A home office space is typically an after-thought, not something that you planned on. Even though a lot of people made the shift to remote work in 2020, home offices are still just starting to take shape in people’s homes. Whereas remote work was assumed to be temporary, the truth is that many people are choosing to continue working from home on at least a part-time basis.
Part of creating a more permanent home office space is figuring out how to organize the books, references, and supplies you need to perform your work without allowing them to take over your home. If you have an open concept home or your work area is in other shared rooms, furniture like bookcases can contain the chaos and mask it as decorative storage bins.
There are a lot of different types of bookcases available, and you can choose from bookshelves of many types, styles, designs, and sizes. Here are the most popular bookshelves for your home office.
Enclosed bookcases are traditional and timeless
The typical bookcases you would see in a nice bedroom or living room furniture set look great, and they can give your small home office a professional aesthetic. They are best if you will be storing more books than supplies. In fact, if you have several heavy reference volumes a traditional enclosed bookcase is necessary to handle the extra weight and bulk.
On the other hand, enclosed bookcases have some downsides. If you are working with a small space, they aren’t really versatile enough to use for much other than books and a few canvas or faux leather bins or some file trays for the organization. There are other types of bookshelves that can work much better for your home office.
Open shelves
Bookshelves that are open on all sides are the most versatile for your home office. You can use this shelf for anything from your wireless printer to your smartphone charging station to displaying your professional awards and accolades. Open shelves are not ideal for heavy reference books, but you can store a few books on the shelves with some bookends.
If you want the benefit of being able to plug things into items placed on the shelves but you want more space for books as well, you can stick to your traditional bookcase and simply add a hold with a grommet for the cords to go through the back of the bookcase.
Corner ladder bookshelves
Ladder-style bookshelves are the most popular type of open shelving, primarily because they are narrower and taller than other shelves. This gives you the ability to display more items in smaller spaces. While these shelves will not work for actual books without the addition of some stylish bookends, they work well for displaying awards, products, and other items.
The best example of this is the corner ladder shelf system, which has a 90-degree angle to fit snuggly into the empty corner of your office. The corners of offices are often unused space, but there is no need for it to remain so. A corner ladder shelf gives you additional display space in an area that would otherwise be empty. It can make the room seem more complete.
If you have a waiting area for clients and colleagues visiting your home, consider placing a corner ladder shelf in the area on which you can display popular magazines, industry news, and other items to occupy and amuse your waiting guests. It can also be a great way to transition from home to office settings.
If you do decide to use any type of ladder shelf, make sure that you put lightweight items on the top shelf and the heaviest on the bottom shelf. It helps make the shelf more stable as you load items onto it. If you have small children about, a corner ladder shelf is an ideal solution because it isn’t likely to topple unless a toddler climbs on it.
Geometric and asymmetrical bookcases
One of the best ways to add some interesting office organization to your home is with geometric bookcases that are made to be as much art as they are a functional bookshelf. The geometric shapes give your home office a bit of your own personality, while the odd array of asymmetrical cubes, cabinets, shelves, and drawers give you lots of options for storing supplies and displaying the accouterments of your profession.
The clean modern lines that are expected of today’s home offices can be combined with an artistic flair for an impressive reception for those visiting your home. You can get these bookcases in the average colors you would see in an office, or you can take advantage of your office being at home and choose some bold colors for the shelving.
If you want some more ideas of interesting and multifunctional home office organization, check bookcases 1SB Catalog.