The Home Office that isn’t an Office.
In an ideal world we would all have a house big enough to have a dedicated home office where we can sit and do our “paperwork”. Somewhere we can write letters using a quill and ink and generally luxuriate in a wooden panelled room on a leather chair with an antique desk surrounded by first edition novels. But in reality space is at a premium and while we apparently live in a “paperless society” we certainly haven’t managed it in our house!
So what are the options? Well I’ve narrowed it down to 3 depending on whether you a) actually do really want an office b) you don’t really want an office but realise you probably need some kind of storage/organisational system for paperwork c) you actually do not need an office and just need somewhere safe to keep your birth certificate, passport and car insurance docs.
a) Office in a Wardrobe. If you live in a military quarter this is probably a viable option as one thing you are never short of is wardrobes. So I would propose sacrificing one of the built in wardrobes or cupboards and making it into your lovely office. This is also ideal for teenage rooms. Here are some lovely ideas:
b) A Bureau. The French have got it sorted, forget the office get a bureau! The beauty of Bureaus is that they are small, you can fit them into loads of places; spare bedrooms, sitting rooms, hallways. You can close the front and no one can see inside and the best bit (in my opinion) is that they are relatively cheap to pick up and you can paint them any colour you like.
c) Clever storage. This is easy peasy. You can match it to your room scheme and you can change it on a whim. This is the kind of thing I’m talking about and although it does involve a little bit of DIY/upcycling, I think it’s a fab idea:
Hopefully this gives you all a few ideas of how to make some practical use of your home and the best thing is it’s all completely removable, so it can be packed up and moved on with you.