This summer was the first summer since 2004 that I did not move apartments. I’ll save you the mental math, that means I have moved apartments 7 times in the past 8 years. SEVEN moves! That’s a little crazy. So when Apartment Guide approached me about joining in their Maximizing Space: Décor on a Budget challenge I knew I was more than qualified. While some of you may *hate* moving, I am actually quite good at it.
My favorite part about moving is decorating the new place. I treat the new floor plan like a blank canvas. I may be working with the same furniture and art from the last place but I love to mix it all up. I usually give myself a small budget for “new apartment” decorating.
I’ve lived in my current apartment for 14 months, and I love(d) everything about it except my home office area. So I decided this blog challenge was the perfect opportunity to makeover/organize my work area. I was a little hesitant to show the general public the before photo, but I decided it’s important to establish the problem before we share the solution. I’ll have my lovely after photos in Part 2 post.
Challenges of a home office in an apartment:
- Limited space: While I could have opted for a bigger floor-plan that allowed me to have a designated room for an office, one of the reasons I live in an apartment is to save money. So, I’m limited on where I can “set up shop”.
- Location Location Location: I have a pretty wide area in the back 3rd of my living room that I have used for office stuff (printers, desk, etc) but I have rearranged that area a few times. The first location felt too crowded. And then I felt like I was stuck in a corner. My newest setup (details in my Part 2 post) has me in a location that feels more like it’s own area. Even, if you’re like me and your office area is shared with a room with another purpose it’s important to have that designated location.
- Work/Life Balance: In my 7 different apartments I’ve had several variations of home and work balance. My least favorite (by far) is having to put my desk in the bedroom. I always had this overwhelming feeling that my work was encroaching on my relaxing time. When I had a roommate, I didn’t really have another option, but I am definitely glad that I no longer have my computer near where I sleep.
- Mess factor: Last week I wrote the following Facebook status:
I am not extremely messy, but have been known to create piles of clutter. My desk area seems to easily become a catch all for mail, papers, and anything else that doesn’t have a home. It’s a vicious cycle, I get behind on my mail so it piles up on my desk so I work from the dining room table instead. In case you were wondering, that’s not a great long term solution. - The glass desk: Okay this problem is not universal to all apartment workers… but I have a glass desk (translation: no drawers) that I really love but it’s missing place to hide necessary work stuff. Glass is also not very receptive to drinks without coasters or organized looking cords.
I happen to be one of those people who enjoys keeping my space organized at all times, especially since I spend a lot of time here (I work from home). One tip I have is to try not bringing in unecessary junk in the first place. Also, a 3-tiered divider is great, split into 3 different sections like “personal”, “work”, and “accounting” or something like that. That way, you can organize your papers right as you put them down as opposed to getting them mixed in a huge jumble. Can’t wait to see part 2!
My biggest challenge in my space is working with one big room. My apartment has a loft-like layout so my living room, dining room, office and kitchen are basically one in the same. I use rugs and lighting to designate the different spaces.
I actually like having an open floorplan because I can rearrange and have unlimited possibilities for layouts. It’s fun to change things up every once in a while!