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?

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.”

• 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.

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.

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).

She has two workspaces: one is a computer workstation and the other is a desk she uses to spread out papers. To the right of her computer desk is a four-drawer lateral file cabinet. To the left is a small two-drawer cabinet with her huge printer balanced on top.

Behind the desk is a tall bookcase with a copier and a vertical file holder on top.

What Works:

Between the six file drawers, plus the drawers in her desk and computer workstation, filing space isn’t an issue.

Both desk chairs are ergonomically correct.

She has room to spread out papers, and has all the technology she needs to run her business.

Prescription for change:

Combine the two separate work spaces into one, by turning the desk 90 degrees to the right so it faces the door and creates an L-shape arrangement with her computer workstation. At that point, she will need only one desk chair, not two.

Move the four-drawer cabinet to the wall opposite from the computer workstation and put the bookcase behind the desk. Move the computer desk to the left a few feet and then put the two-drawer cabinet to the right side of the computer desk. By moving the computer desk to the left, there will be room for the two-drawer cabinet to open without hitting the bookcase.

Create extra workspace on the computer workstation by moving the CPU to the floor.

Replace the photos on the bookcase shelves with a desktop file holder that uses hanging folders with manila (interior) folders inside. Also, use decorative containersto store the supplies that are currently on the four-drawer file cabinet and on the desk and put them on the bookcase shelves within reach.

One final suggestion, after sorting through the pieces of paper on the desk, consider finding a better way to store cash.

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.

• Use a rug to absorb sound. The hand-scraped, hardwood floors in my home office get an A for beauty and an F for soundproofing ability. Before I put a rug in my office, people kept asking me if I was calling from a tunnel. I added an area rug that absorbs sound and gives my office some color.

• Install window treatments. Aside from providing color and pattern in a home office, window treatments can add additional soundproofing. And if you’re literally working naked, your neighbors will appreciate your window treatments too.

• Add artwork. Interesting and colorful artwork can change the look and feel of your home office. Before you hang anything, plan ahead. A good rule of thumb is to place the center of the artwork or grouping at eye level (take into account whether people will be standing or sitting in that area). Don’t let the artwork take over the space. Everything should be to scale and in proportion.

Considering how much time you spend in your home office, taking the time to make a few changes can affect the look of your office and may even change the way you feel about going to work each day, even if your commute is only seconds away.

What do you do when you have an upstairs lounge that you rarely use and you need to reclaim your guest room for its original purpose…for guests?

You can do what Paul Bamford did and create a gorgeous home office with plenty of space to work and relax. The best part of this Photoshop retoucher and photographer’s home office is that it didn’t cost a fortune to put together.

Paul created his desk from a door he painted white and $5 table legs he bought from Ikea. He attached a metal U channel to the back of his desk so the wires along the channel  wouldn’t hang too low. The open cabinet to the left of his desk holds supplies, files and photography equipment for his freelance photography and graphic design work.

This spacious, streamlined home office does the perfect job of combining a hardworking home office with a place to unwind at  the end of the day. And the beautiful Australian view from his home office is an added bonus.

(Photo by Paul Bamford)

Over the New Year’s weekend, she “seriously decluttered, repainted and redecorated” her home office.

The medals she earned from two marathons, the Minnie Mouse drawing by her daughter and the SUCCESS magazine cover autographed by Donald Trump, all hanging above her desk, inspire Debbie every day. Those personal items, along with a setup that’s functional and stylish, reflect her interests, personality and professionalism.

Her 10’ x 10’ home office used to be ivory-colored with a green accent wall. Now the walls are a soothing green with an ivory accent wall. The green containers on her newly cleared out bookcases not only tie in with the rest of the room, they provide extra storage.

Debbie’s L-shape desk has plenty of room to hold equipment on top and supplies on shelves below. In addition to her all-in-one machine, she uses a black & white laser printer for contracts.

Her favorite part of her home office is the fresh green paint, a new chair (a bargain from TJ Maxx), and her pared-down cherry wood bookcases. She took out two sections of the unit to open up more space in her office. Debbie also splurged on a new office chair because she spends so much time in it.

No doubt that this beautiful, well-organized office will make everyone a little green with envy.

Desk #1
Topsy-turvy and turbulent
The top of your desk is piled high with magazines, unopened mail and bills. If someone wants you to see something, they leave it on your chair. Eventually you’ll feel it when you sit down.
Your desk screams: You’re a creative person but you seem a bit scattered, unreliable and easily distracted.
Desk makeover: The goal isn’t to be a perfectionist or a neat freak. Instead, create some order. Use desktop file holders for the files you’re working on now, put stacking bins on the floor to hold materials for certain projects, hang bulletin boards and wall pockets to help you get and stay organized. Get in the habit of clearing out your office every few weeks.

Desk #2
Slick and sparse
Your desk screams: Only the bare essentials, thank you. Your computer, printer and handheld are on your desk while everything else is tucked away.
Desk makeover: Add a picture of your family, pet, or friends to the wall or add colorful artwork. A plant wouldn’t hurt either…just remember to water it.

Desk #3
Stacked and stodgy
Your desk screams: You have trouble making decisions, especially when it has to do with papers. Magazines you want to read are stacked neatly in one corner, while in another corner are papers you need to file and supplies that need a home.
Desk makeover: Add a bookcase near your desk to hold magazines stored in magazine holders or get rid of magazines altogether and subscribe to the online versions. Make decisions about paper by using the P-A-P-E-R system: Put papers in a file, Act on them, Place them in a stacking bin, Enter any action you need to take on your To Do list and toss (or file) the papers, or Recycle them. Keep extra supplies in your bookcase, stored in colorful baskets or containers.

Do you know what your desk is saying about you?