Need products to help organize a home office

June 24, 2009 11:48 PM

What organizational products should I get for a home office?

I have a very small home office and need to organize everything. I'm looking for product suggestions like a wall file holder that will work within my limited space. My desk space is a 6' x 2.5' table, if that helps with any ideas.

posted by mtphoto to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

if you have a laptop (or room on your desk for your keyboard) and you have a pull-out keyboard tray on your desk, the tray is an awesome place to stash your 'messy work'. i kept all of the notes on scrap paper, phone numbers, business cards, opened mail, and other random stuff on the tray. that way, it was accessible but i could push the tray in and my desk looked neater instantly. i kept a notepad on top of the desk too, so i wasn't always pulling the tray in and out.

something else that will help you stay organized: little organizational bins. you can usually get them at the dollar store (if you get small bins - a little bigger than a deck of cards - they're about 4 for $1). keep 2 or 3 of them in your top desk drawer to keep everything you need accessible and organized. i had a little bin for paper clips, staples, stamps, elastics, an eraser, sticky tack, white-out, etc. i had another one for technology-related stuff: my USB cord for my mp3 player, the memory card for my digital camera, batteries, etc. the bins don't take up a lot of space in your drawer, but they'll keep everything organized and it will save you from having to clean out the drawer(s) every few months.
posted by gursky at 11:58 PM on June 24, 2009

If you're at all mobile, I highly recommend a hanging cosmetic bag for cables and doodads and a few pens and post-it pads. It rolls up to slip into a suitcase or laptop bag when you're away from home, and can hang on a doorknob/chair back/shelf edge/hook when you're at home. I keep my portable hard drive, wireless mouse, usb cables for phone and ipod charging, camera, etc, flash drives and SD cards, extra battery for mouse, a cloth for dusting my laptop, some rubber bands and paperclips, pens, and a highlighter in mine.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:21 AM on June 25, 2009

I'm finding that clipboards mounted on the wall helps, because you can take something down to work on it, and then get it out of the way. I first saw it on this law student's office/room on flickr (via lifehacker, I think.) http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottvignos/3347723393/in/set-72157614824490323/
The flaw with this system is that you need to have a system for declaring projects "done" and filing the paper away.

++ on the little bins idea also.
posted by titanium_geek at 5:26 AM on June 25, 2009

sorry for non-mefi skills. link: flickr: wall clipboards
posted by titanium_geek at 5:29 AM on June 25, 2009

For organizing I would suggest something like the smallish wooden boxes they sell at Ikea. You can keep papers and such in the larger drawers while the small ones are great for stapler, scissors, pens, etc. You could then get something like this to hold your mail (though mine is significantly smaller, cute, green and I found it for a few bucks at a thrift store). I like the idea of using the keyboard slider to hold messy papers, but you can also use it to hold your laptop if you need a lot of open desk space to do your work. It would be helpful to know what kind of business you do; what you need, what you have a lot of, what's important to have nearby at all times, etc. You also may want to get some file storage for under your desk. You can do this with either a small file cabinet or even just some boxes.
posted by wild like kudzu at 8:18 AM on June 25, 2009

depending on where you are, ikea has some great organizational products that are multi-functional and are total space savers! i suggest you check out their store/website.
posted by penguingrl at 12:48 PM on June 25, 2009