You are here: Home / Archives for Home office design

How to Create a Client-Ready Home Office

March 13, 2012 By 16 Comments

Clients don’t ever come to my home office. I’d invite them, but it doesn’t make sense for them to come over. Instead, I need to be able to see their home before I can design a home office for them.

Before you invite a client to meet with you in your home office, consider these tips.

Put your stuff away

No one (especially clients) wants to see laundry baskets overflowing with dirty clothes, toys all over the floor, and newspapers that haven’t made it to the recycling bin. If you’re in a hurry, shove stuff in closets until you can put everything away where it belongs. I’m not advocating disorganization, but sometimes last-minute client meetings require desperate measures. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design Tagged With: , ,

4 Ways to Make Your Home Office More Functional

February 9, 2012 By 13 Comments

Home offices are notorious dumping grounds for furniture that doesn’t fit anywhere else (either style-wise or physically). Whenever someone remodels their home, the odd chair or wobbly table usually ends up in their home office. Most of the time the extra furniture is in the way and leaves little room to move around. Sound familiar?

The right furniture, combined with a little creativity (and the right tips), can help you make the most of your home office space. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design Tagged With: , ,

All Dressed Up: Ready for the Next Event

February 6, 2012 By 5 Comments

Being an event planner takes organizing skills, a good design sense and loads of creativity. Event planner Bill Robertson’s home office reflects those skills and more.

A few years ago Bill bought a home, and as part of the renovation he added a home office. His contemporary home office includes a functional U-shape workspace. He uses the surface to the right of his desk to hold his printers, and the shelves below to store extra paper. Behind his desk is a long credenza with plenty of file drawers and supply storage. The exposed, yet painted brick behind his credenza, blends in well with the overall design.

Across from his desk is a seating area that includes a few chairs and a sofa to meet with his staff. One of the best parts of his office is the row of windows that overlook his three-acre backyard. On nicer days, Bill works on his patio surrounded by beautiful landscaping.

Bill plans to expand his staff this year to handle his growing number of clients. Sounds like a good plan.

Filed Under: Home office design Tagged With: , , , ,

Making Your Guest Room Do Double Duty as a Home Office

November 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design, Home office setup, Working at home Tagged With: ,

All Dressed Up: A Working Naked Update

November 17, 2011 By 20 Comments

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!

Filed Under: Home office design, Home office organizing Tagged With: ,

All Dressed Up: Creative and Clutter-Free

September 28, 2011 By 4 Comments

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. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home office design, Home office setup, Working at home Tagged With: ,

How to Save Time and Money When Designing Your Home Office

September 8, 2011 By 12 Comments

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 [Read more...]
Filed Under: Home office design, Home office organizing, Working at home Tagged With: ,

All Dressed Up: Vintage Style

August 1, 2011 By 2 Comments

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.

Filed Under: Balancing home/office Life, Home office design, Home office organizing, Home office setup Tagged With: , , , ,

Checkup From the Desk Up: A Real(tor) Mess

July 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Analysis:

Clients calling at all hours, weekend showings and indecisive buyers can take their toll on any businessperson, including a realtor. This 24/7 realtor has been working from home in the same spare bedroom for 16 years. She was fine working in her “creative” space until some important papers got lost in the shuffle (literally). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Checkup From The Desk Up, Home office design, Home office organizing, Home office setup, Working at home Tagged With: , , ,

4 Simple Ways to Furnish Your Home Office

June 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When I research home offices for the All Dressed Up page and look through photos readers submit, I get inspired to change my own home office…again. The photos have the same effect on some readers, while others feel they can’t do anything to change their home office.

If you want to change your home office, you can, and you don’t have to spend a fortune. The right rug, furniture and even accessories can affect the look and function of your space.

Start with a few basics.

  • Find furniture that fits. Look at the desk you’re using now. Is it too big or too small for your home office? Are you constantly stacking papers and anything else that doesn’t fit on your desk on the floor?Before I moved into my new home office, I measured the space and figured out how big my desk could be. I found a medium-size desk and return with tongue-in-groove detailing (it’s better to have a desk with drawer fronts that aren’t glued or nailed onto the drawer). The L-shape desk fits in my office and I still have room for a chair and two bookcases. [Read more...]
Filed Under: Home office design, Home office organizing, Working at home Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts
Hide me
Sign up now for an excerpt from Organize Your Home Office for Success!
Name Email
Show me
Sign up now for an excerpt from Organize Your Home Office for Success!
Enter your e-mail address below to get an excerpt from Organize Your Home Office for Success. You'll also receive updates and occasional promotions that are available only to subscribers. We respect your privacy and will not share your information with anyone.
Close