How to Create a Home Office in a Small Space

Not everyone is blessed with oodles of space in their home just waiting to be turned into a home office. And with many people now having the option of working from home, finding the space for a workstation can be difficult.

If you have very little space in your home but need an area to work or study from, then this week’s home moving blog will give you plenty of great ideas to maximise the available space you do have.

Setting up a home office in a small space requires some creative thinking, but you will be surprised by just how much useable space is available when you really start to look.

How Do You Make a Home Office in a Small Space?

Ideally, you will need a workspace that is separate from the rest of the family, somewhere where you cannot be disturbed or distracted.

This may not be possible if space is limited, but using something like noise-canceling headphones means that you could use a space that you thought would be unsuitable.

When planning your home office think of the vertical space that you can utilise, think of multi-functional areas or pieces of furniture, and how you can disguise or shut away the office space if you need to.

Having a well-organised workspace will mean you need less space and your home will look tidier too, so look for storage options that are not only functional but blend into their surroundings.

Use a slimline office chair or dining chair. The big office chairs with arms are bulky and take up a huge amount of space.

Tips For Creating a Home Office in a Small Space.

#1 Declutter Your Home

It is amazing how much space you can free up just by decluttering your home.

Get rid of all the things you no longer need or love.

If you need to create your office space on a budget, then selling the things you no longer need will raise some cash for that project.

You may like to read: The Epic Guide to Decluttering Your Home. In this guide, we look at how to declutter each room of your home, including how to emotionally let go of your possessions.

#2 Rearrange Furniture

Just by rearranging your furniture, you may find you free up some valuable space.

Moving the settee away from the wall could free up enough space behind it to make a work area.

Use a floor plan to help you create a new room layout. This is an easy way to try out lots of different furniture layouts without having to move a single item.

You may find that your furniture is too large for the available space you have, or you just have too much furniture.

You may like to read: How to Create a Floor Plan. In this guide, we show you how to create an easy and simple floor plan so that you can see the most effective use of the space you have available without having to keep moving furniture around to right the right fit.

Consider using a local storage facility to move those pieces of furniture to if you do not want to part with them.

Storage is very cost-effective and your local removal company will be able to move your things for you quickly and cost-effectively.

You may also like to read: How to Choose a Storage Unit. Not all storage units are equal so in this guide we look at the things to watch out for, what your options are, and what the average price is to hire a storage unit across the UK.

If you are moving your furniture around and they are too heavy or large for you to move yourself, many local removal companies will come and move them for you.

If you have the energy and ability to move large pieces of furniture yourself then you will find this guide invaluable reading. In How to Move Heavy Furniture we offer some tips on how to move big pieces of furniture easily and safely.

19 Ways to Create Space in a Small Home

Setting up a home office in a small space will require you to look at every area of your home with a fresh pair of eyes.

Take a walk around your home and consider the ideas below.

• Do have a wall that is unused? Could you mount a folding desk on the wall to fold down when you need to work?
• Is there enough wall space to mount a cupboard that you can work out of? Fit a sliding shelf in it for your laptop, use the shelves to organise your paperwork and printer, and then just close the doors when you want to hide your office away.
• Do you have bedside cabinets? Often the space above is wasted. So how about removing the bedside cabinets, fitting a wall-mounted table and a few shelves, or a cupboard above? Add some ornaments, or paint it to match the décor so that it blends in.
• Is there a closet that you could empty? By emptying the closet you could put a narrow desk in there for your laptop or PC, mount a few shelves on the wall for paperwork, and maybe a printer. The beauty of this is that when you have finished work you can just close the closet doors and shut off your workspace.
• Do you have a bookcase? A slide-out shelf for your laptop will create an instant home office desk.
• Is there an alcove or recess where you could mount shelves for your laptop and supplies?
• Could you mount a fold-down table under a windowsill?
• Do you have an understairs cupboard that is just used to store junk? Clear it out, you will be surprised how much space is under the average staircase.
• Underneath open staircases are also another great spot for a home office.
• Landings are often dead space. Would a slimline desk fit along the banisters on the landing?
• Look for areas or pieces of furniture that can be multi-functional.
• Mounting a TV on the wall can free up a surprising amount of space. The unit that the TV was standing on could be replaced by a desk or table.
• Rummage around secondhand furniture shops. If you find a bureau, that would make an ideal office space. You can paint it to match your existing décor, put a few ornaments on top, and it will blend in with the room.
• Maybe you work from the kitchen counter or dining table. Use ottomans to store your work stuff when you are not using it.
• L-shaped desks can be placed in the corner of a room, these are usually wasted spaces taken up by a plant or standard lamp.
• Bay windows can be dead space in many homes. Perfect for your home workstation.
• If you live in a flat with a balcony, can you section off an area with weatherproof boarding to create a home office?
• Live in a terraced home with an old coal shed in the backyard? Another space that is often filled with junk and a perfect space for an office.
• A small garden shed is another great home office option, with the added benefit of being away from your living areas.

