Home Office Organisation

Not everyone has the space in their home for a dedicated Home Office (I’d go so far as to say that most people do not). When the pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, there was much scrabbling about in many households as people struggled to find places to work and study in their homes. It was the same here at HCoo – the desk that I usually used for calls which is in our bedroom was commandeered by Mr TC and I had to hot desk around the house until the children complained so much that I converted our linen cupboard into a tiny office. Later on, I insulated a shed and worked from there, but I appreciate that I was very lucky to be able to do so. Even if you can’t run to a linen cupboard to set an office up in, it is well worth your while to carve out a small area in your home where you can keep your office supplies so that you know where they all are. As I only go out to my office if I am doing Photo Management, I have a pretty box which has everything in it that I need for setting up wherever I choose to sit.

Stepwise, setting up your Home Office (be it a space, a room, or an outbuilding) follows the same rhythm as all the other spaces in your home.

1. Gather together any equipment that you need or want in the space.

2. Divide it up into categories.

3. Working in categories, declutter your equipment, choosing positively what to keep.

4. Once you know what you want to keep, look at the space you have available, and choose storage that fits. DO NOT JUMP TO THIS STAGE WITHOUT DECLUTTERING FIRST!

One of the biggest tips that I can give in any office environment is to make sure that you have clear surfaces to work on. Having clear surfaces means that you have space to work without having to move things around first which saves time, and this is just as important if you work on a computer or if you are creating art. The trick to having clear surfaces is to declutter and then give everything a home.

Of course, my favourite storage solution is the bin (well, I say the bin, I actually just mean out of my home because I often recycle or donate my waste), but I appreciate that some people do like recommendations, so these are some solutions that I either have in my home, or are very similar (if you buy through these links, I may get commission (or I may not, who knows, Amazon is a strange beast and I haven’t quite worked out how it works)).

I love The Really Useful boxes and I have a couple this size that I use for filing.

This is similar to the tray that I have for paperwork to be filed that I haven’t quite got round to yet. I much prefer drawers to open trays and wire to plastic.

I have this stationary organiser for my children’s stationary.

Next week I’m going to talk Household Command Centres which are useful areas to have if you have a full home office, or just an office in a box.