3 Tips for Keeping an Organized Home Office

my top + jeans + hat + bracelets  ||  harper’s top + shorts + bracelets

Our home office is honestly one of my favorite spaces in our home. It’s clean lines, floor length windows, and relaxing design are my favorite. When we built our home, I knew that I wanted our office to be able to be a versatile workspace for the whole family. Our kids can do home work and projects. I can do work calls and meetings. And Joe can do research and planning. It was important to me that we had plenty of storage space that blended seamlessly with the overall design.  The built in cabinets worked perfectly for us! With them being floor to ceiling, we are able to utilize that wall for storage space for kids arts and crafts, paper storage, gift wrap, and more.  

Aside from that wall of storage, I really wanted to keep everything else simplistic. We utilize house plants to bring a natural and homey element to the space, but everything else is clean and sleek.  Here are three ways I think we’re able to achieve this clean, organized look in our office space.

: GO PAPERLESS WHERE POSSIBLE

This may be the most important tip of all. I’ve spoken about it before when I talk about our home intake stations. Eliminate what you bring inside the house.  It is the most helpful thing you can do.  When you get your mail, stand by your recycling bin and/or shredder and get rid of 90% of that junk mail.  There are very few things that you need to keep. So, my biggest tip is to opt for paperless billing and statements. Get more organized in your email inbox, so that you don’t need to have stacks of papers all over your home and office.

similar rug  |  chairs + similar  |  art  |  desk planter

: INVEST IN HIDDEN STORAGE 

Our floor to ceiling cabinetry is on one end of the spectrum, but there are so many ways that you can incorporate hidden storage into your home office space. Keep items that are normally on your desk hidden away. It helps the space to feel more clarifying.  The more you can see, the more overwhelmed you may feel.  I definitely recommend having a desk with drawer(s) so that you can store things like pens, notepads, staplers, blue light glasses, etc. Many times you can find bureaus with pull out drawer storage for files as well as cabinets for baskets or bins of materials and those can make beautiful centerpieces for an office with artwork above and plants on top.

: KEEP FILE FOLDER TABS ON ONE SIDE 

This is an easy tip that I think many overlook.  When you clean out and organize your file storage, instead of alternating where the “tab” is on the folder (many packs come with left, middle, and right adjusted tabs), put them all on one side so that you can easily skim through to find what you need or alphabetize.  Not only does this streamline the look of your files overall, but it’s much easier to find what you need!

Are you working from home?  What’s your favorite hack for keeping a clean office space at home?