I also office out of the house. If you do not already have one, get an high quality chair. Also a desk with a keyboard tray is a must. My days can be very long and it is important to me to have proper ergonomics.
Definitely get a headset.It will save yout neck and free up your hands. I practically can't talk on the phone without one.
I also think it is useful to have an L shaped desk.
It won't work for me because of the windows and bookcases in my office, but I wish I had a whiteboard and buletin board.

I'm OK with my chair and keyboard. I have to be, as my hours can be long, too. I have a headset but don't use it unless I'm doing an interview. They are a lifesaver because I can talk and type at the same time.

I definitely need more storage. Is there anything more functional these days than filing cabinets? New ones can be so expensive! I've priced some office furniture online and holy cow...it is HIGH! I'm thinking I'll start on a budget -- like a door on a couple of filing cabinets OR a folding table with some file cabinets underneath.

I also want to arrange my workspace in an L-shape. I sometimes have to look at a huge 3-ring binder and make copies to an electronic version of the same material. With my current layout, it is extremely difficult. My printer needs a better spot, too. It works OK for printing, but it has a shelf above it so I have to slide it out if I'm going to raise the lid and manually copy something.

I have carpet, but I'm thinking of ripping it up and putting in some "loose lay" vinyl. Not sure how it would hold up. Later (a few years?), we have some salvaged pine wood flooring that I'd like to install.

My space is small -- just 10x12. I need storage for office supplies, too. Right now I have them stuffed into the closet, which is a pain. I guess I just need some ideas to get me going...

My main workspace now:

{{gwi:1559622}}

My recently-dismantled home office started out looking somewhat like yours.
I am right-handed.
Looks like your natural light source is from your left - so was mine, it was a sliding glass door.

I took down the shelving on top of the desk. Replaced it with sheet cork...then hung certs, pictures, and it was great for pinning up the calendar, to-do item's, etc. gets them off the desktop.

I made an L-shape to my left with a plain desk-high rectangular table that went back to the wall, giving me the corner for my laptop. The tower went on the floor - under the table (along with paper for the printer that sat on an old cube end-table, the printer went on top of the table.

This takes a lot off the desktop...room for doing current work.

I used the floor space under the desk for more storage, had a couple of CD towers that sat on the floor next to the desk for storage.

Books went into a tall wicker bookshelf that I had bought at Pier-1 years ago.

My room was more rectangular, and my TV was against the far right wall, with a small sofa and coffee table for meeting with customers.

I think I will ditch that shelving, monica. Good idea. I'ts really just "junk" up there. Nothing I use daily.

What I'm thinking is that I'll pull the desk away straight back from the wall it faces and move it to the center of the room. By leaving the TV and stand where it is, I can move my desk to the right about 2'.

I think I need a short (length, not height) work table to make my L on the left like you said. Then I'm thinking about a longer worksurface along the right-hand wall for the laptop and projects that take more room. The entire work zone would end up being kinda U-shaped, but the one on the left (which is closest to the door) wouldn't be a whole side of the U. (Does that make sense?)

If I pull my desk far enough away from the wall it currently faces, I think I'll put a futon or small sofa there.

One thing I like about having a computer away from the wall (instead of where mine is) is that the cords are out where I can get to them. The bad thing is that the cords are out where everyone can see them. :-)

Rita - Can you utilize the closet for the file cabinets? That would give your more floor space. Of course that doesn't work if you're using your closet for a closet!

Do you have a Staples or Office Max near you? We purchased our file cabinets there and since we were putting them inside our closet we bought floor models that were scratched along the side. Couldn't see the scratches in the closet. And we did buy extra heavy duty ones, with strong drawer glides and supports.

both my dil and dd2 work from home and what they did was get privacy without being cut off. dd2 has double french doors, while dil has a single french door. it's perfect for the days when kids are home, or the family want to watch tv in the respective lrs...both can "see" what's happening...

dil has what looks like to me, double computers..one laptop and one pc and a "port"...the laptop goes with her anytime they go "north" (mi talk for going to a cabin, lol)so she doesn't miss anything...dd2 just has 2 laptops...

We do have a Staples, and I will check there for damaged goods. Think I'll pay a little more for heavy duty file cabinets, because I've seen some at Walmart that are just junk. We also have an office supply store, so I may check there for something used.

Damage doesn't bother me!!! I understand what you're saying, mcmann, about having them out, but they'd be much handier for me if I could get to them. Then I can use my closet storage for personal projects -- scrapbooks I'm never going to put together, quilts I'm never going to make, you know the kind of stuff I'm talking about! LOL!

With no kids and DH working a regular job, I don't have a privacy issue. Just me and my PJs...

In our computer room (that used to be a bedroom) we kept the twin-size bed and converted it to a daybed. We took off the headboard and I bought daybed-type bolster pillows with covers to match a new comforter. I also bought a new tailored bedskirt in a contrasting color. Now if we need an extra bed we have it, and we also use it as a couch. It's great for curling up on and reading.

I have shelving on the wall above the computer that you buy in pieces at Lowes, etc. The adjustable shelving. You can buy as many shelves as you want and make them all different heights and lengths. And on the wall in the corner next to my desk I have a large cork bulletin board.

