With the sheer amount of electronics, papers, files and documents no doubt clogging up your home office, it can be all too easy to misplace something incredibly important so creating some easy to use and access storage solutions for your office supplies should be right at the top of your priorities list. The majority of storage solutions however (especially the drab, traditional filing cabinets of yore) are far from elegant and whilst they will no doubt prove useful, they could completely ruin the aesthetics of your office, a room in which you will probably be spending the lion’s share of your week day.
In the guide below we’ve found 5 quirky, cost-effective storage solution ideas that we feel might help keep your office tidy without sacrificing its style.
Cable Tidy Box
The computer, the printer, the stereo, the fax machine, the phone charger, the tablet charger and more besides will more than likely have all taken residency in your office, each of them requiring their own plug socket and needlessly long cable. To stop your office from turning into a jungle of wires, why not consider this elegant, simple and (best of all) cheap solution? A cable tidy box like the one below with gaps carved out especially for loose cables can be purchased from most major supermarket chains for under a tenner and will save you countless minutes of faffing about, trying to work out ‘which plug belongs to which item’.
Cups
We’re not talking anything particularly bold or exciting here, no ‘special’ cups designed with office supply storage in mind, just regular, run-of-the-mill, bog standard tea mugs. They are perfectly sized to hold the little nick-nacks that you’ll find in any home office such as paperclips, staplers, pens pencils and business cards. You could use a different coloured or patterned mug for each item so that if you’re ever in need of (let’s say for argument’s sake) a pen at a moment’s notice, you’ll always know exactly where to look!
Clothes Hamper
Yes the clue is in the name, a clothes hamper is designed with the express purpose of ferrying laundry between the washer and the dryer. However a decent sized clothes hamper could also work as an ingeniously creative and quirky paper bin that will not only look more attractive than a conventional bin but will also function quite adequately as a replacement for one.
Glass Shelves
Though they might look less sturdy, glass shelves are actually able to hold significantly more weight than their wooden counterparts. They are also a lot more attractive and thinner with less likelihood of deforming over time and use. Shelves are obviously a convenient storage solution for a wide variety of office supplies. From heavy tomes and electronic equipment to files, documents and deco-rational bits and bobs. A set of glass shelves will not prove incredibly useable but will also lend an extra subtle glamour to your office.
Hooks & Clips
By simply taking a conventional, magnetic knife rack, turning it on its side so that it’s vertical instead of horizontal and attaching metal hooks and clips to it you’ll have a perfect place to hang your keys, keep your business cards and business receipts and have instant access to any assorted metal items (staplers, etc.) that you may use in your office on a daily basis.
Finally, the Desk
Of course the most important element of any office is the desk itself and here it comes more down to comfort than potential storage options. You’re going to be sitting at that desk for countless hours so you need to feel comfortable, otherwise there’s really no point in working from home in the first place. If you have to sacrifice storage space for more leg room don’t worry about it, by following the tips above and by implementing your own ideas, you should have more than enough room to keep your office looking good and tidy.
