Office Furnitures

Posts Tagged ‘Arrange the furniture’

As a computer technician, I am surprised by the many home offices that I visit that are arranged in a haphazard order with old furniture. With some simple rearranging and budgeting, you can make your home office functional and stylish.

1. Designate a room to be used for the office and just for the office. This is important. Just as you don’t have a bed in your living room (sofa sleepers excluded) you should have only office furniture in your office, and every piece should serve a purpose.

2. In designing a home you have two options: you can use furniture from relatives and friends or you can save for and purchase new furniture. If you really want to be able to design your office, I recommend saving your money and purchasing new furniture. Although you might be tempted to just get some old office furniture from a yard sale, leave the room empty and let ideas fill your mind on how to utilize the space.

3. Picture it. Try to visualize what you want your office to look like and then look online and in catalogs for furniture that matches your tastes and preference. Once you found the furniture you want, you may have to decide between picking it up locally and putting it together yourself, or having it delivered and put together for you.

If you choose the latter, budget for it in your savings. If possible try to theme your furniture. If a collection exists that offers everything you are looking for in furniture and style, go with that collection.

4. Create it. Once you have your furniture, arrange the furniture to your liking, but these things in mind: is everything accessible? Can I get to everything without having to move anything? In designing your office, every piece of equipment should have a place for itself: computer, printer, LCD monitor, shredder, filing cabinet for papers, laptop, etc.

Don’t crowd an area, and experiment with placement.
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Furnishings in a home office should be set up so that they work efficiently and comfortably. Here are some tips for getting the job done.

1. Draw the outlines of the office or office space to scale on graph paper. A scale of 1/4 inch equals 1 foot usually works well.

2. Mark anything that would affect your arrangement: electrical outlets, phone jacks, light switches, windows, doors that open into the room, windowsill heights and so forth.

3. Make same-scale paper cutouts of your furniture and shift them as needed until a likely arrangement emerges.

4. Think about how you like to work. Some people must face the door or have a window view; others prefer to have fewer distractions.

5. Be sure you have ample light regardless of where you put your desk, drafting table, reading chair or other primary roosting place.

6. Analyze what you do most frequently and situate the furnishings accordingly. If you often search through file cabinets or reference books, keep them accessible.

7. Place an ample surface for note taking near the telephone.

8. Try to arrange the furniture in such a way that pieces viewed as a unit don’t show dramatic shifts in height and mass as the eye sweeps the room. If a tall bookcase is next to a low desk, hang a picture above the desk for balance.

9. Don’t put any obstacles (including a wastebasket) near a chair on wheels. You don’t want to whack your shins or scatter trash every time you shift position.

10. Set up an area for meeting with clients if this is part of your home office needs. This can usually be a small table with two or more chairs; stacking chairs can be useful if space is at a premium.

11. Make the best use of storage, which is often in limited supply in the home office. If storage is at a premium, think about what you seldom use and move it to another storage area, such as the garage, attic or basement; consider installing a high shelf in the room – perhaps above the window or the closet door – for occasional-use reference books and supplies (extra file folders, computer paper).