The home office often becomes that in-between space, where the detritus of daily life mingles with the essential needs for financial well-being. An organized home office can be a gateway to productivity, both in your personal and professional life.
In 2010, the number of people who worked from a home office increased 4.2 million from a decade earlier, a report by the U.S. Census Bureau shows. The bureau expects that number to increase by more than 20 percent through 2018.
A home office is necessary for a thriving home-based business, said Roxanne Sweeney, national marketing director of Nerium International and owner and CEO of LoseLbsEZ.
The vast amount of office accessories and cute doodads for making a glam space can trip up an organized office.
“In today’s world of technology, we really have no need for the outdated file cabinets or all the office accessories (that) you see a lot of people buy into,” she said from her stylized office where she has worked as a leader for the skincare line Nerium and a weight loss coach for LoseLbsEZ. “It bogs you down physically and mentally. A free open space gives you more room for the creative juices to flow.
“I have a place for everything and it is all at my fingertips,” Sweeney said. “I like to see everything so I know what I’m working with.”
Having two symbiotic businesses can be overwhelming.
“Planning my tomorrow today is a huge help,” she said. “Having a specific place to leave my planner open (on) my table as the day progresses I’m able to add new appointments and to-do’s. Plus I can see the day’s agenda for making calls and follow-ups.”
One item she insisted was absent from her home office was drawers.
“The only drawers I have are in the desk,” Sweeney said. “And it’s only for household files and checkbooks, envelopes, stamps, etc. I have found if I have too many drawers, I’ll squirrel unnecessary things (away) in them.”
She can get stuck behind her desk for hours, which made her rethink the configuration of her most-used electronics.
“I set up my printer in a room at the opposite side of the house because it makes me get up and move throughout my home,” Sweeney said, “and that brings me pleasure.”
Closing the door at the end of the day is important and also takes an ordered touch.
“I try to end my days with a cleared-off table,” Sweeney said. “It’s like putting all my toys away so in the morning when I start my day, it is refreshing to go in the office.”
It is impossible to run a successful home-based business without organization, said Marlene Heitman, owner of three flourishing Etsy shops: delaMarCollection, vintagedelamar and Novelknitsdlm.
“The key to staying organized is to develop your storage areas with labeled compartments and be diligent about putting things back in their place,” said Heitman, who has sold more than 1,000 pieces from her jewelry and fiber shops.
“When you have a home-based business, you are sharing your workplace with your family, and tensions will arise if your materials, work areas, etc., are commingled. To avoid conflict you want to have good boundaries from home and family space and work space.”
To do that, she dedicates a beautifully organized space in her home solely to her business, with neatly labeled and stacked color-coded materials and inventory.
“I have a business where I not only fill orders from the inventory on hand but I also create and make the product that I sell as well,” said Heitman, who has run successful businesses in retail from home off and on for more than 40 years.
She organizes her materials for her shops, which feature jewelry and sewn fabric products for organizing and travel, vintage items and hand-knit and crochet items, on shelves according to type.
“I find this is the best way when I am looking (for) materials,” she said. This also saves her a lot of time.
As a longtime Etsy seller, she has found organization is the key to her continued success. Heitman is one of the top sellers in her local Etsy club, Vegas Handmade Originals, a group of online business professionals.
“Since I am a jewelry maker, I have partitioned boxes, plastic bead boxes, labeled according to description and color and stacked on shelves in an orderly fashion,” Heitman said. “With my inventory, I have boxes which are posted for sale on Etsy according to product that is in them so I can go to that box to find the item I need for shipping.”
Inventory that has yet to be posted to her Etsy stores becomes backup for her sites when other items sell out or if she needs extra items for area craft shows.
“I keep these inventories separate so I do not sell something I no longer have in stock,” said Heitman, who also sells her items at the Art Box in downtown’s Container Park.
Maintaining an organized space keeps her business financially successful and her home life happy.
“When I see things going asunder, I take out time and sort and put away all that has gone asunder,” she said.
Having everything for your business combined to one room isn’t always ideal. Carmela Gargiulo, owner and designer of CrookedCrytal on Etsy, uses space in her kitchen, guest room, dining room and elsewhere in her home to complete her hand-stamped jewelry and accessories. This makes organization an even more important for her quality of life and work.
“Instead of totally taking over a single room in my home I have elected to have my needed work items placed near where I use them the most,” said Gargiulo, who creates fashionable medical ID items along with remembrance memorial jewelry.
“(But) my dining room table still needs to be the place to sit with friends and enjoy a meal and their company, unless it is two weeks before Christmas. At that time of the year, my dining room table turns into shipping central.”
She dedicated two kitchen drawers in her kitchen to metal stamping tools. Parts of two different closets are devoted to supplies needed to produce her items, shipping materials and product photography equipment.
“The only area in my home that you can tell I have something going on is a table in my guest room where I assemble my items,” said Gargiulo, who quit her human resource management job in April 2011 and started her Etsy shop that August.
Aside from fastidious work practices at home, networking is the key to her home business. She is a member of Vegas Handmade Originals and belongs to a California-based group that sends items to be used on TV shows and in awards show swag bags. Her items have been sent to “Chicago Fire,” “Vampire Diaries,” “2 Broke Girls” and “Modern Family.”
Her business has done so well that she plans to open an additional online shop in the fall, CrookedCrystalBridal on Etsy.
To keep the line between work and home life clear, she makes sure to snap the lids on her tubs, shut the drawers and close the guest room door.
“First and foremost, this is my home and at the end of the day I don’t want my work staring me in the face,” said Gargiulo, who has nearly 1,000 sales on Etsy since she joined four years ago. “If I didn’t put it all away, I would be too tempted to just keep working not to mention the clutter of tools, papers and boxes all over the place. It would make me crazy.”
If you don’t have a dedicated space to start your dream, carve out a small area and get moving.
“Some people feel like they can’t have a home business because they don’t have a dedicated space; I say that is not so,” Gargiulo said. “Figure out what makes you happy. Plastic tubs and cubby spaces are your friend.
“But if that is not your cup of tea, then there are easy and economical ways to make your workday just right for you: a drawer here, a space in the closet there, computer time on your laptop with your feet up and a cup of coffee.”