Monday, October 18, 2010

Personalize your Home Office

There really is nothing better than a great office space for your home. A space for children to do homework, a place to store mail, or a just a spot to store all your supplies, a home office space should be designed to fit your need. Technology allows us to pay our bill online, so we may not need a large space for home offices, unless you work from home of course. The key to a home office is making it personal, in every sort of way.

Be inspired by nature. Natural elements make a space feel warm and homey. Display supplies that evoke creativity like pencils and sketchpads.
Stay organized. Use like baskets and bins to keep the look cohesive. Tackboards can be home to calendars, lists, and reminder slips.

Chalkboard paint can make for a great wall mural, like this calendar here. Chalkboard paint is now available in lots of colors so check with your paint supplier store as well as wallcovering companies.
Kids love art and giving them a "home office" will only encourage them. Flower pots painted and mounted on the wall so they can see all their supplies creates fun and color organization. Plus, they can clean up as they go.
Turn an armour into a desk by adding a pull out tray for a keyboard, holes in the back for power cords. Desk-top shelving will help you stay organized. Once you are done, close the doors to conceal the mess. (You know it's there but no one else will.)
Fun, fabric-wrapped metal sheets used in conjunction with magnetic tins can hold tiny office supplies like paper clips and staples. A ribbon box can house a power strip; just feed your electronic cords through the grommets.
If just a small surface is needed, double an existing piece of furniture like the hutch shown here or a sofa table to be your workspace.
Keep the space personal by using bright fabrics on a neutral desk. Create your own desk by using cabinet doors as the legs and an old door as the top. If the door was paneled, use a piece of glass on top.

Position yourself at a window if you will be working for long periods of time. Sunlight is proven to make people happier, so work in happiness.

What is your home office like? How often do you work at it? How do you personalize your space?
Leave it in the comments below!

Images from All You Magazine and marthastewart.com
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