Very few of us have enough storage. But I am amazed at how often people overlook potential storage space that is a few steps away.
A closet not living up to its potential
Working with a client in her home office, we were exploring options for organized storage. As her workspace was in a spare bedroom, I checked out the closet, On the high built-in shelf office supplies where stacked to the ceiling. On the floor of the closet was a jumble of office miscellany. There was nothing in-between. Four to five feet of vertical storage space was unused. This situation is more common than you think.
Here are some tips on how to make the most of a nearby closet.
- Install shelves in your closet – in the space between the built-in top shelf and clothes rod and the floor. On these shelves you can store reams of paper, boxes of pens, printer cartridges, note pads and bulky seldom used binders. Make sure the shelves are strong enough to support heavy paper items.
- Use clear plastic bins for smaller items and group like things together: pens, pencils and markers, printer cartridges, scissors, paste and hole-punches. Label the containers to make retrieval easier.
- If you have a tall-ish spare bookcase, you can move that into the closet. Just make sure it is deep enough to hold what you need to store.
- Use shelves or a bookcase with shelves that are large enough to really meet your needs – not a small leftover piece of furniture or a stack of plastic crates.
- Place everything so they are visible and easy to reach.
One of the great features of closet storage- its out-of-sight until you need it.
Closet Shelving: sturdy, organized and visible
After installing a set of storage shelves in her office closet, my client was very happy having an organized space and getting her “stuff” out of the way of her work.
How have you adapted a closet to meet your home office or home studio needs? Share your successes and dilemmas with us.
You can learn more about office storage tips in The Smarter Home Office: 8 simple steps to improve your income, inspiration and comfort.
