Work At Home Safari

With a little creativity and a frugal budget in mind, you can create a home office that you can be proud of.  Here’s how.

With so many people working at home nowadays, a home office has become an essential space in many homes. The guest bedroom may be replaced by a home office, but not everyone has a big budget for creating a work-at-home space.  And few people can afford to pay a professional decorator or space planner come into their home and design an efficient and productive home office.

If you are on a shoestring budget, don’t worry because there are lots of ways to create a great space for working at home without spending a fortune. Read on and we’ll give you some ideas to get you started.  You may surprise yourself and end up feeling a great sense of accomplishment after turning some wasted space into an efficient stay-at-home office.

• Identify Your Space

If you’re lucky enough to have a room in your house that is currently empty or unused and can turn it into your home office, the task just got easier.  The most important thing to a good home office is to make use of whatever space you have, whether it’s an empty breakfast nook, a small closet, a spare room, or an unused corner of the living room.  For best results, find a space that can be fully dedicated to a home office. You’ll be a lot more productive if you don’t have to move your stuff to and from that area every morning and night.

• Have a Plan

It can be very tempting to just dive in and move furniture around until the space works, but if spend a little time actually measuring your space, measuring your furniture, thinking it through, and creating a floor plan, you will be much more satisfied with the final result.

• Do It Yourself

This is a good time to explore your creative side by figuring out what you can do yourself.  Not only will it give your work-at-home space a personal touch, it will save you money. Most likely your home office space will not be too big, so consider painting the walls yourself. Adding a fresh, vivid color or cool, calming color will set the tone for your work space.  You don’t have to be a professional painter either because most of the walls will most likely be covered up with furniture, paintings, and paper anyway.

• Reuse Items You Already Have

Before hitting the store, look around your house for furniture and accessories you already have that might fit into your home office décor.  Is there an end table in the family room that you can use as a printer table?  Is there an old bookcase you can use for papers, supplies, and books?  Go shopping at home first.  You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find at bargain prices.

• Build Your Own Desk

No, I haven’t gone off the deep end.  My office is in a spare bedroom and even though I can close the door to my office, I still wanted a presentable desk.  I bought a wood door at a local hardware store and secured it on top of two wooden saw horses.  Voilà … instant desk.  The nice thing about using the door is it had a precut hole for the knob which I use to run my computer and other cords through.  To make it pretty, I spent some time staining the door and saw horses.  I got myself a professional looking desk on a dime.

• What Else Can You Make?

What other ways can you use inexpensive materials to create shelves, filing systems, corkboards, etc.?  Use an old sugar bowl to hold paper clips and a photo album to stash business cards.  Buy hanging shoe racks to hold papers, scissors, staplers, books, and more.  Be creative.

• Check the Paper for Garage Sales

You’d be amazed what you can find at garage sales, consignment stores, flea markets, and even Goodwill. It seems that people are always getting rid of desks, chairs, and book shelves.  You never know what you just might find.  Clean the pieces, sand them down, and paint all of them the same color to give them a cohesive look.  Your friends will be surprised that you did not buy them as a matching set.  If you don’t like hand-me-downs, then keep your eyes open for furniture sales (usually around major holidays) or check the web.

• Recycle Used Furniture

Ask your friends and family if their office or any other business in their building is renovating.  If so, you might be able to score some great quality furniture for little money.  Upscale hotels redecorate guest rooms every 4 or 5 years, so there might be a chair or desk in your future.  Also, ask your own company if they’d be willing to part with some old furniture.  Of course, ask your neighbors to let you know if they’re getting rid of things and hopefully they’ll let you have first pick before they set up the garage sale.

Used office furniture stores are popping up everywhere.  Check your local listings and be sure to take your measurements with you when shopping.  Many of these places do not accept returns, so don’t waste your time or money by getting a piece that won’t fit in your new office. 

• Bargain Hunting for New Items

Close-out centers, outlet malls, scratch and dent furniture centers, lighting showrooms, and home decorating centers offer an amazing assortment of items at deeply-discounted prices. Also, consider buying floor models.  You might be surprised to find a beautiful desk with a small, hidden scratch at more than half-off.

• Organize a Swap Meet With Friends and Neighbors

Oprah dedicated a whole episode on swapping with neighbors.  Everyone wants to redecorate their home, but in today’s economy, that might not be possible.  Consider trading pieces of furniture with a neighbor or even the neighborhood.  If you have a kitchen table that doesn’t quite fit in your home, why not trade it for a desk that you need? Or do you have children’s furniture that your kids have outgrown?  Trade it with a neighbor that could use that old crib, in exchange for some bookshelves. You could also swap services for furniture.  Offer your sewing or painting skills for someone who can build you a desk.  Everyone has something of value that they can offer.

• Get Ideas Online

There are so many ideas online for do-it-yourself home office makeovers.  Read about Nate’s Swap Meet on Oprah or the many other ideas from HGTV.com.

If you’re working full-time from home, be sure to have adequate lighting, music, and comfortable seating. Bring in plants and inspiring photographs. After all, you will be spending a lot of time in this new home office; it should be an enjoyable and personalized space.

You might also like:

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2. Is the Lighting in Your Home Office Sufficient?
3. How to Structure and Schedule Your Day