How to Organize Your Home Office Perfectly
Design Your Office for Maximum Efficiency
Your home office should be your work haven. It’s the space where you can get things done.
This is where you go to get away from your actual office but it’s also a retreat within your home, a peaceful space where your entire focus can be on productivity and making sure your career is going well.
But is your home office less of a haven and more of a mess? Do you feel overwhelmed by the lack of organization? Do you avoid going to your office because looking at everything in there makes you feel less productive instead of more?
Here at 180 Closet Design we have been helping people all over Northern Virginia find home office design solutions that actually work for them.
Looking for ideas that work? You’ve come to the right place!
Create a Control Panel
As you design your ideal home office, consider leaving a space to be your control panel.
What exactly do we mean by this?
We mean a section of your wall or desk where you can check in on every major organization aspect of your life. A control panel is where you will find a calendar, to-do lists, bills that have been paid and that still need to be paid, notes about important projects going on, and anything else that is especially relevant to your productivity (and keeping your life afloat).
Design the Room to Harmonize with Your Workflow
When you walk into your office what is the first thing you do? Do you go right to your computer? Do you check through invoices that you picked up in the mail? Do you walk up to the window with your cup of coffee, pull back the curtains and look out into the yard for a bit?
Well, you need to keep this flow in mind when designing what kind of office layout works for you.
To get the most out of your office you will need to be able to easily sit down at the computer first thing. You can’t have a large piece of furniture in front of that window if you relish standing in front of it. You can’t keep your mail in a box far away from the door if you enjoy the flow of opening it as you walk in!
Designing your office with your natural patterns in mind can make you feel more energized and productive (actually, it kind of makes you feel like Steve Jobs, which is a great way to start out your day!).
Declutter Through Design
Most people don’t have a massive, gigantic room to use as their home office. That’s fine! What is most important is that the room is conducive to calm, productivity, and creativity.
If you don’t have as much room as you’d like, try a few of these tricks!
Hang Lighting From the Ceiling
You read that right. Save floor space through intentionally placed lighting. If high-up ceiling lights just don’t feel homey and comfortable enough there is an easy solution.
A hanging light (especially one that can be adjusted for height) can make the room feel warm and inviting at night, leaves plenty of space for other things on the floor and on your desk, and lets you focus on the most important thing: getting your work done!
Display and Store on Your Walls
If you are storing all of your important paperwork in stacks on your desk, in the dark recesses of your filing system, or worse, just anywhere that it fits — this is no good.
Consider getting filing solutions that go on the walls! You can reach for your invoices, important correspondences, or whatever else you need easily if you just consider storing it on the wall.
Treat it like a display and make it look good! Maybe even put it where your control panel is. You will feel the difference immediately.
Clearly Label Everythings
Of course, we don’t mean everything everything. We mean that if you want an organized office all of your items are going to need a place that is their “home,” a place they can be stored.
If you label things it is more likely that you will remember them. This means that even if your brain no longer notices the labels on your filing cabinet drawer that says “old tax documents” you’ve already mapped out that place in the room as the receptacle for, well, old tax documents.
Labels can help clarify and keep things settled in your space. If you know where all of your office supplies are then you don’t need to do deep cleanings as often, you will feel more peaceful in the space, and you can finally just focus on your work.
Custom Details
We both know that one of the most important parts of your home office are the little details you have dreamed up on your own.
Maybe it’s a specific type of wood from a region of the world you traveled to when you were younger. Maybe it’s cabinetry with a matte finish and a desk designed for a left-handed writer. Maybe you have an unconventional layout in mind, maybe you need a safe or something similar installed.
If your office is going to flow the way you want it to then at least one aspect of it will probably need to be customized.
That is why the next solution is so important.
Find the Right Contractor
If you’re going to put all this time into designing a home office for yourself then you need to be absolutely sure that your contractor understands what you have in mind.
Even more than that, you need to feel sure that they can elevate your vision, show you options that match up with what you are thinking and focus on getting you what you want.
It’s time to give 180 Closet Design a call. We’ve been creating custom closets and other organization systems for 10 years now, and home offices are one of our specialties.
