’t be ready to work out of straight away. The good news is that you’re here and have these top tips to help you get started: 

Start By Getting Planning Permission 

One of the first steps is to, of course, get planning permission to convert a residential property into a commercial one. If the property was derelict or foreclosed on, then you may have an easier time converting it than if it’s a ready-to-move-in home. Either way, go to the local city hall or website as soon as you find a property you like and fill out the application. 

Understand the ADA Design Requirements 

The first thing you’ll want to do when looking to retrofit a period property is to look into the ADA design requirements. These practical, simple guidelines outline exactly what you need to do to make the property accessible for your employees or clients. Here are just a few of the guidelines broken down: 

• All hallways must have at least 36 inches of clearance. You can have obstructions like side tables or other décor in wider hallways, so long as the walkway is 36 inches wide. 
• Ramps can be used where slopes are no steeper than one inch increase for every twelve inches of length. Otherwise, you’ll need an elevator. 

There are ADA guidelines for entryways, flooring type, and even bathroom design. Since accessibility should be your number one priority, familiarize yourself with the requirements to ensure that your updates are ADA-ready. 

Identify Solutions Early to Work Them Into Your Design 

Once you know what ADA requires out of commercial properties like offices, it’s important to start shopping around for solutions so that you can have the exact size dimensions of solutions like home elevators in mind when putting together your redesign. The good news is that there are many options that use hydraulics instead of a hoistaway, so you may be able to install one in between the stairwell or even in a converted closet. 

Work With the Home’s Design for Layout 

The entire point of using a period property is for its grandeur, so use it appropriately. This means having the main floor, which would traditionally have been used for hosting, as the point of contact for your clients. This way, you can convert the upstairs into office space, placing one to even four desks (depending on the bedroom size) into a space. 

Downstairs, however, use a design-focused approach that draws in luxury clients. From the sitting area to the reception, everything should be updated to put design first. The beauty of this approach is that it will wow your clients, but also means you don’t necessarily need to change the actual floorplan of the property all that much, allowing you to save big.