Working from home can increase your productivity and give you more flexibility during your day while helping to reduce your stress levels. One of the biggest challenges people face when working from home is keeping their home office organized and space free of clutter. Having an organized desk can be especially challenging if your home office is in a small or shared space.
No matter where your home office and work space are, these home office and home organization ideas will help you make the most of your space and keep your everyday office and crafting supplies organized.
Desktop Organization
Keeping your desk space organized can be a big time-saver, regardless of what you use as a desk for your home office. Being able to spread things out on your desktop to get your work done can make those mundane tasks a little more enjoyable.
Having a place for everything makes it very easy to find your desk necessities when you need them without spending too much time shuffling through drawers and moving piles on your desk.
As you’re organizing your desk, it’s important to get rid of things you no longer need. Part of organizing your paperwork means getting rid of things that have been completed or aren’t necessary to hold onto anymore.
Try Beautiful Cups for Writing Utensils
Keep track of your pens, pencils, and highlighters with cups. You can use cups you’ve already got, grab some from your favorite store, or even check out thrift or antique stores for cups that match your decor and style. Mason jars also work really well for this.
Use Trays to Organize Paperwork
As paperless as we all try to be, there always seems to be papers you need to get work done. Loose papers can easily get misplaced or even thrown out, so having a tray or basket to organize your paperwork can help keep it organized on your desktop.
Stay Tidy with a Desk Organizer
Most desks have more than just paper cluttering them up. If you’ve got sticky notes, paperclips, earbuds, and other things on your desk you need to keep organized, look for an organizer. Having an idea of the items you’re trying to organize will help you find the right organizer for your desk.
Note Taking Tips
You can find a small notepad, scrap paper, or sticky notes on most desks to jot down those thoughts so you don’t forget, make your to-do list, or just to doodle on when your brain needs a break.
Reusable sticky notes
If you find yourself using a lot of sticky notes to take notes or plan out projects, consider using reusable sticky notes. You can write on them with dry-erase markers and when the task is finished, just wipe them off and reuse them. Of course, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got a container or basket to hold your reusable sticky notes and markers to stay organized.
Notebooks, etc
Keeping those cute notebooks, journals, and planners can be a challenge. Look for baskets or bins that they’ll fit in and don’t be afraid to stand them up or stack them so they’re easy for you to get to when you need them.
Try Multifunctional Accessories
When you’re looking for accessories for your desktop, look for things that are not only cute, but functional too. Try desk organizers that have a small footprint on your desktop but hold a lot of things like a stack of small drawers or stackable boxes.
Use Lighting to Guide the Way
Having a well-lit workspace is important. Lamps can help reduce eye strain and help brighten up your workspace. For desks with limited space, consider adding a floor lamp instead near your workspace.
Bring Your Workspace On the Go with a Tote
Sometimes we’ve got to work on the go so having a sturdy tote that you can grab and go when needed can be so helpful. Consider using small zippered bags to store things like pens and highlighters, earbuds, chargers, and your electronics to keep everything safe and organized.
Best Ways to Use a File Organizer
Just because you don’t use paper files doesn’t mean you can’t use a file organizer. You can separate client paperwork, receipts for business expenses, or even organize your notebooks in them.
Wall Organization
Don’t forget about all that empty wall space you’ve got in your home office! Your walls are a blank canvas and can really help you increase the amount of storage available in your office.
If you’re not looking to put holes in your walls, you can still hang things in your office area. Consider using removable hooks or velcro to hang lighter things on your wall that can be removed without any damage to your walls when you’re ready for a change.
Utilize Wall Space Floating Shelves
Floating shelves are not only decorative but can also add a lot of extra space to help you keep your desktop clear while staying organized. Use bookends to hold up notebooks, decorative baskets to hold chargers and other small items, or add a small lamp to help illuminate your workspace.
Create Beautiful Bookcase Displays
Bookcases are for more than just books. Woven baskets can hold staplers, tape dispensers, or other everyday office supplies. Stack notebooks and planners on your bookshelf so they’re easy to access when you need them. Adding candles to your bookshelf adds a decorative touch as well as keeping your workspace smelling fresh.
How to Keep Cupboards Organized
Cupboards in your home office are great for helping to keep your space organized. If you have things that aren’t as decorative or that you don’t use that often, storing them inside a cupboard out of view can be a great option. If your office doesn’t currently have cupboards but you like the idea, keep an eye out for kitchen wood filing cabinets that are on sale or someone else is getting rid of.
Try an Over-the-Door Shoe Organizer
The back of your door is another great space you can use to help organize your home office. Hanging a shoe organizer over the door gives you pockets to store various office supplies in.
Best Way to Use a Corkboard
Some things need to be front and center and using a corkboard is great for that. Use cute thumbtacks to add some personality to your board and add some of your favorite pictures, quotes, and affirmations in with your work items on the board.
What to Put on a Pegboard
Pegboards are such a great way to add a lot of additional extra storage space to your home office. Get creative and hang things like scissors, tape, or charging cords from hooks on a pegboard so they’re easy to find when you need them. Pegboards are also great for organizing craft supplies like ribbon and washi tape.
Magnetic/White Board
A dry erase board is perfect for jotting down notes and ideas as they pop into your head. They can also be helpful for writing down your to-do list so you can look up and see exactly what you need to get done to help you stay focused.
Chalkboard
Looking for something a little more rustic? Add a chalkboard to your home office walls. Keep a chalkboard pen or sticks of chalk in a cute cup or magnetic bin to keep everything organized and together.
Save Desk Space with a Wall Calendar
Keeping track of important dates and deadlines is vital. Instead of keeping a calendar on your desktop, choose one that hangs on the wall to make the most of your space.
