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Make Your Natural Working Style Work For You

October 2, 2012 By 10 Comments

During the many years I’ve helped people design, set up and organize home offices, I’ve seen home offices that were disaster areas and others that needed only a bit of fine-tuning. What the owners of these home offices had in common was that they were fighting their natural working style.

Everyone works differently and has different working styles, depending upon the time of day and the activity. Consider this: if you’re busy, you don’t think about putting things away. After your project is over and your office is a disaster, you may think about getting organized.

When you take the time to set up your office to fit your working style, it’s easier to maintain it. Take a close look at these five working styles to see if any of these sound familiar. [Read more...]

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5 Ways to Make Your Home Office Move Less Stressful

September 12, 2012 By 10 Comments

Moving from one home to another can be stressful. Having to move your home office while keeping your business running can put you over the edge.

The last time I had to move my home office I dreaded it, but it turned out that my move was less stressful than I thought it would be. I credit my smooth move to planning ahead and following these five tips.

1. Pack only what you need.

This is the perfect time to trash and donate what you don’t need. Think of the time you’ll save unpacking. Don’t be surprised if you find supplies you forgot you had. This is also a good time to make a list of the supplies you’ll need for your new home office.

2. Measure twice, move once.

Take the time to measure your new home office space and your existing furniture, and plan where you want everything to go. I laid out my office on CAD (computer-aided design) but you can do the same with graph paper and a pencil. If you don’t plan ahead, you may face the same fate as a friend of mine who ordered a top-of-the-line armoire that was too big to round the corner at the top of her stairs. [Read more...]

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Make Room in Your Garage for a Home Office

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Garage owners usually fall into one of three categories: those who fill every square inch with things they don’t need, those who keep their garage obsessively clean and organized, and those who start businesses in them.

The third type is more important than the other two types, especially when it comes to making money. Those are the people who have figured out that a garage is a viable option for a home office.

But unless you enjoy sitting at your desk in the winter with your teeth chattering, or you like sweating like a marathon runner in the summer, you’ll have to make a few adjustments to convert your garage into a home office. [Read more...]

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Small Changes in Your Home Office Can Make a Big Difference

February 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Last weekend I figured out why some of my friends invite me over to their homes more often than they used to. Yes, I bring over appetizers, desserts or whatever dish they want me to bring. It’s not that. I’m not a very good cook.

They invite me over because they know I can’t stand to see a disorganized home office that could be arranged better. Here’s a perfect example:

A friend I’ve known for years invited me to her home. I took the obligatory tour that ended with her home office. [Read more...]

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6 Home Office Fixes You Can Do in a Day

January 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You know that deer in the headlights look that people get when they’re scared? Sometimes my clients get the same look when they think about making changes to their home office. They feel overwhelmed and they don’t know where to start. It’s definitely normal and understandable.

Transforming the look and function of your home office can be a challenge and definitely intimidating. While you can’t change everything about your home office in one day, there are a few simple things you can do now to make your home office more productive. [Read more...]

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There’s Always Room for a Home Office

December 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Some people tell me that they don’t have space in their home for a home office. But no matter what size home you have, there’s always room for a home office.

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5 Ways to Create a Working Home Office

October 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

Everyone has a different definition of a working home office. You may consider it a place with a desk, chair, computer, printer and office supplies. Someone else who works from home may describe a home office as a space with high-quality furniture, accessories and draperies.

I describe my home office as a place where I enjoy working every day (except for those days when it’s too nice to work inside) and a space that fits my working style. There are a few things to think about whether you’re setting up a new home office or thinking about fine-tuning your current office.

  • Decide if your home office would be better off in another room. When you first started working from home, may have set up your home office in an obvious place: a spare bedroom, guest room or basement. There may be a better place. If you [Read more...]
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5 Ways to Keep Home Office Info From Going Up in Smoke

September 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

For years I’ve talked and written about how important it is to be ready for any type of disaster, including floods, hurricanes and fire. When my younger sister called a few days ago to tell me that my parents’ house — the house I grew up in — had caught on fire, those tips hit close to home.

The fire started in the kitchen and spread to the attic. By the time the firefighters put out the fire, two bedrooms, the kitchen and a few hallways were destroyed.

Fortunately, my dad’s home office was untouched.  After the firefighters let my parents into the house, my dad went to his home office and took out some important papers.  Years before, he had put important papers in one file and kept it where he knew he’d find it.

Aside from making sure your home has plenty of smoke detectors and that you have considerate neighbors [Read more...]

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How to Find the Right Place For Your Home Office

April 12, 2010 By 3 Comments

In the almost twenty years I’ve been working from home, I’ve had nine home offices. Moving my home office so many times gave me insight into the benefits and disadvantages of using certain rooms to work. The one room I’ve never used – and won’t use – as a home office is a bedroom because I’d spend more time working and less time sleeping.

Before you set up a home office, it’s important to consider every room in your home. Even if you already have a home office, there may be a better place for it. [Read more...]

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Size Does Matter

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

This past week, furniture buyers flocked to the Las Vegas Market, a biannual furniture trade show. Furniture Today noted a few interesting trends from the show.

  • Executive desk groups (major office hogs) are being replaced by smaller groupings at lower price points.
  • Home office furniture isn’t only for home offices. Families are buying the furniture for game rooms, family rooms and bedrooms.
  • Desks are smaller but still functional and they’re on wheels to make them easy to move around.
  • Cabinets have fold-down work surfaces to save space.
  • Desks for laptop computers are still popular. Why buy a desk with space for a CPU if you’ve ditched your desktop?
  • Furniture features flexible configurations. That comes in handy if you move to a smaller space or if you want to be able to change around your office once in awhile.
  • High-end furniture manufacturers are continuing to reduce the size of their desks, along with their prices.

For the first time in Las Vegas, less is more.

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