Creating a Small Home Office Area and Craft Room Combination

Even if it is a small space to perch with a laptop, a home office space is an essential part of the home.  As I mentioned in a previous post, our former working spot has been taken over by a bookcase so I needed to find a new space to work (besides the coffee table or dining room table).

Fortunately the art/music room has a relatively unused surface at the back which I think may make the perfect spot.  So we are currently sorting out the art/music room once again in order to accommodate a bit of a home office.

Photo by Tim Gouw

The office/craft area is a bit like a basement in its feel, so there are a few things we have needed to take into consideration:

• Storage - We have decided to work with open plan storage for all the art supplies so that the counter tops can be clear for work and the area will hopefully feel less cluttered. I took all the art supplies out of the room and sorted them into categories. We now have most of the items stored in clear plastic containers so that they will be easily visible on the shelves when we need them. I have also asked myself the question, “Why am I keeping this?” to help me get rid of things that are no longer being used as well as to group the supplies into “kits” for each activity. For example, all the card/tag making items are stored together in a plastic container and all the scrapbooking supplies are now in a portable bag.  We also moved a small drawer unit into the office area to house supplies there.
• Lighting- The room currently has a small single bulb fitting which is in a very high ceiling. I think some track lighting that can be angled towards the work surfaces would probably be more helpful. For the moment a higher wattage bulb has done the trick!
• Heating- We need to have a heater as the space is quite cold, particularly at night.
• Traffic flow/Seating Arrangements – We need to be able to seat two crafters side by side at the arts and craft surface as well as a third person in the home office area. I would also like to include a comfy reading chair for perusing our art inspiration books or just having a cup of tea.
• Art Display – I would like to include an area for displaying our creations. The long wall opposite the crafting surface has plenty of space for putting up art and craft projects. I am also thinking of some space above the crafting and office areas for inspirational quotes and pictures that we can see while we are at work.

So far our art room/home office is working out beautifully – mainly thanks to my husband sorting out our storage needs by putting up shelves.  Where do you like to do your home office work? How is your home office space working for you?

De-Cluttering Electronic Clutter

I must confess I am not very good at cleaning up electronic clutter. We recently backed up our computer, and there are quite a number of documents and images that are no longer necessary or useful – the exact definition of clutter!

Image by Luis Llerena

In my mission to clean up my electronic clutter, and I intend to use the following strategies:

1. Unsubscribe from e-mail lists. This is perhaps one of the most useful tips on avoiding electronic clutter in the first place. I used to just delete unwanted e-mail, but now I take the trouble to find the link at the bottom of the message and actually unsubscribe myself from mail I don’t have time to read or am no longer interested in receiving. It has made a massive difference to my inbox!
2. Delete items that are no longer necessary.  I tend to hoard up e-mails that have been read in case I want to read them again. However these must really go as well as blurry and duplicate photographs and documents that are outdated and no longer useful.
3. File e-mails, documents and photographs efficiently.  I am quite good at keeping documents and e-mails in labeled folders but somehow our photographs have got into a mess. I think it will be helpful to get all digital photos in one place and file them in folders that make sense (either in date order or by occasion).
4. Keep back-ups. This needs to be a scheduled or regular routine, not a random and haphazard event. I am quite good about keeping electronic photos in more than one place, but it needs to be a more intentional process. If backing –up is routine then cleaning up before backing up might also become routine.

These strategies seem simple, but I suspect like all clear ups they might end up being time consuming and require a lot of thought.  But as with all clean ups, I am sure the time and effort will yield results and get easier as it becomes more routine.

What are your tips for keeping on top of electronic clutter? What are your thoughts on how to keep effective back-ups of photos and documents?