No matter how you interpret what Working Naked means, it doesn’t mean that your desk has to be bare. The picture below inspired me to find out what other people have on their desks that have nothing to do with work. A desk that’s all work and no play, can make any home office desk dull.

source: Tom Newby Photography

“On my desk is an 18″ tall Suzuki Harmonica Bluesman. Every time I sign a contract for a speaking engagement, sell a book or CD, or otherwise make money, I push the button and let the blues man dance and blow his harmonica for a minute or two. It’s basically my end-zone dance for a successful day in the office!”
—Steve Gamlin

“Iced tea in a canning jar with a glass straw! Seriously!”
—Cheryl Newcomb

“I have a 1-ft tall skeleton that holds an Italian Flag and wears badges from dance conferences I’ve attended. This was a study aid when I was in Exercise Science classes and it still has some clay “muscles” I had to make for a practical exam.”
—Mahin Sciacca

“I have a pen holder on my desk that my wife gave me on Valentine’s day.”
—Gaurav Sharma

“I keep at least one harmonica on my desk. Hohner Special 20, key of G if it matters. I find it relaxing to play some music and it works a different part of my brain.”
—Chris Rovin

Other things on other desks:

“As a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, one of my prized home-office items is a past Christmas gift: Fenway Park infield dirt! It sits right on my desk in a small trophy case! In the cold winter, it’s a reminder that spring will come!”
—John Goodman

“On my desk is a paper ornament with a photo of a rescued moon bear living at the Animals Asia moon bear sanctuary. Seeing that bear (who looks like he’s smiling!) always brightens my spirits.”
—Melissa Dinwiddie

“I keep a little token given to me by friend and fellow publicist Megan Lane of a white little Asian cat that means luck and wealth on my desk. She brings me all sorts of wealth in my inbox- ha! This was a gift from a recent trip overseas and reminds me how lucky I have to work with such great and giving people.”
—Stephanie Krol

“My cat! Seems that the busier I am, the more the cat wants to strut around on my desk and keyboard! She could care less about being sociable when I’m ready to take a break though.”
—Jim Smith

“Something I’ve always had on my desk is a large (unfortunately fake) diamond. I occasionally use it as a paper weight, but it’s mostly just my ‘fidget toy’. When I’m on the phone or re-reading an important email it’s nice to flip through my hands to keep me focused.”
—Josh Weaver

“When I was first married at 33 years old, on my wedding day my father gave me the last piece of my baby blanket that I carried around. He had it put into acrylic with an engraved plate, “Gail’s Meow.” To this day I can still remember crying when he told me that there was nothing left after its last washing. It’s the most important thing on my desk.”
—Gail Mayhugh

On my desk are … barf bags. Yes, really.
—Steve Silberberg

“I love to have a container of newly sprouting seeds on my desk. Each morning, I am excited to see how much they have grown overnight. As they grow I switch them out to a fresh batch to care for.”
—Krayl Funch

What’s on your home office desk?

What do you do when you don’t cook or eat at home, but you need to set up a home office? You may do exactly what entrepreneur and author Mandy Williams (aka Black of Red & Black) did, and convert your dining room into a home office.

Mandy isn’t your traditional author or business owner and doesn’t take a conventional approach in her personal and business life. Her approximately 15.8′ x 15.7′ home office is the perfect example. She could have converted a spare bedroom, corner of a family room, or a formal living room into her workspace, but how conventional would that be?

Mandy’s well-hidden home office is still disguised as a dining room, thanks to the wall of wood. Unless you opened the cabinets, you’d never know that behind the Wenge wood doors are several file drawers along the bottom, a slide-out printer stand, and open shelving for storing loose-leaf binders and  various office organizing boxes/sorters. She also has cubbyholes for paper, notepads and envelopes.

Her gorgeous custom-designed, glass-top table with a leather base looks like a dining table but can be used as a conference table or desk.  Not unlike many dining rooms, Mandy’s office is filled with natural light (often the best in the home).

Not eating or cooking at home seems to be a good trade-off for a stunning home office.

A guest room is ideal when family, friends and relatives stay with you, but what about the rest of the year when it sits empty?  Depending on how often you have overnight guests, a guest bedroom can be the perfect room to set up a home office.

