Home Office Organization and Storage Ideas

Your home office is supposed to be your sanctuary. You should be able to close the door, put your headphones in, and get down to business crunching numbers, designing websites, or building your entrepreneurial empire. But how productive are you going to be if your workspace is covered in clutter, from textbooks down to random printed documents? Certainly not as productive as you could be!

When you organize your home office and create office supply storage for all your things, you’ll have a much easier time focusing on your work instead of hunting down your scissors or trying to remember where you put your printer ink. Essentially, an organized home office provides you with a clean slate so you can attend to business.

In our guide on how to organize your home office, we provide you with all the insider knowledge on creating storage solutions for your workspace. Follow along to find out how to implement the best storage for your home office.

Why You Need To Start Organizing Your Home Office

You might think you need to organize your home office just so it’ll look pretty to the eye, but there are actually a whole lot of other benefits to clearing up your cluttered workspace.

After all, did you know that clutter can make you less productive? It’s true, albeit crazy to think about, considering your work area is supposed to be the place where you’re the most productive! But that’s not all; clutter can also cause anxiety and even lead to feelings of depression. Again, these aren’t things you want to cope with when you’re trying to get your work done.

Of course, there are other benefits to organizing your home office. For example, when your space is orderly, you’ll know exactly where to find all your office supplies, meaning you won’t have to dig under piles of paperwork for your ruler or open every drawer to find that specific document. With an organized work area, you can focus more on doing your job and less on dealing with your mess.

Tips on How to Organize Your Home Office

Before we address some of our favorite storage tips for your home office, we have a few suggestions on how to prepare yourself (and your space) for this office makeover!

Take Inventory of What You Have

Whether you’re looking to start your home office from scratch or revamp the one you currently have, the first step in getting organized is to take inventory of what you already own. That involves sorting through your current home office storage solutions and seeing what supplies and furniture you have (or don’t have) on hand.

Yes, that means rummaging through your drawers and emptying your shelves. Do you have piles and piles of outdated documents that need shredding? Or an assortment of pens that no longer work? Toss or recycle the things that aren’t any good and make a note to replace them.

As for the things that are still usable or special to you, like your ergonomic desk chair and favorite paper weight, set them aside to incorporate into your new setup. The first step in organizing your space involves starting from scratch and only keeping items and supplies you truly need to avoid cluttering your home office from day one.

Determine What You Need

Now you should have a pile of things you want to include in your home office and a list of things you still need. For example, maybe you need a desk, file cabinet, highlighters, and paper for your printer.

While you don’t necessarily have to run out and get everything at once, knowing what you’ll eventually need to have a productive home office will be helpful down the road.

Assess Your Office Space

Before you begin implementing our home office storage ideas, it helps to know what kind of space you’re working with. Do you have room on the wall where you can place built-in shelves or a bookcase? Or is there enough space for a big desk with lots of drawers? Knowing what your blank canvas looks like will help when it comes time to figure out the most viable home office storage solutions.

Consider the Vibe You’re Going For

When deciding what home office storage ideas to add to your home office, it helps to have an idea of what you want your office to look like. Do you want it to be dark and rustic or light and airy? And do you prefer decorative aspects or only functional items? Look for inspiration in magazines and on social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram to find specific storage solutions that match the vibe you want.

Remember to Keep Your Space Tidy

Once you set up your space and choose the home office storage solutions that best suit your space, make a commitment to keeping it tidy. Put away supplies in their proper storage location after using them, and don’t let trash or other stuff clutter up your workspace. If you want to have a productive home office, you need to stay clean and organized from the very beginning.

Home Office Organization Ideas

Once you’ve completed the above recommendations, you’re all set to begin exploring these top home office organizing ideas. Experiment with these suggestions until you find what works best for your workspace.

Look for a Desk with Lots of Compartments

Perhaps the easiest and most convenient home office storage idea is to invest in a desk with plenty of drawers and compartments. The best part of this option is that all your supplies will be within arm’s reach when you need them.

To stay organized, dedicate each drawer or compartment to a specific thing. For example, your legal pads and pens can go in one, while your important docs and files can go in another. This way, you’ll always know exactly where everything is.

Consider a Secretary Desk

Limited on space? If that’s the case, look into space-saving options like a secretary desk. This style desk folds up, so the desk portion doesn’t take up so much room. If you decide to go this route, just be mindful of some of the storage space you may be losing. You may want to install shelves or cabinets along the walls to create more room to store your items.

Install Built-In Cabinets and Shelves

Built-in shelves and cabinets are game changers when it comes to storage space. Aside from placing your workbooks and textbooks on them, you can keep all kinds of items on the shelves, from your printer to file trays. The cabinets can store paperwork and items you’d like to keep tucked away. This home office storage solution can be tailored to your needs and preferences. You can customize the measurements, weight capacity, and design to store whatever you’d like while achieving the desired aesthetic appeal.

Incorporate a Bookshelf

You can also use stand-alone shelves to store your home office items and supplies. Add decorative elements, such as knick-knacks and picture frames, along with functional items like reference books.

A backless bookshelf is a great style to consider. Since this type of shelf is open on both sides, you could use it as a division between your office and another area of your home without making the space feel closed off.

Pick up a Filing Cabinet

If you’ve never had a filing cabinet before, then you probably don’t realize how much it comes in handy. Whether you opt for a small filing cabinet or a tall, towering one, you will rest assured knowing where your important files and documents, such as tax forms and the draft of your first novel, are living.

With everything conveniently filed away, you’ll never have to worry about paperwork cluttering your desk again, and you’ll have easy access to essential documents when you need them.

Invest in a Desk Organizer Tray

A desk organizer tray is another one of the easiest home office organization ideas on this list. These trays provide slots for all your desk supplies, such as your pens and pencils, stapler, scissors, paper clips, and even paperwork. They come with slots of different sizes to suit your needs. You can place them on the corner of your desk or tuck them in your desk drawer for easy access.

Check Out Stor-It Today

Organizing your home and finding appropriate storage solutions can sometimes seem like an uphill battle, but it’s not rocket science. Here at Stor-It, we’re here to make sense of it all for you. We’ll help you declutter your home, organize your things, and discover storage options like our convenient and affordable storage units. After all, we’re the oldest and largest storage facility in the Gem State, so we’re the experts in all things storage. Contact us today to learn more!