My home office has a great view and plenty of storage, and it only has to accommodate one person: me. Still, it manages to be pretty cluttered most of the time. That might have something to do with the hundreds of books threatening to fall from the wall of shelves the moment an earthquake hits, or the nursery room rocking chair I can’t bear to get rid of, or the huge oak table that someone I can’t name borrowed from the UCLA Library in 1988. I love my home office, but efficient and tidy it is not. (Here it is with the desk cleared off to an unrealistic degree–the only reason you can even see the desk is that I was faking orderliness for a photo shoot. I also had the photo taken from an angle that eliminates one third of the room–the third that happens to contain a bookshelf overflowing with unused but well-intentionled organizing supplies from the Container Store).
Always on the lookout for great small office space design, I was wowed by this Apartment Therapy feature on a 150-square-foot office that gracefully and charmingly accommodates four. It’s the San Francisco office of Pacific Helm, a small design studio. Normally, I wouldn’t seek inspiration from a company’s office, but in this case, the office is so small that its principles can easily be applied to a small home office. Chances are, you won’t need work space for four, but you might want an extra desk for collaboration or, if you have children, a surface for them to do artwork and homework while you’re working.
Pacific Helm makes smart use of the inexpensive and iconic West Elm Parsons desk (we have one in the guest room), and the meeting area features the Odyssey Dining Table from CB2, an inexpensive knock-off of the designer favorite Saarinen Tulip Table. (The CB2 table gets some poor reviews for chipping too easily, but LexMod has a worthy mid-price version of the Tulip Table.) The bright blues and yellows give the space a happy feel, and the clean, modern lines and spare use of kid-like accents keep it neat and uncluttered.
I think it’s amazing that they’ve managed to include two small sofas (via Urban Outfitters), a file cabinet, a couple of potted plants, and four desks in here–still haven’t quite figured out the magic floor plan!
To modify this for a home office, I’d switch out the corporate-looking office chairs for something homier and add and some soft elements–books, blankets, and personalized artwork. The tiny credenza and file cabinet may or may not provide enough storage for a home office, especially if your home office serves as command central for the family. You’d probably want to add some shelving for your books, a few magazine files and/or photo boxes could be delegated to hold paperwork, receipts, kid’s artwork, etc. A roomy home office filing cabinet would also be a good investment.
See the complete office tour and get inspiration for your own small office at Apartment Therapy
What does your home office look like? Send pics–I’ll feature a few at Sans Serif.