Over the 25+ years, I have worked with many small business owners in their homes and office. I moved offices and helped others create a remote office in their home. Through organizing and determining goals with my clients, there are several things a person can do to make their home office as productive as their work life. Follow along and include these tips to make your home office even more efficient.
As small business owners, we have all been there. Our office is great and organized, but when we need to have a home office, we usually the kitchen table where everything is piled up and disorganized.
A home office is handy when you want to work from the house. But, where should it be located?
Where do I place a home office in my home?
Especially if we do not have a room that we can designate to an office. I feel your pain; my home office is a part of my family room.
Answer these questions to help you decide where your home office should be.
Is there an area of the home that is not used often, like a spare bedroom or basement room?
Are the kids in school for the majority of the day? Can you use one of their rooms for your office?
Is there a corner space under the stairs you can turn into an office?
Is there an outlet in the area that will keep you powered up when working?
Can you block off a particular area of a room to make it a home office?
What I did to create my perfect office?
I picked my family room because the room was never used when the kids were in school all day. I don’t have my desk right in the middle of my room. It is off to one side of the family room and is blocked by an armoire to make the room feel separate. It gets a little complicated when I need to take calls, and the kids want to watch TV on those rare times when the kids are around. You see, they are now in college. =)
Now that you have decided on a place for your home office, let’s help you make it organized.
To help you make your home office even better or help you start making your home office a priority, I listed six tips below to create a space for you in your home.
Six Tips to Make Your Home Office More Organized
Find a wall that is bare you can use for furniture.
It can be near an entryway. Look for space to put up shelves and a mountable desk on the wall to add storage.
Look for Wasted Space in your home.
Places like stairs, loft, or hallway are perfect for a small office. Visit this post: How to Find Wasted Spaces in the Home by Sabrina’s Organizing that will show you wasted spaces in your home you may use for storage and an office.
Use an unused closet.
Convert your unused closet by adding shelves, desk space, and filing cabinets to help organize your space. You can remove or keep the doors.
It will help you hide that you have an office in your home. Many filing cabinets look like china cabinets these days; you need to look for them. Also, look for cabinets that have doors. You don’t want to see your work when you are not working, right? If you can hide the home office space, it will help you detach from work at the end of each day and on weekends.
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Use Decorative Bins with labels to store office supplies.
Use decorative baskets with labels, so you do not have to see the stuff in your shared office space. Wicker bins, cloth bins, and wood bins work great for hiding the stored stuff. Visit our post on SabrinasOrganizing.com (7 Best Containers for Your Home Office) that talks about the containers you can use for your space. Below are the Decorative Bins I found on Amazon (affiliate). Happy shopping!
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Divide the space and block the office
Use a tall armoire or shoji screen to hide the clutter of the office space. I do this with an armoire for my craft things. Visit these posts from Sabrina’s Organizing for ideas.
HOW TO CREATE A DIY FABRIC ROOM DIVIDER
HOW TO CREATE AN ATTRACTIVE ARMOIRE ROOM DIVIDER
Below are some items I found on Amazon (affiliate) to help you block off your office without creating a permanent wall.
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Have a separate place to file personal papers from your business papers.
Keeping your personal papers and bills from your business papers will make your office more organized and less stressed when working in your home office. Use one filing cabinet for your business and one for your personal to separate papers and bills.
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Wherever you place your home office, be sure to keep everything at arm’s length or at most 5 feet away for easy access. Make sure you have at least one locked cabinet for sensitive paperworks, and be sure to lock them up every day at the end of your workday. I hope this helps you get your home office functioning even better than it did before. Please leave a comment or question below. I would love to hear about your home office space.
Visit these other posts to help you organize your home office.
All of these links are from us and our sister site, Sabrina’s Organizing.
How to Create an Ideal Home office for Your Business
5 Easy Steps to Create an Organized Home Office
How I Made My Organized Office Then and Now
15 THINGS TO TOSS FOR A STRESS-FREE HOME OFFICE
5 HOME OFFICE ORGANIZING ESSENTIALS EVERYONE NEEDS
ORGANIZED OFFICE CLOSET BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTO
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon and at no additional cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
