Multi-Tasking in Your Home Office
Click your wing-tips or flats together three times and repeat after me: “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…”.
With telecommuting and home-based businesses making the corporate world not so corporate anymore, home offices are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. What do you need to consider when decorating a home office? Space issues, for one. You need technology and furnishings that can multi-task.
Technology
All-in-one equipment saves space – and save the room from looking like a Best Buy store – a combined copier, scanner, printer and fax fits the bill, and the space.
When planning your home office – take into account the multitude of wires for your computer, telephone and printer. Use clips and strips for keeping them out of sight.
Phone jacks and electrical outlets are important for your office layout. Power strips and surge protectors are the norm, but who wants to see them? Although a desk with an open base will help the room look larger, take in to account where you can hide those cords, strips and cell phone chargers.
Take advantage of technology to go paperless. Filing space has historically been a problem in home offices, no longer with the paperless society. Go green and paperless, and save space – invest in technology that will eliminate the need for excessive paper. Make sure your technology is backed up in case of hardware failure. Do it with compact disks instead of paper. Save space and trees.
Furnishings
Cabinetry is king in the home office. Bookcases are the perfect furnishing, but have bookcases with a cabinet in the base to pull double duty and hide the office supplies and extra paper.
Your office chair is one item that should not be multi-tasking – using your extra kitchen chair just won’t cut it. Comfortable, functional office chairs are under $100, and well worth the investment – you need swivel, lumbar support and armrests if you please.
Don’t invest in the matching office suite – there are usually too many pieces and the scale is too large for a home office. You need to combine the functions of the office furniture, you’re not going to be able to fit a desk, credenza, filing cabinet and bookcase in your space. Combine them – bookshelves can decorate and hold necessities and filing drawers in a credenza can mean one less piece of furniture.
File cabinets of the same height as the desk will not only be in a better scale to the room, but gives extra work surface or can hold your printer.
Outfitting your home office is becoming easier as technology gets smaller. Take advantage of new technology, and open up some square footage in the process.