How To Set Up A Professional Home Office

Whether you have an office in your home to operate a small business, pay bills and complete household tasks, or simply to check your email, a professional home office will help you work efficiently.  Having a dedicated, comfortable office space can increase your productivity and keep you focused on the task at hand.

Decide on a Home Office Space

• Are you working with a small nook or an entire room?
• Will you have an actual desk or simply a built-in workspace?

Any location, big or small, that you can spare in your home will serve as an office.  Get creative!  Is there a closet that could be converted by removing the doors?  Do you have an unused bedroom now that the kids have grown up and moved out?  Perhaps you have a large room that you can carve out a corner to use so it is multifunctional?

Work out the Details

Once you have chosen your location, it’s a good time to check some important details:

• Ensure there is a power source. Critical!
• Check your Wireless Internet connection.  Good signal is a must.  My husband was kind enough to run an ethernet cable to our office to provide the strongest signal and the best security.
• Will you use a stand-alone desk or a built-in desk?  Again, the options are limitless.  I have seen folks refinish an old door and set it atop of two small filing cabinets.  The hole in the door (the former door knob location) can be used to run wires from your computer and other electronic devices neatly to the power strip.
• Assess your light source.  Hopefully, you will be lucky enough to have a window in your office, but if you don’t, implement a plan for artificial lighting.
• What kind of storage options are available?

Create a Filing System

If your office has the square footage, a two drawer filing cabinet is ideal.  Keeping important paperwork easily accessible is a key factor to an organized home office.   If space is limited, a desktop file organizer works great too.   I know a lot of tech-savvy people who scan the paperwork and store files in the computer or in the cloud, which works well too.   Here are my top five files to create immediately:

1. Income tax.   A file labeled “Income Tax” in our file drawer has saved us a lot of unnecessary work when it’s time to file our taxes.  We file everything we will need throughout the year and grab the folder and go when we meet the accountant. Easy peasy.
2. Manuals.  When something goes wrong with an appliance or electronic device, we can easily reference the serial number and model number in the file.  We keep the registration and warranty information handy too.
3. Mortgage paperwork.  Keeping this paperwork is essential.
4. Utilities.  While I manage most of the bills online, I still keep a file for account information in case I need my account number and the power is out.
5. Credit card statements.  Again, I keep some information as an emergency reference.   Your online account rarely contains your full account number.

Invest in a Shredder

With identity theft continuing to rise, investing in a cross-cut shredder allows you to safely dispose of sensitive information.  Most are now designed to shred credit cards too, which saves your hand from cramping when using scissors!

Our local recycling center collects office paper.  We have a trash can in the office specifically set up for paper, and we add the shredded material when the shredder bin fills up.

Tip:  Use shredded paper as packing material.  It is a great protector and insulator.  Since it is lightweight, it won’t add much to the cost of shipping.

Storage

Fortunately, I have enough space in my home office for a bookcase to house my reference books.   If no floor space is available, use the wall space!  Inexpensive shelving units work well.  Purchasing simple shelf brackets and pine boards will allow you to customize your storage.  Just use paint or stain to achieve the look you want.

Proper Lighting

There is nothing worse than poor lighting in any workspace, and your home office is no exception!  Use of desk and floor lamps provide ambiance and make reading and working on the computer easy on the eyes.

Having the right lighting makes your home office inviting, which is important if you hope to get any work done.  I once had a cold, dark depressing room in the basement converted to an office.  I hated it and therefore never used it.   Paperwork would pile up and it became an unorganized mess.  That home office was a useless waste of space.

Functionality

Keeping only essentials on your desk will help control clutter.  A pen/pencil holder (well equipped), desk lamp, calculator, stapler, and computer essentials (PC or Laptop) are really all you need.  The use of shelving for printer supplies, books, and decorative items keeps the home office tidy.  Paperclips and binder clips store nicely in a drawer.  Music is important for me in all spaces, so I use my Bluetooth speaker to connect my phone to my music service.

The office mentioned above is our home office today.  After removing absolutely everything from the room, we were able to assess what we had.  The room is paneled and has no natural light.  I require a bright and airy workspace in order to accomplish tasks.  That room felt like a cave.   Painting the room a light color made a huge difference!  Adding additional lighting did the trick.  We then decorated the room as we would any other, but with items we had around the house.  Oh, and we added heat.

In a single weekend, you can create a comfortable, well-lit, home office that will be functional for years to come allowing you to stay organized.

Until next time,

April

Want to get rid of clutter for good?  Subscribe now for FREE to find out how!

Disclosure:  We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."