Creating a Home Office

[filiadeluna]

I am in the process of decluttering our spare room, and I would like to make it into a home office. I have a small vintage desk with seven drawers, a 6ft tall bookshelf, a 3ft tall metal tool organizer with multiple drawers - I have each drawer labeled: writing utensils, office supplies, computer paper, notebook paper, index cards, labels, decorative paper, etc. Thinking of finding a better solution for those items and re-purposing the organizer elsewhere.

I also have a fold-up futon bed, a nightstand, and a curio cabinet in there. I need to store my laptop computer and 3-in-1 printer, and have a place to do curriculum planning and organizing resources for clients. As you can see in my siggy, I'm a birth doula, childbirth educator, etc.

I want to keep dangerous/fragile things out of reach of little hands too, as I have a 15-month-old running around.

I need some tips/ideas for arranging it, decorating, organizing, etc. Inspirational stories/photos of your home office welcome!

Thanks!

[Katie T]

I say to try to utilize wall space, it makes it toddler proof and you can find some nice looking organizers.
Some thing like this http://www.homefurniture2go.com/prod...2A02A02-IXA838
Of course you can build it yourself really easy and not choke on the price tag lol

Or do cabinets off free cycle or craigs list for cheap.

Sounds like a fun project!

[dbsam]

We used to have our study (home office) in a spare bedroom. It had a typical closet on one wall with bi-fold doors. My husband built in a desk surface for the computer with two rows of cubbies across the top and shelves on one side of the bottom. There were also shelves for the printers and a small tv. When I was done working, I could roll in the chair and close the doors. My papers, supplies, and often my mess, were un-seen and the children stayed out of the closet. In the rest of the room we had a cherry desk which was a great work surface, club chair, drafting table, and one wall of floor to ceiling bookshelves. We changed the door from a traditional six panel door to a French door so I didn't feel like I was closed in a bedroom and had more light in the room. It was a very comfortable functional space.

We've since turned it into my son's bedroom so our study is now in the basement and is a more casual, family area.