Clear Up Floor Space with Hanging Baskets
Hanging baskets on your wall can help get your home office organized. Decorative wire baskets can help show off your decorative style while still being very functional.
Utilize Wall Pockets & Bins
Angled wall bins might look plain, but you can decorate them and add a lot of storage solutions options to your at-home office. Store notebooks, file folders, and other papers in them to keep them off your desktop but still organized and within reach.
Shelf and Drawer Organization
Most offices have shelves and spacious drawers that offer plenty of storage space if you find the right containers to help sort and separate all of your office supplies.
Need a drawer in your office but don’t have one? You might be able to turn your sliding keyboard shelf into a drawer with some of these tips. There are also lots of different drawer options you can purchase to add to your office so they best fit your specific needs.
Store Smart with Large Baskets
Add some matching bins or baskets to your shelves to hold larger, heavier items like binders, notebooks, or electronics when you’re not using them. This is a great option if your home office is shared with another area of your home and you want it to be able to put your office away at the end of your workday.
Avoid Clutter with Magazine Bins
Magazine bins are great for storing notebooks and magazines in your workspace. Limit the amount of paper you keep in your office by limiting yourself to only keeping what fits in the bin. Upcycle a cereal box to use as magazine bins to add a more customized look to your space.
Drawer Organizer Tips
It’s easy to just throw things into a drawer to get them out of the way, but things can get messy and unorganized really quickly. If your office has a junk drawer, try these tips to get it organized, get rid of clutter, and find the supplies to help you stay organized.
Silverware tray
A silverware tray is designed to fit into a drawer so it’s easy to find one that will work for the drawers in your office. The divided sections are perfect for things like correction tape pens, sticky notes, paperclips, pens, scissors, and so many other office supplies.
Plastic containers
Using individual containers to organize your office drawers allows you to set up the configuration for your drawer that best meets your needs. You can find containers at your local stores or order them online to best fit the measurements of your drawers.
Muffin tins
Head to the kitchen and grab a muffin tin to help you organize the drawers in your office. The small cups in the tin are great for organizing smaller things in your drawers like push pins or binder clips.
Inspire with Decorative Bookends
Bookends can help keep you organized while adding a decorative touch to your home office. Use them to help keep your work-related books, notebooks, or binders organized on your small shelf or desktop.
Match Aesthetics with Decorative Storage Boxes
If you like your organization to match your decor, decorative boxes are a great choice. You can leave them open so it’s easy to get to things you frequently use or put the lid on them to hide less used items.
Easily Find What You Need With Clear Plastic Bins
Knowing where everything belongs can be helpful in maintaining your office organization. Storage boxes that are see-through can help to keep your office space organized and quickly find things when you need them.
Best Uses for a Utility Cart
For mobile offices or supplies you don’t frequently use, a rolling utility cart could be a great way to store those items. Just roll your cart to wherever you’re working for the day when you need those office supplies and you’re ready to get to work. This is a great way to store things like craft supplies that you may not use all the time.
Take Advantage of Pull Out Shelving
Adding pull-out shelving to your home office can add a lot more storage space to your office. Things can get pushed to the back to cabinets and cupboards and forgotten, but with a pull-out shelf, you won’t have that problem.
Different Ways to Use Binders
Binders can be a great way to organize your loose papers and notebooks while looking pretty on your office shelves. Adding zippered pouches to them can help to organize your stickers, sticky notes, or other small office supplies in a unique way.
Label Ideas for Bins and Containers
Knowing what’s in your bins is as important as getting yourself organized. It won’t save you time or make you feel comfortable not knowing where anything is. Use labels to stick to or tie on to your baskets and bins so it’s easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. Washi tape is another great way to help label containers.
Tips for Organizing Your Home Office
Getting your home office cleaned out and organized can be a big undertaking. Make sure that you plan enough time to get your home office space cleaned out as well as time to get organized.
Take some time before you start designing the space to be clear about the purpose of the space you’re working with. This is extra important if your home office is part of another room in your home or you need it to serve multiple purposes for you to be the most effective.
Having a clear vision about exactly what you need for the space to be useful for you can save you a lot of time and frustration while you’re working to get your space organized.
Here are a few tips that can help make the purging and organizing process a little easier:
Keep a trash bin handy. It’s easier to get rid of things when there’s a container to put them in.
Set a budget and timeline. Just like one of your work projects, give yourself a budget and timeline to keep yourself on track for this project too.
Purge. Don’t be afraid to get rid of things you no longer need. Holding on to papers that you might use some day won’t bring you the clean workspace you’re looking for.
Use your new systems. If you’re investing in electronic organization systems, it’s time to get rid of the papers and get that information into your new platforms.
Think about your workflow. As you’re organizing and rearranging your office, think about what you do each day. Keep things you use frequently near you, while putting things used less often further away.
Stick with it. Make it a point to keep up with the new systems you’ve put into place.
Be ok with updates. If something isn’t working the way you thought it would when you were organizing your space, make some changes so your space works better for you. Nothing is set in stone.
Work with what you already have. Organizing a new space doesn’t have to be something that’s an expensive project. Look around your house to see what things you already have and what can be repurposed to use in your new office space.
If a nice organized home office space sounds like a dream come true but you just aren’t able to tackle the project yourself, consider hiring a professional organizer to come in and help you.
Because they’ve got an eye for interior design and the flow of a space, they’ll be able to give you expert advice to transform your space into the home office of your dreams. It can also be easier for someone who doesn’t have an emotional attachment to the items and space.
Get a Free Consultation Today
At Neu Spaces by Jenn, we offer afree estimate for these services in Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. Let us lend a helping hand and do the heavy lifting with our process. Each of our clients gets a customized action plan specific to their space and their needs. We know how personal and unique each job is and we love talking with our clients to make sure we understand exactly what you need. Contact us today for a free consultation.