Hopefully, you have now identified a usable office space in your home and can create a small office with the available space you have.

How Do You Organise a Home Office?

How do you maximise the space in a home office, especially if you have very little space to start with?

• Keeping the area well organised will ensure that the space feels bigger and does not become a mess.

• If you have a narrow or small desk then keep just the essentials on the desktop.

• Use the space around the desktop to organise the things you need. So files that you need every day go close to the desk, and spare stationery goes out of reach as you will rarely need them.

• Depending on your job, and what you need to have easy access to every day, look at the space around you and how best to store your supplies.

• Boxes or folders could be coloured to match your décor and placed on shelves above the desk.

• Drawers or ottomans can be used if you want to hide away your work things.

• If you use a dry wipe board or cork board, for example, this could be hinged under a shelf and dropped down as you need it.

• Use under-shelf lighting or spotlights rather than a desk lamp which will use up valuable desktop space.

• Using a wireless printer, keyboard, and mouse will rid your desk of unsightly cables.

• Cable tidies are great for keeping all your wires organised and safely tucked away.

• Adjustable shelves will give you flexible storage options.

So now you have identified a small office space for you to work from, and have organised your workstation.

Often a home office, or even a house, can seem so much smaller because of the colours it is decorated in or how it is accessorised.

If you spend many hours working from a desk at home, you want it to feel as relaxing, airy, and non-distracting as possible.

So in our next section, we will look at decorating a small house to make it seem bigger.

You may also like to read: Everything You Need to Know About Making to Make a Small Home Work for You. Smaller homes are not just easier and cheaper to run. In this guide, we look at all the benefits of moving to a smaller home.

How to Make Your Home Feel Bigger

Our final section in this guide is about how to make your home visually seem bigger.

The golden rules for making a home appear more spacious are that the simpler your décor, the brighter the room, the less cluttered it is, the bigger it will appear.

Eliminate things that stop your vision flowing through a room and allow as much light in as possible.

And there are plenty of tricks you can use to make any room of your home seem bigger, from the living room to the bathroom, these top designer tips will help you create the illusion of space.

29 Tricks to Make a Room Seem Bigger

• We mentioned it in our first section, but it is worth repeating, clear out the clutter. The fewer things you have, the bigger your home will be and appear to be.
• Keep windowsills clutter-free, the more natural light that gets into a room the better
• Floor-to-ceiling shelves will draw your eyes up to the ceiling making your rooms appear higher. Not only that but you will be utilizing all the available storage space at the same time.
• Place shelving high up on the wall to make your rooms seem taller.
• Opt for open shelving or ones with glass doors. Solid doors will make the space seem more cramped.
• You can make your rooms appear higher by hanging curtain poles above the window frames, and extending beyond each side of the window will make your windows seem wider.
• Curtains that are the same colour as your walls will make the walls appear bigger.
• Net curtains allow in more light and if they are a light colour, will give the illusion that your walls are longer.
• Avoid hanging patterned or heavy fabric curtains
• Hanging a transparent shower curtain in the bathroom will make it feel more spacious.
• Hang wall art at eye level, the space above the art will make the room seem taller.
• One large piece of wall art is better than having many individual pieces as it makes the walls appear bigger
• Laying rugs with stripes on will make a room appear longer
• Having no rugs on the floor will create a more streamlined look and your eye will move seamlessly through a room
• Furniture that has legs will draw your eyes upwards and light will pass under the item creating an illusion of more space.
• Low furniture will create space above it, making the room seem larger
• A futon or even a mattress on the floor will make your bedroom seem taller
• Glass tables and coffee tables will allow light to pass through them and therefore will not appear to be a solid piece of furniture
• Perspex or wire chairs will have the same effect, allowing light to pass through and therefore your vision will pass through them too.
• Have dining table chairs that push right under the table which will free up valuable floor space.
• Use light-coloured paints to bounce the light off the walls. Whites and pastels work best for this.
• Ceilings should be painted bright white to reflect the light too
• Place a mirror opposite a window to reflect light around the room. Don’t place a mirror that reflects a cluttered or dark area as this will create an illusion of even more dark spaces.
• Ensure your furniture does not block out any natural light coming into the room.
• Fitting sliding doors may allow you to position your furniture in a more efficient way so that you can maximise the use of the available floor space.
• If you are short of space on your dressing table for example, or in the bathroom, then over-door hanging storage can give you lots more handy space.
• Furniture should have multi-purposes such as an ottoman seat that you can store things in, or a bed with drawers in the base.
• Pull furniture away from the walls, it will make your room appear bigger
• Replace lots of small ornaments with just one or two larger statement pieces to create a more spacious feel.

We hope these ideas will help you make the most of the available space you have, to allow you to create a beautiful work and living space.

Don’t forget that if you need to move heavy and large furniture around to make space, and you are not physically able to do so safely, then your local removal company may be more than happy to help you.

If you have any space-saving or decorating tips to make a small space appear larger, then please just drop them in the comments box below.