Whether your office is in your home or just seems like home because you spend so much time there, you’ll be more comfortable if you decorate it as you would any other room in your house.
For my basement office, that meant brightening the dark room with lots of color and bringing in pieces traditionally found in other areas of the house. I also control clutter with an array of storage methods. First, I painted the walls a pale yellow and bought inexpensive cloth napkins to use as curtains, then coordinated those with a chair cushion.
I took a beloved farm table out of retirement to use as my desk and, to open the room and add interest, hung a collection of interesting mirrors on the wall behind it. Next, I added plenty of storage space by having kitchen cabinets and a countertop installed along one wall of the office. An assortment of painted baskets hold letterhead, mailing supplies and marketing material. These are kept inside an armoire, bought unfinished and stained to match the carpeting, chair cushion and curtains.
For those items that demand immediate attention, a rattan two-tiered in-box sits on the desk and another decorative basket is near the computer station to hold database edits. A wire wreath hangs on the door to keep things like invitations and tickets in clear sight.
Chris Madden, who wrote, Chris Madden’s Guide to Personalize Your Home: Simple, Beautiful Ideas for Every Room, herself often substitutes household objects for traditional office furniture and supplies. She works in a converted schoolhouse at a big glass table, which was in her dining room when she and her husband were first married.
Madden’s first office was in her home -- in her bedroom closet. Her desk was two file cabinets topped by her son’s closet door. She achieved a homey feel to the tiny space with decorative mirrors, antique pieces, and a basket of flowers. Three shelves above the desk held 12 straw baskets, which she purchased at a discount department store.
Baskets are ideal storage containers for the office because they can be found in a variety of sizes and they bring warmth to the environment. Madden adds her personal touch by lining the inside with pictures, postcards, children’s school papers and drawings.
“If you see one basket that you really like, get 10 of them if the price is right -- they give a uniformity to your shelves,” Madden said.
She also incorporates into her office trunks and boxes, which she buys at flea markets and antique stores.
Madden, who often finds herself juggling several projects simultaneously, avoids lost paperwork and mix-ups by color-coding each job. She assigns each one a particular shade of paper, so she knows for instance, that everything involving her latest book is written on purple paper.
She further keeps her activities separate with the help of six clipboards which hang on the office wall. These contain the schedules and information for each project. When she has to be out of the office on business, Madden grabs the appropriate clipboard, and everything she needs is right there.
Applying the personal touch to the office has several advantages. It makes the work environment more pleasant for you and your clients, it allows you to salvage unwanted household items to outfit your office inexpensively, and if you work in the home, a homey office makes it easier to reclaim the space for family use.