The three home offices below are small, but have enough space for a desk, a file cabinet or rolling file cart and a twin bed or a double bed. Throughout the years that I’ve been designing and organizing home offices, I’ve learned that size doesn’t matter. A 20’ x 20’ home office is just as functional as a 10’ x 10’ office. It’s all in the way you use the space.

This guest room, complete with a full bath, leaves little room for a desk and file cabinet, but the small closet within the room is large enough to store supplies. With the bed so close to his desk, the owner can always grab a quick nap. Another way to save space in a home office is to do away with a traditional desk, and instead use an “office in a box” for storing equipment and supplies.

If your guest room is going to do double duty, you may want to invest in a day bed, a hideaway bed, or a Murphy bed. This day bed with a trundle below leaves enough room for a desk and a rolling file cart. A dresser opposite the window doubles as clothing storage for guests and office supply storage for the owner.

The double bed in this guest room takes up most of the space, but there’s enough room for a compact desk. The small closet in the room provides extra storage for supplies, product samples and files.

It doesn’t matter whether you use a guest room as a home office or a home office as a guest room. What matters is that you put a rarely-used room to work.

Is there a rarely-used room or space in your home that you’ve turned into a home office?

One of my favorite parts of this site is the All Dressed Up page. I feature all types of home offices to inspire you to change, update or tweak your own home office. The only problem with sorting through all of these photos of home offices that I’ve designed and others have designed, is that they make me want to change my own home office…often.

So, I’ve redesigned my home office again.

I started my home office makeover from the ground up, by adding a new rug with circles in different colors and sizes. Whether you pick an area rug, wall-to-wall carpeting, or keep the floor bare, keep sound reduction in mind to avoid the “cave effect” when you’re on the phone.

Normally, my next step would have been to pick out furniture, but since my furniture is fairly new I used the desk and bookcases I already had in my home office. My desk with a return gives me plenty of room for my laptop, external hard drive, all-in-one and lamp. I use the keyboard drawer to hold extra printer paper, and the cabinet that was meant to hold a CPU is perfect for storing extra supplies.

I bought two chairs at my favorite commercial furniture store. One is an animal print chair for reading, and the other is a tan desk chair. Behind and next to my reading chair are an iron floor lamp and a small round table.

I had installed the woven shade last year, but to soften the room I added striped drapery panels. The artwork that was next to the window was boring, so to add a bit of color and interest I found a print from a site that features works from independent artists. Rather than buy the print already framed, I had it framed locally.

Next, I replaced my ceiling fan (it came with the house) with a beautiful pendant. Then I added a few more things to my desk including a multi-circle frame and three jars to hold paper clips, rubber bands and markers.

My new home office is exactly the look I’ve wanted for awhile. It suits me perfectly for now, but I may need to stop looking at so many home office photos!

Some people think that if you’re creative, you can’t be organized. Watercolor artist Laura Trevey proves them wrong.

Her perfectly organized yet creative art studio/home office includes a custom island designed by Laura, with shelves wide enough to store 26” x 40” watercolor paper. Most of the time the island is in the center of the room, but casters on the bottom of the island make it easy for Laura to move it anywhere.

It isn’t uncommon to create an inspiration board or wall, but one made from pegboard is ingenious. Laura installed a 5 ½’ x 8’ pegboard to showcase her inspiring watercolors, both framed and unframed. The pegboard, painted the same color as her walls, is framed with white trim.

On the wall across from her desk is a row of cabinets that she uses to store supplies. The floors of her art studio/home office are a light wood and are easy to clean, especially in the case of spilled paint.

Next to her Ikea desk, created by using two trestles and a glass, beveled edge top, is a rolling drawer unit that serves double-duty as a printer stand. Above her desk is one of her stunning, original watercolor paintings.

The next time you think creativity and organization don’t mix, consider Laura’s advice, “An organized office is a happy one.”

Over the years, I’ve seen good home office design plans and I’ve seen others that had disaster written all over them. Laying out your home office is easier when you take the time to plan out your space and figure out how big your furniture can (and should) be.

• Start by measuring your home office space (including alcoves, windows, doorways and closets).

• Do a rough sketch of your home office and plug in all the measurements. Your sketch doesn’t have to be pretty, just accurate.

