Organizing NYC Home Office – Makeover Completed

My NYC home office is organized and the makeover is finally complete!  As with many home office organizing projects in NYC, it took longer than I would have liked but the end result was well worth the wait.  I experienced many of the same challenges that my clients face when tackling their home office or paper organizing projects.  You may think that I would be able to breeze through re-organizing the storage closet, determining the best location for my frequently used office supplies, organizing my papers and quickly identifying those items that needed prime real estate.  In reality, I had a limited amount of time to devote to organizing my NYC home office and needed to make all of the decisions concerning how best to utilize the space by myself.  All of these decisions took a lot more time that I anticipated.  At times I wished that I had a “me” coaching me through the decision making process. By breaking the remaining tasks into a series of small steps, I was able to complete the makeover and start enjoying my re-organized NYC office space.

The Overview

If you saw the before shots, you may remember that my home office takes up about a quarter of the space in our den.  My objective was to create a more productive work environment by re-organizing storage closet, increasing my desk space and adding much needed file cabinets.

After:

• Traded in my desk for a larger model so there is now more desktop space
• Replaced my desktop computer with a second laptop that is stored in the desk drawer when not in use
• Identified all items that needed to be kept in my prime office real estate and then positioned them accordingly
• Upgraded my landline phone with a cordless model that takes up less space and has a speaker
• Moved the printer to the other side of the room so that space at the desk wasn’t so cramped
• Set up an in box for mail so that it can be opened when I’m ready to do so
• Added 4 shelves to my storage closet so my file archives and office supplies now have designated storage space
• Purchased a 2 drawer lateral file cabinet and rolling file cabinet for under my desk
• Designated specific space in the cabinets for action, reference and archive files
• Relocated small office supplies to the storage closet and designated appropriate storage containers