Just a few years ago, the very concept of working from home could have struck you as somewhat alien – the kind of thing you might have only expected to be able to do in extraordinary circumstances.
Of course, extraordinary circumstances have since happened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – resulting in a situation where, at home, you could be essentially forced to create storage space you had previously never expected to need. Here are some especially clever ways you could go about it…
Install floating shelves
This works well for one simple reason above all: it takes up wall space rather than table surfaces. Hence, you don’t so much have to fret about such shelf-friendly office items as books and binders – important though they might be – sacrificing valuable space on your computer workstation.
Also, Eva Leone, Studio Director at Lawson Robb, notes to LUXlife: “If you like to collect design objects or other accessories, installing floating shelves is an attractive way to make sure they are put on display without creating clutter and can even become an art piece in their own right.”
Create a filing system for your paperwork
Paper documents aren’t entirely suitable for storing on a shelf – so, where could you put them instead? Simple: in a filing system you could reveal simply by pulling out a drawer. When you keep each of your papers filed in the right place, you should be able to find them relatively easily as and when you need them.
Another interior expert – in this instance, James Ashfield, Studio Manager at Rigby & Rigby – explains to LUXlife: “Filing systems integrated within bespoke joinery will hide filing in the most sophisticated ways.”
Optimise space if your home office is particularly small
There are various little hacks you could try to free up more space in a compact home office. For example, if your office desk is currently just a tabletop, think about swapping it for a desk with drawer space, as Homes & Gardens suggests. You could also install shelves on the walls if they are looking a little bare.
However, is this particular part of your home really the largest where you can place a home office? You might be able to relocate it to the loft. Perhaps you could ask a company like Instaloft to install raised loft boarding that would increase the amount of floor space available in your home?
Set up a ‘cloffice’
Your home office might currently be in a room that isn’t exclusively an office, like your living room or a bedroom. This situation can pose extra challenges when it comes to figuring out how and where to free up extra space.
You might, however, be able to overcome many of these challenges just by assembling and fitting out a hideaway cabinet known as a ‘cloffice’. Real Homes shows an example of one, and explains: “By day, the doors can be open to provide you with a fully-functioning home office; by night, you shut the doors and hide it all away.”