If home office organization has been on your to-do list since the New Year, you’re not alone. It’s one of those tasks that seems daunting to a lot of folks, especially those who aren’t natural organizers. But there’s actually no need for it to remain in the I’ll-get-to-it-eventually category. With some help from Strickland’s Home, you can make home organization a pretty quick and painless project. To get your organization inspiration started, here are just a few things to keep in mind:
File Cabinets Are Your Friends
There’s a special kind of relief that comes from organizing all the papers and documents in your office. The best way is to have a system—color-coded, alphabetical, numerical, whatever speaks to you—and a file cabinet home for that system. What kind of cabinet will depend on you and your needs but consider this: file cabinets that are concealed in drawers or coordinated to match your desk finish do a lot for the overall look of your office.
Give Your Go-To Items an Easy-to-Reach Perch
There’s a temptation to think that if everything is hidden, then it’s organized—but don’t be fooled. If you put everything away in a mad tidying rush, you’ll be forced to spend time hunting for that stapler you always use or the book you refer to every other day. Take a minute to determine what the go-to items in your office are and arrange them in a desktop tray or on a shelf near your chair.
Think Vertically
The usual mental image of an office includes a lot of stuff sitting on the floor—file cabinets, desks, work stations, and more. But people often forget four perfectly good places for storage and organization in a home office—the walls! As you begin to organize your desk, think about how your walls can work for you with shelves, cabinets, and other hanging storage.
Ditch Space-Hogging Tech (Or At Least Rearrange It)
A home office naturally calls for all the technology bells and whistles—a computer, printer, fax, modem, phone, and sometimes more. But just because this technology is necessary doesn’t mean it needs to take over your desk. If you can opt for an all-in-one printer-fax-copier, we say go for it. If you can tuck that machine and its accompanying reams of paper in a drawer or cabinet, more the better. Try rearranging so that your desk holds only essential items and you’ll find you have way more room to work.
Small Spaces Need Big Multi-Functional Ideas
Whether your home office is actually part of your guest room or you’re just working from a small space in a small home, the key to organization is thinking in a multifunctional way: a Murphy Bed/desk combination, seating that doubles as storage, or even a desk with wheels that can be moved from place to place.
Ready to organize your home office once and for all? We have a lot more ideas where these came from. Visit Strickland’s Home soon so we can chat about your office needs.