• Using graph paper, redraw your sketch to scale (one square equals one foot). Or transfer your sketch to a computer-aided design program (CAD). I use CAD instead of drawing plans by hand because it’s easier to create several layouts for my clients. But unless you’ll be creating plans often, don’t invest in a CAD program. It can be expensive.

• Measure your existing furniture and either make templates that you can move around on the paper or draw the furniture directly on the paper. Before you draw any furniture, make a few copies of your drawing so you don’t have to erase as often.

• Before you shop for furniture, measure doorways and stairways to make sure that any furniture you buy will fit through doors or up the stairs. A friend of mine bought furniture he knew would fit in his home office, but forgot about the furniture making it to the second floor. When the delivery team couldn’t get the furniture up the stairs, he sent both pieces back to the store.

• Take your drawing with you when you go furniture shopping to make sure that whatever you want to buy will fit in your home office. Don’t forget the doorway and stairway measurements. Your drawing will also give you a good idea of how large an area rug can be.

When you plan ahead, designing your home office doesn’t have to take much time or money. The key is to measure twice, buy once, and enjoy your office daily.

I’ve worked with home-based business owners for years, who had little less than the corner of a room for a home office. On the opposite end was a client who couldn’t find space for a home office within her 6,000 SF home (really).

If you think you don’t have room for a home office, think again. Start by evaluating the various rooms in your home.

Spare room

Advantage:  It’s the perfect solution.
Disadvantage:  None. At the end of the day, you can close the door behind you and enjoy the rest of your home.

Guest bedroom

Advantage:  It’s almost as good as setting up your office in a spare room. To make your guest room double as your office (or is it vice versa?), invest in a hideaway bed or a Murphy bed.
Disadvantage:  It can be inconvenient when guests actually visit.

Your bedroom

Advantage: It’s better than having your home office out in the open.
Disadvantage: You’ll be sleeping with your work. I always advise my clients to avoid setting up their home office in their bedroom unless there’s no other space available.

Living room or a family room

Advantage:  You’ll have plenty of room to work. Use a computer armoire, a tall bookcase or a room divider to close off your office from the rest of the room.
Disadvantage:  In a living area, it’s difficult to keep your personal life from interfering with your work.

Dining room

Advantage: Usually it’s an easy room to give up because it’s rarely used.
Disadvantage: If you use your dining room often, you’ll miss having a dedicated room for entertaining.

Kitchen

Advantage:  You can stay in contact with your family. Make sure you have a clear work area and a place to put a two-drawer file cabinet (if you don’t have a built-in work space).
Disadvantage:  You are in constant contact with your family.

Basement

Advantage:  It’s an out-of-the-way place to work.
Disadvantage:  It can be depressing, dark, damp, and/or lonely. Also, you need to make sure there is enough lighting.

Garage

Advantage:  It’s separate from the rest of your home, which makes it more private.
Disadvantage:  You lose the use of your garage for storing supplies, equipment and, of course, your car.

Closets

Advantage: It’s a compact office behind closed doors. You’ll need to install some shelves for storage, a flat work surface, lighting and a file cabinet next to (or under) your work surface.
Disadvantages. You’ll have limited work space and the loss of storage space.

Hallways, alcoves, landings and under stairs

Advantage: These make use of a rarely-used space.
Disadvantage: These tend to be high-traffic areas or too secluded.

No matter what size your home may be, there’s always enough space for a home office. Whether you’ve worked in the same space for years, or you’re setting up a home office for the first time, don’t overlook what could be the perfect place to set up shop.

Where is your favorite place for a home office? Please share your comments below.

Photo courtesy of Sligh

When I bought my first home office desk several years ago, it fell apart after I moved it three times. I definitely got what I paid for…almost nothing. I replaced it with a desk that cost a bit more, but it was reliable and functional.

As the number of home offices has continued to grow, so has the quality of home office furniture. Finally, there are plenty of home office furniture options available and the days of dealing with cheap, flimsy home office furniture are over.

Whether you’re setting up a home office for the first time, or you’ve decided it’s time to replace your existing furniture, you don’t have to spend a fortune. In fact, you may not have to spend any money at all.

Consider these four options for home office furniture:

High-end furniture

If clients visit your home office often, it makes sense to spend more on furniture. High-end or premium furniture looks expensive because, well, it is. Premium furniture comes in a variety of woods including oak, maple, pine and mahogany. Instead of gluing fronts directly on the drawer, high-end manufacturers use dovetail drawer construction. Other features include a latching keyboard pullout — you can use it instead as a drawer — and high-quality ball bearings.

