With limited space in an apartment, a home office may seem impossible; but, with proper planning and organization it can still be a functional work space. A big issue with having limited space for your home office is it is likely to be shared with something else, e.g., your living room to watch TV,your bedroom, etc. Therefore, you need to make sure the structure, arrangement and organization of your work space will fulfill two purposes: a practical home office without being an eye-sore!
The first thing to consider would be your desk set-up. The amount of room you can allocate to your work space determines the type of desk you’ll need. If there is enough wall space in your apartment, a regular work curio, like that pictured, will suit you. However if you have just a spare corner, a corner unit would be best.
The next thing to think about would be arrangement. With a tight space it’s important to maximize the area you have. One way to do that is to utilize all your wall space.Since your desk surface will likely be small, the best way to house your supplies, books, cd’s, etc.,would be on shelves. The picture to the left is a perfect example of how ‘moving up’ on the wall will reduce the width your office takes up, while not sacrificing any necessary storage. If you are able to purchase a desk that has shelves built into it, like the picture shows, great; but if not, standard wall shelves will work just fine.If you have extra surface space after your computer, printer, keyboard and mouse, I recommend using plastic stackable Tupperware’s for small office items like pens, paper clips, staples, etc. Such items can be found at your local Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart-type places.
Organization also plays an important role in making your home office less of an eye-sore.For all intents and purposes, let’s assume your home office is sharing a space with something else in your apartment. If you have clutter all around your work space, then obviously it will be harder for you to utilize the area, while also making it unattractive. So the best way to eliminate clutter would be to rid the area of loose paper.One way to do this would be to go through your mail and having a system for filing bills or “need to keep” items.After using your work space make sure to keep pens, paper clips, sticky notes, and other office supplies in their designated area so its looks orderly.Just a few minutes after each time you use your desk will go a long way in making your workstation functional and attractive for your apartment.