Greetings okwriter,

Maybe you can find file cabinets in the classifieds (or craigslist) from an office being relocated, etc. I like the idea of getting heavy-duty ones ... and for hanging files (but not so old/experienced as to be hung over).

When we were in Korea we bought a sofa from a Southern Prebyterian missionary in a city nearby that was a pullout double bed, which was quite comfortable, MIL reported when she came to visit, or Sue and I found when one of us was ill.

A door (scrap one found out with garbage)(1) sitting atop a couple of 2-drawer file cabinets could make you a good side-desk, if there is room. Or a heavy (part-)sheet of plywood.

Good wishes for getting the set-up that fits your needs.

ole joyful

1. If you've acted on my Christmas gift suggestion of several recent years, to write names of everyone known since kindergarten, with contact info, plus various items of info re training, experience, interests, hobbies, skills, vacation destinations and other items that might be of interest to you, perhaps put the word out over that list as to the things that you are seeking, or a sub-section of it relating to people living within 25? 50? mi. of your location, as you choose.

o j

I wish you were closer, OKwriter, I have a basement full of office equipment to dispose of, it is free for the taking. Several 2 drawer filing cabinets and a half dozen 4 drawer ones, at least 3 or 4 desks. Want to make a road trip to PA?

Yes -- but not to haul furniture. :-)

And yes, littlebug, I need some wall shelving to get this stuff up off of the floor. The bed in here now is a full size, but I will dismantle it and slide it right under our California King in the master BR. The full-sized mattress is a Select Comfort, so I can always use that for unexpected guests. We have a day bed in the other spare BR, which doubles as DHs office. I'd like to just swap the two out, but that room is even fuller than mine...he keeps all of his baseball collectibles in there. It's not out of the realm of possibilities, though. :-)

These suggestions are helping me visualize layout and issues with it, so thank you. It's also motivating me to do something sooner rather than later.

I had to move my office into the "spare" bedroom when we inherited our grandson. I got rid of the queen size bed and put in a wall bed. Freed up a lot of space and the only thing I have to move in order to let the bed down is the computer chair. We have shelving on both sides of the wall unit and that helps with storage. The nice part about it is, we can take it with us if we ever move.

How important is it to keep this room, which you use for your business, as a multi-functional room? Could you "put yourself first" and convert it to being only your office?

That's what we're doing. Our office is 11x12 ft. It will hold a corner or L-shaped desk, a tall bookcase, a comfy reading chair, and a wall lamp. I need open, uncluttered space to "think," LOL, and I need all the thinking help I can get.

There's a 30"x8' closet along the wes wall, one window on the north wall, and one door on the south wall. We've removed the two bifold closet doors and the small (12") wall area between them. We're putting slider doors in. The closet will be fitted with a clothes bar, floor-to-ceiling adjustible shelves, and a heavy-duty file cabinet. There'll be enough storage for all our "business" stuff by 100%; the doors will keep it "out of sight" except for the things we use daily.

I have a "nothing goes on the floor but our feet" policy in the house. I like to be able to sweep or vacuum unimpeded.

This is only a suggestion, but I don't like keeping the CPU on the floor. It sucks in dust and hair from the floor, you have to struggle to access it, and you can't keep a close eye on the connections. Could you get a desk that has a lower shelf to hold the CPU, possibly on the L-area? Or set it on a shelf above the desk?

I like to have the surge protector box with all the plugs near the monitor or on an elevated shelf by the CPU. I want to see the condition of the cords at all times. I admit, I have a cord/safety phobia; I label each plug, coil the cords to control the slack, and secure them with zip ties. That eliminates a lot of the "cluttered" look, too. No cords on the floor!

Is it possible to completly empty your office and then replace each of your needed items in the order and places you want to use them?

P.S. "Do as I say, not as I do" applies here, too. DH will be using this as his dressing room for his office-work clothes only. That's why the large storage closet will include the hanging bar and a dresser. Still, nothing will be out in the room that suggests it's anything except an office library.

If hubby were to build the wall/Murphy bed I want, I may consider putting that in the office. It would take up 16" of the floor space and could be used by the rare company that can't use the basement bedroom.

We have a small sleeper sofa that sleeps 1 or 2 small frys in the office. We have Client files in Cardboard File Boxes stacked in a closet. When we had a "special" project we used a temporary table for stacking, folding, stabling, hole punching and folder assembling. Then when it wasn't in use put in in the closet.

If it was piled with stacks of paper right now, I post a picture. LOL!

I have a huge 2 Drawer Lateral file cabinet I wish I could get to you. It is just taking up space. We don't use it.

Gayle

A wall bed...now there's an idea! I'd be afraid it might not hold me! Then again, I could use it as a worksurface and keep a twin memory foam rolled up in the closet and use it for a bed if needed. Hmmmmmm...

I have a "nothing goes on the floor but our feet" policy in the house. I like to be able to sweep or vacuum unimpeded.

LOL! I need one of those policies!! And it sounds like your room will be multi-functional, too, since your DH will use it as a dressing room. I don't like my CPU on the floor, either. I have to admit that the futon/day bed (or whatever I end up with) *might* be used by me...to nap in...occasionally... :-)

Gayle, did you like using the lateral file cabinet? I've considered one of those but never used one.