You Don't Need an Office to Be a Work-at-Home Mom


Would I love an office that looks handpicked from the pages of Real Simple magazine? Sure.  Will I get that? Probably never.

I've learned to accept that my office, which is actually one wall of our overly-cramped living/family room, will never have the privacy or beauty that I long for.  I've acknowledge that on any given day, I will find random Ben 10 action figures, half-eaten apples, and the occasional dirty shirt tucked into my piles of books to review and invoices to mail out.  I used to curse the situation under my breath, hoping that I could force my home to sprout an affordable addition, with a dedicated 4 walls for my at-home endeavor.  I've learned to be content, however, with a sturdy, solid-wood desk, several overflowing organizational bins, and a lightning-fast desktop PC to help me get what I need done done.

The rest is just aesthetics.

Several of you have also expressed your pain in dealing with no space for a "real" office.  Here are some suggestions I've gotten from those in our community.  Your mileage will vary for each:

A closet office.  These pictures really do speak for themselves.  Check out how others have transformed a closet into a space that offers structure and a door (for when they want to keep kids out of their paperwork.)

A portable office.  You can take most of your things with you, as I'm getting to accept.  If you have a laptop, cell, and a take-along desk, you really can work where you wish (or in my case, wherever the kids take you.) Check out these options for setting up shop when you get there.

A bedroom office.  This is the least of my favorites. I have a hard enough time putting work to bed and climbing into my own.  Could you imagine hearing your PC fan humming while you try to settle down for the night?

Most moms I know that DO have a dedicated office don't spend much time in there.  Why?  Because the kids are everywhere else.  And we all know what unsupervised kids can be up to.  So, their offices become a front for those who question if they really work from home, and they end up stuffing storage issues in there.  The almighty office isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Do you have an office?  What suggestions do you have for readers who want one, but can't have it?

*Photo by learningdslrvideo.com.

1 comment:

  1. This is my favorite and what I have - http://en.lounge-tek.com/

    ReplyDelete

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