Decided to work at home and stay away from the common 4 walls of the usual office setup? Well here are some basic tips on setting up a home office. Even before getting excited with the look and design, you need to map out your home office, in other words, make a layout plan of your space.

Now you need to take a tour around your house and look for a prospective place or room where you would want to set up your home office. Once you've chosen a room, get a paper, a ruler and a pencil and you're ready to go!

Have someone help you in measuring the length, width and height of the whole room plus the width and height of the door. Then on your piece of paper, draw the topview of the whole room with its respective sizes and right proportions.

Next, list down the list of office equipment and supplies that you will need for your home office. Here are the suggestions for the basic office equipment and supplies that you might want to consider:

1. Office table
2. Office chair
3. Filing cabinet
4. Storage cabinet
5. Desktop computer / laptop
6. Telephone
7. Fax machine
8. Papers
9. Office supplies
10. Desktop lamp
11. Couch

After writing down the basic things for your home office, think of the other miscellaneous stuffs that you would want to include in your space.

In your empty “floor plan”, layout the furniture pieces (using legends) you have listed so as to have an overall view of how your home office will look like. Afterwards, scout for the office furniture and equipment that are in your list. You may look around your house for unused furniture pieces and equipment that you can put in your own home office.

Once you have everything you need, get help from a family member in re-arranging the furniture and equipment. If you're not satisfied with your planned layout, you can always re-arrange your things that will be suitable to your work lifestyle and needs. You can always look at your drawn layout for reference.

Home Office Tip #1

Don't skimp on your chair. So you've bought a very nice home office desk and other furniture and now the only thing missing to complete your office is a chair. It is in your best interest to do a little research to find a chair for you. The wrong chair could cause back problems with your spine and musculature.

Home Office Tip #2

Don't forget to measure! One of the most common mistakes people make when buying a home office desk is that they do not use a tape measure and measure the size of the desk to see if it will actually fit in the space they want it to go. So save yourself some headaches and hassles and measure the area where you want your desk to go, before you go shopping for a desk.

Home Office Tip #3

Don't jump at the first desk you see when shopping around in town. In fact, you can probably find that same desk for less money on the internet. The web has created so much competition, that you can find some outstanding deals on home office furniture delivered right to your door. And better yet, many of these online office furniture shops offer free shipping!