A good place to find high-end furniture is through commercial furniture dealers. Some premium furniture manufacturers include Sligh, Paoli and Hooker Furniture, and you’ll find other options at Design Within Reach and Desk by Design.

Mid-range furniture

Mid-range furniture offers some of the same benefits of high-end pieces, but is more affordable. The drawers either have dovetail construction, or fronts nailed (rather than glued) to the drawer. They also have nice finishes and even come in a variety of colors. Mid-range furniture uses a combination of wood and MDF (medium density fiberboard).

A few retailers that carry mid-range furniture include Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Ballard Designs and Computer Furniture Direct. One of my favorite manufacturers is Aspen Home.

Economy furniture

Economy furniture, mostly RTA (ready-to-assemble), is designed to function at a low price and often is made from less expensive particleboard, or from MDF that’s rated lower than what’s used on mid-range furniture. On the surface of RTA furniture is laminate, melamine or some other type of veneer that changes the look of the furniture and gives the surface added protection. Sometimes plastic is used on metal glide systems to save money.

RTA lines are available at various office supply superstores and discount stores including Office Depot, Staples, Office Max, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Costco. Ikea is another good resource.

Inherited furniture

The last category includes home office furniture you’ve inherited from family members, picked up at antique shows, or even found online. This is the type of furniture whose value you can’t judge by how much you paid for it (if you even had to pay for it). A well-made traditional desk your grandma left you in her will, may have sentimental value which makes it even more priceless.

You may want to bite the bullet and buy high-end furniture to impress your clients, or stick to a mid-range budget and create a home office that’s functional and well-designed, just not outrageously expensive. Whatever direction you go, make sure your home office fits your budget and your style.

One last point: make sure your furniture fits through your home office door or up the stairs. If not, it doesn’t matter how nice it is.

(BTW, I don’t get paid to recommend any of the resources in this post. The truth is, I’m a furniture addict and I spend more time researching home office furniture than I care to admit.)

How have you furnished your home office? Share your comments below.

In this corner is Heather Anderson’s vintage home office that proves that with a little creativity, recycled materials and an eye for antiques, you can create a home office that’s a bit whimsical, functional, and, best of all, inexpensive.

With four kids at home, five years and younger, Heather set up her home office in the corner of her large dining room. She felt that it was “necessary to be near all the action.” Anyone with small children can relate.

Her 6 1/2′ x 2′ desk is made from a base she rescued from her kitchen. On the base is an antique door with a piece of glass on top to give her a smooth work surface. She cut out the drawers in the base to make room for her CPU and printer.

Above her desk is a hutch made out of 1’ x 8’ boards, with cubbies that hold her office supplies and products. She painted the hutch in a distressed gray after her facebook friends helped her decide which color to use. Next to her desk is a dresser to store more supplies.

In addition to using a black lunchbox to hide ugly cords — she cut a hole in each side— she uses a jar to hold business cards and has binders decorated with brown paper bags and antique lace.

As someone who loves to share her handmade creations and ideas, this home office reflects her personality, her creative talent and her ability to save money.  The only cost for the entire project was the boards for her hutch.

File and fold

You may work in your home office day after day, but some days it’s better to mix it up and work somewhere else. When you need to take files with you, the Bungalow file tote can handle the job. It’s sturdy enough to hold plenty of letter-size hanging folders, yet folds up for easy storage. It also works well for storing files in your home office, but something this stylish deserves to be taken out once in a while.

Stick with it

One of the (many) things I don’t miss about my corporate days in a stuffy office is my old, grey desk accessories. I’ve done my best to make sure that my home office doesn’t resemble anything close to my old corporate office. Instead of bland accessories, I have colorful and functional ones. The Poppin tape dispenser definitely fits into that category with its selection of eight colors.

Stick ‘em up

There’s no doubt that a valuable photo or piece of art is worth framing. But when you have inexpensive art that you may change out soon anyway, why bother with frames? The Re-stickable Decal Photo Frame makes framing simple, and hanging even easier. The best part is that you can move the frames from room to room without putting any holes in your walls. Each pack comes with eight frames that stick to your walls or windows and won’t damage walls or paint.