Tips for Organizing Your Home Office
Are you one of those people that tends to let paperwork pile up on your desk, and you just keep adding to it instead of dealing with the problem? Do you have trouble finding the files or tools you need because of all the clutter? If so, don’t feel ashamed—we’ve all been there too.
Whether it’s big or small, your home office should be a calm, productive work environment for you. Here at Red Rose Cabinetry, we are firm believers in optimizing spaces with storage. Office storage cabinets are our favorite method of organization, but we’ve put together a few more tips to give you some additional home office storage ideas.
Create Space for Organizing Your Mail
The biggest culprit of desk disorganization—mail. It’s so easy to come home, grab the mail, and toss it into your office to “file later.” But later turns into tomorrow, which turns into next week, and soon you have a month’s worth of mail stacked up all over your desk.
You won’t want to shove unorganized mail into a cabinet in your office quite yet, but you also don’t want it scattered about and to become overwhelming. Our favorite method of consolidating mail is to elevate your storage—literally—with a wall organizer. All you need are a few wall storage bins and labels (think “to file” or “bills” to keep things separated), and you’ll be good to go!
Use Small Containers as a Catch-All
Does your home office desk have a “junk drawer” where you have a mess of miscellaneous items? If so, don’t fret, because we’re not going to tell you to get rid of it!
All of those random paperclips, pencils, push pins, etc. should still have a place to live in your desk area. Even if they remain in the same drawer, try using small containers to organize items by type. Not only will this help you find things faster, but it will also keep your drawers looking tidier (and simpler to clean) since all of your “junk” isn’t rolling around loose.
Implement Pegboard Decorating & Organization
One of our favorite home office storage ideas is one of the most simple to implement into your space—a pegboard!
It may sound strange, but hanging a pegboard on your wall will allow you to easily decorate your office without making any massive changes. You can add shelves for books and files, add hanging baskets for organizing things, and even add small touches of personal items to make it your own. The ideas are virtually endless.
Organize Your Cords and Electronics
If the back of your desk looks like an electronic war zone, cleaning up your cords is a big must for your home office organization. Not only is it good practice for your office, but it’ll also help keep your family and pets safe from any possible accidents. Depending on your setup and whether or not you already have office storage cabinets, cable management can be done in several ways.
First, unplug all of your cords and either mount your power strip under your desk or inside of one your storage cabinets (make sure your desk has a hole for cables to go in and out first). A tried and true method to keep cords organized is to use zip ties or Velcro straps to wrap up any excess wire length and to keep things from tangling. You can also use colored masking tape to label each wire, so you don’t accidentally unplug the wrong cord!
This all may seem like a daunting task, but we promise the lack of clutter will help you breathe easy when it’s all done.
Utilize Built-In Cabinets
Speaking of built-in cabinets, if your office doesn’t already have them, you should talk to us. Having office storage cabinets can be a game-changer for home office organization, primarily if you work from home a lot. Not only will they likely give you more space in your office, but they also add a sense of simplicity to your home.
Whether you’re looking for an elaborate cabinet setup or something simple and elegant, Red Rose Cabinetry has budget-friendly cabinets with semi-custom and stock cabinets available. We’ll help you make the right choices every step of the way!
Start Labeling Your Boxes
Once you have office storage cabinets, you don’t want to start stuffing them full of loose papers and knick-knacks. Just like your junk drawer, you’ll want to make sure everything has a home. We’ve found that the best way to do that is to use boxes.
Now, we’re not talking about just throwing everything into a cardboard box and calling it a day. Think more like storage bins, each with a label and category. All of your files can be organized by year so come tax time, you won’t have to worry where to look. You can even double up boxes if they fall into a similar category!
Organizing can be a hassle, but at the end of the day, it will bring you and your family peace of mind when everything has its place. Your home office storage ideas no longer have to be a faraway dream when you work with Red Rose Cabinetry. With fully custom, semi-custom, and stock cabinet options, we have office storage cabinet solutions to fit any budget. Contact us today or give our showroom a tour to learn more.
