Do you have a bookshelf in your home office? Whether you bought the bookshelf specifically for working from home or you already had a bookcase collecting dust, there are a lot of creative and productive ways that you can use an office bookshelf besides just for books.
If you have a small home office, or if you are working in the open for lack of an office, you need every piece of furniture to be multifunctional to make the most of the space. One of the most versatile pieces of home office furniture that you can get is a bookshelf. They are available with a wide variety of features and options like doors, drawers, and cubbies, and they are easily adaptable to your needs.
The instructions below give you 5 ways to use your bookshelf to organize your small or open home office. Keep them in mind as you browse so that you get the perfect option for you when you buy office bookshelf on 1SB.
Small space organization options with a professional aesthetic
Getting a bookcase specifically meant for offices comes with a lot of advantages, and one of them is that it gives your home office a professional aesthetic. But, more importantly, these bookshelves are meant to house much more than just books. Many of them have doors, cabinets, drawers, and shelves of varying shapes and sizes. Even in a base bookshelf, at least one or two shelves are always taller than the others.
This is the perfect opportunity to display items that you are proud of, while also having space for the reference materials you need on a regular basis. You can also get some sophisticated basket storage to organize small items out of the way and out of sight. Look through online furniture stores to see the full range of office bookshelves available and get more ideas on how to use them.
Adapt for cord management as necessary
It is very easy to adapt an office bookshelf to make it possible for items to be plugged in while resting on the shelf. Some bookshelves come with built-in cord grommets so that you can run cords from the shelf directly behind the bookcase.
If your bookshelf doesn’t have a cord grommet, you can easily add one by cutting a small hole in the back of the bookcase where you need it, then installing a grommet of the appropriate size. While the grommet isn’t strictly necessary, it does give the shelf a finished look and covers the sharp edges of the hole.
Cord management comes in handy if you want to use your home office bookshelf to cut down on other furnishings. Many people have a small space to use as their home office, so getting one piece of furniture that can be multifunctional is important. A common way to use bookcases at home is to place your printer or other office equipment on one shelf and your charging devices on another.
Hide office supplies
Hiding your office supplies doesn’t just give your home office a more professional feel, it also keeps them out of your way and easily accessible. Store items like reams of paper, legal pads, and other difficult to organize office supplies behind the doors of the bookcase. If the bookshelf you choose doesn’t have doors, you can get some nice faux leather file trays to hold the items on the shelf.
Take advantage of every bit of available space – even the exterior
Another way to make the most of the space that your bookshelf has to offer is to add organization to the outside of the shelf. This is very easy to do, and it can greatly cut down on the clutter on your desk. In fact, adding exterior organization to your bookshelf can make it possible to get by with a much smaller desk, making it easier to fit additional needs in your small home office.
Here are a few of the ways you can take care of this organizational real estate.
Use 3M removable hooks
If you don’t want to make permanent alterations to your bookcase, 3M (or similar) removable hooks are the way to go. These nifty and inexpensive hooks remove easily when no longer needed. However, keep in mind that these hooks cannot handle as much weight as an installed metal hook. In addition, the adhesive could permanently mar the finish on your bookshelf, which can be much more unsightly than a screw hole. Disposable hooks are great for hanging file trays, scissors, and other lightweight supplies that you need readily accessible.
Install metal hooks
Small metal hooks are great for a lot of things, and they can hold a bit more weight than disposable hooks. How much weight they can hold depends on several factors, including the size of the hook and the thickness of the bookshelf. The larger the hook and its threaded base the more weight it can hold, but how large the hook can depend on the thickness of the bookshelf.
Before heading to the hardware store for screws, measure the width of the side of the bookshelf. You want to make sure that the hooks you get will not go through to the interior side of the shelf, so subtract a centimeter from the measurements to get the length of the threaded end. You may also need a power drill with a small threaded bit if the side of the bookshelf is solid hardwood or engineered wood to be able to screw in the hook.
This ensures that a protruding screw doesn’t cause injury, but you take advantage of the largest appropriate hook so that it can handle the most weight possible. This makes the hook much more versatile.