Organizing a Home Office for Form and Function

In order to provide an area where you can work efficiently, a home office has to be well organized. However, when organizing your office, it's important to pay attention to form as well as function. Since many people spend a great deal of time working in their home office, care should be taken to make it comfortable and attractive in addition to making it simply useful. If it's time to get your home office better organized, here are two important factors to take into consideration.

Storage: Effective and Attractive

Effective storage options are often the key to designing a well-organized home office. However, you should also look for storage solutions that are pleasing to the eye as well as easy to use. Filing cabinets are usually a "must-have" for home offices. By choosing a full height filing cabinet instead of a two-drawer model, you can double your storage area without sacrificing any additional floor space. This can provide for efficient use of space, especially in smaller rooms. However, it's important to balance the need for filing space with the visual effect that a full-height filing cabinet can have on a room. In some cases, you can get around this problem by choosing a cabinet in a designer color. However, if you feel that a full-height filing cabinet detracts from the overall aesthetics of your office, two shorter cabinets or a lateral filing cabinet could be a better option.

When choosing a desk, it's important to weigh the convenience of open shelves against the visual simplicity of shelves with doors. Although both may provide essentially the same amount of storage space, some people prefer cabinets or shelves with doors because they reduce visual clutter in the office. In the end, it's up to you as to what kind of a compromise you're willing to make between convenience and visual aesthetics.

Work Surfaces: Spacious and Uncluttered

Work surfaces that are well designed and easy to use are another important component of a home office. Without enough horizontal workspace, it can be difficult to get work done in an efficient manner. While sometimes a simple desk can provide an adequate amount of workspace, sometimes you might need more. L-shaped desks can provide a lot more work area, which can be quite convenient. If you have enough space in your home office for this style of desk, it could be a good choice. However, an L-shaped desk can sometimes be too large for smaller offices. If this is the case, a portable workspace such as a small folding table can be handy for those times when you need more area in which to work. When not in use, the table can simply be folded and stored unobtrusively in the closet.

When choosing accessories for your desk, it's important to consider if they are worth the loss of desktop space. In the case of items that are frequently used, the answer to this question is probably a resounding "yes." However, if you have some office equipment and supplies that you use on an infrequent basis, you'd probably be better off to store them in a drawer or cabinet.

When your office is organized in a way that works well for you, add some style to the room with beautiful wall art; tree wall art, framed artworks and contemporary metal wall clocksare just a few items to consider.