Rags or riches!
Your home office furniture can be as simple or elaborate as you want, as expensive or as inexpensive as you wish. If you (or someone you know) is proficient at DIY, then you're in luck, as most furniture of this sort is not difficult to make. Many stores supply flat pack furniture, which you assemble yourself - a sort of half way house between DIY and buying fully assembled items.
Make or Buy
The photos on this page are of home office furniture you can buy from online stores. Just click on the photos to go to the store website. Or just use them for ideas - and make your own home office furniture from existing furniture which you can adapt and add to as necessary.
Computer Work Center
This is probably the most useful piece of furniture you can buy today. It's just a home office desk designed for the computer age. They come in all shapes, sizes and designs. Some are very compact, others more like a full sized office desk with attachments.
Computer work center
'L' shaped units are very popular, because you have a work surface at your side as well as in front of you. This gives you more space for documents, books, etc.
They also make good use of space in the corner of a room, leaving most of the floor space for other pieces of furniture.
Short of space for your home office furniture? It's amazing how much you can get into even one corner of a room. This unit demonstrates how it can be done. It's the 'skyscraper principle' - if you can't go out, go up!
This is also one of the easiest ideas to put into practice. All you'll need is a triangular (to fit into a corner of your room) shaped piece of wood for the desk, some smaller triangular pieces of wood for shelves, and some strong angle brackets. Attach the brackets securely to the wall at the right height for the desktop and shelves, firmly attach the shelves, and there you have it!
This work center gives you space for your computer plus books, files, folders, disks, and any other odds and ends you need. With this type of unit everything is within easy reach.
If you want to make your own home office furniture based on this, it's easy to do. You just need some sort of desk or table, sturdy enough to support all your books, files and monitor. Then you place a shelf unit on the desk (they're easy to make), or attach shelves to the wall. You can make all sorts of office desks this way, to match whatever budget you're working to.
Do you like to hide your work away when you're finished? This Computer Armoire gives you all the space you need when it's open, but when you're finished, close the doors on your work and forget about it! Unless you're a very accomplished carpenter or cabinet maker, this item is one you'll need to buy.
Office chair
Do you look after your back? Make sure you sit upright when you're working, using the correct posture? Hmmm, most of us don't.
Which is why getting the right chair is very important. And one of the most important aspects is sitting at the right height so your lower arms are horizontal when you use a keyboard. Your screen should also be at the correct height.
You can learn more about sitting and working with a keyboard at WorkingWell.org or Orthoinfo.aaos.org
Filing Cabinet
A filing cabinet of some description is absolutely necessary for safe and efficient storage of your documents. If you've never used one before, you'll be amazed at how much time they can save you.
Other home office furniture
Here's an example of an office chair which has all the necessary adjustments - seat height, tilt, tilt tension and arm height. It also has lumbar support. We're all different shapes and sizes, and being able to adjust a chair to suit your own circumstances will allow you to work in comfort. This is an essential piece of your home office furniture.
This filing cabinet has a bottom filing drawer and two storage drawers. If you're looking for an inexpensive alternative, you can often find good quality used filing cabinets when offices refurbish and dispose of their existing furniture. Take a look in your local newspaper, or in the 'small ads' in the back of magazines.
If you would like more information on how to set up your home office, click here to go to the home office page of this website.
