How To Maximize Your Small Home Office Space

In today's changing economic landscape, many people are choosing to work from the comfort of their own homes rather than from an office. In fact, Forbes claims that many businesses can actually benefit from remote workers because they are not only more productive and healthier, but they also help the business spend less on office space and other work accommodations. Moreover, allowing workers to work remotely also gives business owners a larger variety of employees to choose from when looking for new staff. 

Therefore, as working from home continues to become a major trend, it may be time for you to create a dedicated work area within your home. Unfortunately, if you have a rather small living environment, adding a home office may be difficult. However, as National Business Furniture explains, there are plenty of modern design and furniture ideas that can help you maximize your small home office space.

Many people don't have the luxury of a spare room within their home; therefore, picking the right spot to convert into your home office is crucial for your concentration and work productivity. Life uncluttered mentions that literally any space in your home can be transformed into a home office, but you must ensure that whatever location you choose, you will not be disrupted by other family members during your working hours.

Money Crashers recommends several positions within your home that you could utilize and transform into the perfect home office space. For example, if you have a formal living or dining room that is rarely used, you can easily convert it to a home office. Converting a living or dining room also allows you to add elements of privacy to the area, which helps to eliminate distractions. Adding a built-in desk to your kitchen or breakfast nook area is another great way to add a home office to your home, especially when you want to be in a central location or to direct your household while you work. Alternatively, you can utilize other unused spaces, like a closet or loft, to create a small, isolated office without making major changes to the layout of your home.

If you don't have the time, money, or space to completely convert an area into a permanent office space, BDi shows that you can easily double the functionality of a space and make a convertible office. Having a dual-functioning home office is a great way to create a work-friendly environment with a limited amount of space and without taking away from the original space. For example, instead of having a full-sized desk that takes up a good portion of your living room, you can invest in a laptop table. BDi further claims that these types of tables a small yet sturdy, making them the perfect workspace if you tend to use a laptop to work. After work hours, these tables can also be used in a variety of other ways within your household, or simply placed in storage until your next workday.

You also have the option of investing in a dual-functioning piece of furniture. BDi specifically recommends a coffee table that extends upward into a desk. This allows you to use your living room, or any other comfortable space, as an office during your working hours. When you need to work, simply extend the table and use the room as an office space. Then, when you finish, you can put it back together and continue using the same room as a relaxing, work-free environment.

If you are reduced to a small office space within your home, one of the best ways to get the most out of that space is to reduce the clutter you may have on and around your workspace, suggests life uncluttered. If you tend to work in a very cluttered area, you may be surprised by the amount of space that can be revealed once the clutter is removed. Although this may sound easy to do, it can be especially difficult for those who have grown accustomed to working within the clutter. Becoming Minimalist, however, suggests several techniques that can help.

One of the easiest things you can do to reduce clutter is to limit the number of office supplies you have on your desk. You can instead take advantage of the space you have in desk drawers, cabinets, or even a closet. If your clutter happens to consist of a lot of paper, transferring documents into digital format is another great way to reduce clutter and protect important documents. Additionally, to keep your clutter to a minimum, at the end of each workday, becoming Minimalist highly suggests taking at least five minutes to clear up your workspace. This ensures that your home office doesn't built-up with clutter again, and makes it clean and ready to use for your next workday.

In a small home office, every bit of space counts. This means that although furniture is a necessary asset to your office space, too much can make the space feel overcrowded and uncomfortable. Conversely, not enough furniture leads to loose clutter around your workspace. Despite the challenge, however, Life uncluttered mentions that there is a way to get the best of both worlds, allowing you to continue using furniture within your home office while still keeping the space open and comfortable, which can easily be done with wall furniture. Depending on your personal preference, you can mount anything from cabinets, a floating desk, or even a computer monitor to your walls to clear up your working space.

If for some reason you can't or don't feel comfortable mounting furniture into your wall, another option is to invest in vertical furniture, like shelves or filing cabinets. Even though these types of furniture items will still take up space in your home office, they pack a large amount of storage within their small surface area.

According to life uncluttered, another way to make your home office space look and feel larger and more comfortable is by brightening up the area. However, it is not recommended to use floor lamps due to the extra space they need to function. Instead, try changing the room's light bulbs to LED lights or add a LED lamp to your desk or workstation. Natural lighting that streams in through windows is also a great way to brighten up your home office space.

This Old House also explains that using light colors to decorate your workspace, like white or other pastel colors, can also assist in making your home office look larger. This applies to both the wall colors and the color of the furniture you use. Some patterned items, like a rug or wallpaper, can still be used for decoration, but too many patterns in the room can disrupt the open and comfortable feel.