office paperwork

Ask anyone who works from home, keeping personal and professional paperwork separate is a task in and of itself. Not to mention the number of distractions when working at home and the shuffle of paperwork moving back and forth from office to home. These challenges are just a few of the many facing professionals working part time or full time from home. The mountains of paperwork stacked up on the edge of the desk aren’t helping matters either. To make your time working in the home office as efficient as possible, we came up with a few quick tricks to think about when designing your custom home to keep papers tidy and make people think you’ve accomplished the impossible, a completely organized home office.

Front Open and Closed Cabinets

When you see a room full of closed or hidden storage, not only does it make the room feel smaller, it makes the impression that whatever is hiding within those drawers and cabinets is something you don’t want people to see. Maybe it’s sensitive information, maybe it’s the pile of paperwork you didn’t get to last week. Whatever your personal organization style, mixing open and closed cabinets makes space feel more open and light, and gives you an opportunity to keep those important papers in a safe place while staying organized. If someone sees your home office with open storage, they will assume you are the master of organization.

One Size Shelves Don’t Fit All

Different types of shelving for different organizational needs. Books, papers, bills, they are all different shapes and sizes. Your storage shouldn’t be one size fits all because, in some situations, one size fits none. When designing your home office, try to think of as many things you will keep in it as you possibly can. Vary your shelving size and width to accommodate for all types of books and paperwork. Consider a cleverly designed built-in filing cabinet to organize files like a business without looking like one.

Mixing Things Up With Multi-material Surfaces

Sticky notes are great for small notes and important reminders, but they only go so far. Have you ever had that moment where you know you wrote down something important on a post-it but now you can’t seem to find it anywhere? Make better use of your space with mixed materials for keeping notes, leaving reminders or visually looking at a project in process. Consider cork board features, a chalk wall, or accent push pin wall to make keeping notes during working hours organized and at the tip of your fingers.

Finding Files A Forever Home

For men and women that work from home consistently, it can be challenging to find a place for the years of past work and notes you should hold on to. You have options for these files and it’s up to you and your organization style to decide on the best strategy for you and your family. If clean and clutter-free is your preference, consider building space into the garage or add shelving up in the attic to hold those files you might not need to access again. If you prefer to keep all your information and documents in one place, consider deep drawers with two bottoms, one for holding sensitive information and one for every day access. For those extremely sensitive files, a safe is likely your best solution. Talk with your home designer to find out about built-in safes and other security features.

Part Ways with Paper

Of course, one way to cut down on the amount of paper in the office is by going digital. If this is your preferred method, you likely don’t have an issue with mountains of papers, but for those of us who still prefer the old paper and pen, you probably also have a printer in your office. One way to create more space for yourself is with a built-in storage shelf for things like the printer, a shredder, copier, and more. With all of these tools stored in one place, you can still easily access them, but they no longer take up desk space or valuable storage space you could better use for other materials.

With the right design team behind you, you can make working from home the most productive work you get done. Leave behind the home office with overflowing papers, miscellaneous post-its, and boxes of files. You can create a home office that is peaceful and productive. Ready to get started on your dream custom home and clutter-free office? Talk with one of our Carrington Homes design specialists and share your ideas with us! We’ll help walk you through the entire design process to create the home perfect for you and your family.

Carrington Homes

Carrington Homes

An award-winning builder, Carl and his team continue to share the same level of commitment when it comes to design, quality, workmanship, and scheduling.

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