How to make a homeoffice?

Carolyn W
by Carolyn W
  7 answers
  • Donna Keske-Howard Donna Keske-Howard on Jun 12, 2017

    First, place your desk in the corner of the room. Usually the corner of a room is wasted space, so utilize it by getting a nice corner computer desk, or angle your rectangular desk in the space and use the dead space in the back to organize cords. The angle of this workspace also makes the room feel warmer and less institutional than a desk pushed up against a flat wall or out in the middle of your room with wasted area around it.


    Hang shelves above your workspace to hold paper supplies and correspondence. Use heavier bookshelves to hold your printer and scanner and lay out spaces for CDs, and software books and boxes.


    Use buffet style bookshelves to both hold books and provide counter space in your small home office. These lower two-to-three shelf bookcases are available at nearly every price point, and provide great storage and work space so you can spread out a bit.


    Get a swivel chair on rollers. This will allow you to easily reach all the items you need to work productively in your small space and feel better about having some items off your desk top.


    Utilize two-drawer file cabinets to hold files and again, provide counter space for phones, printers or ongoing projects. Get two that match and top with a piece of glass or plastic to create your counter space. This is perfect for spaces under windows that may otherwise get wasted.


    Get some file holders that hang on the wall to keep you organized and working on ongoing projects. Utilize wall space next to your desktop to hang commonly used files and letters that need filing.


    Get a paper shredder and don't keep unnecessary bills and papers in your space. Nothing eats up space in an office more than usually unnecessary paperwork, so shred away and keep yourself organized.

  • Donna Keske-Howard Donna Keske-Howard on Jun 12, 2017

    First, place your desk in the corner of the room. Usually the corner of a room is wasted space, so utilize it by getting a nice corner computer desk, or angle your rectangular desk in the space and use the dead space in the back to organize cords. The angle of this workspace also makes the room feel warmer and less institutional than a desk pushed up against a flat wall or out in the middle of your room with wasted area around it.


    Hang shelves above your workspace to hold paper supplies and correspondence. Use heavier bookshelves to hold your printer and scanner and lay out spaces for CDs, and software books and boxes.


    Use buffet style bookshelves to both hold books and provide counter space in your small home office. These lower two-to-three shelf bookcases are available at nearly every price point, and provide great storage and work space so you can spread out a bit.


    Get a swivel chair on rollers. This will allow you to easily reach all the items you need to work productively in your small space and feel better about having some items off your desk top.


    Utilize two-drawer file cabinets to hold files and again, provide counter space for phones, printers or ongoing projects. Get two that match and top with a piece of glass or plastic to create your counter space. This is perfect for spaces under windows that may otherwise get wasted.


    Get some file holders that hang on the wall to keep you organized and working on ongoing projects. Utilize wall space next to your desktop to hang commonly used files and letters that need filing.


    Get a paper shredder and don't keep unnecessary bills and papers in your space. Nothing eats up space in an office more than usually unnecessary paperwork, so shred away and keep yourself organized.

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Jun 12, 2017

    Do you have a guest room, formal diningroom or other underutilized room? I am setting up an office in a bedroom we aren't using. I've had my desk in the corner of one of downstairs rooms for years, and it ends up being a dumping ground and a constant battle to stay organized. There's no way to keep everything out of sight (I'm just not that neat) and accomplish anything.

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Jun 12, 2017

    Plus, if the office is going to be a task deduction for you, it has to be located in a separate area from the common rooms of the house.

  • Linda Sikut Linda Sikut on Jun 12, 2017

    Making a home office depends on how much room you have and what you need in your office. When I did mine, I had a room size section at the top of our stairs. I put in my computer (of course, how did we ever live without them), file cabinets, another desk that I got free (just painted it), my phone system, and some shelving. Since my kids had grown up and moved to their own homes, I used an room attached to that section of the house for any inventory, party and show supplies, shipping supplies, and things like that that I occasionally needed. Using two rooms gave me a bigger tax deduction :) but I did need the room. I added a faux tree (from a garage sale) next to one of the filing cabinets and some silk flowers on my desk. The highlight (for me) in my office was a poster-size clear frame with a collage of pictures of all the people I'd met at workshops, conventions, and of course, my team. I also found a literature rack that fit perfectly under the side table where I had my printer (on top). That worked out great because right at my computer and phone I had several types of paper that I used, labels, brochures and information sheets that I could access easily. Some of this may not apply to what you need, but I can only give you my experience. It wasn't fancy, but it worked.

  • Rhonda S Rhonda S on Jun 12, 2017

    The answer depends on what you are going to use it for. If you have a business you will need something much more involved than if you are just setting up to pay bills and organize your correspondance and photos. Since others have offered suggestions about the business office, let me touch on the "home" office:

    You will need a place to sit, a work surface big enough to accomodate your normal tasks, a place for supplies, and a place to leave the printer and computer. Often such a small "home" office goes into a room that does double duty, like the guest room, a corner of the dining area, off the kitchen, or even in the most-used room, whether it is the kid's play room or den or living area. We had a guest room we needed to be able to use a few times per year, so I took the doors off the closet (about 3 feet by 6 feet opening, with another 10 to 12 inches on each end. I put in a table that was slightly smaller than the opening, The chair I used was not on rollers, but that would have been nice. The chair could be pushed up to the table or used at the bed-side for guests. The night stands were wooden storage file cabinets. For shelving, I bought storage untis that fit on the existing closet shelf. I put inexpensive shelving units with cube shaped openings on either end of the closet to hold paper, envelopes, the address book, and supplies. The printer sat on top of one of these. I found a variety of baskets and vases and put in items like a ruler, scissors, a letter opener in one, the stapler and tape dispenser in another. notebooks in a third, wrapping paper in a fourth, and so on. I hung a large garage or craft organizer with small drawers on one end wall, with rubber bands, extra staples, tape rolls, paper clips, brads, index cards, staple remover, andother small tools or supplies. I labeled each drawer. I had a large basket underneath the table that had guest toiletries in it. I also had a tray on the table to hold papers I was working on, and a "bill box" which was an old wooden box. The final touch was to put wooden shelf that was shaped like an upside down u at the back of the table for a pencil cup, a couple of photos and a little dish with the stamps in it. When I expected guests, I set the papers I was working on aside, and put the toiletries out on the tray, then put the computer and papers out of sight in the large basket.