The Living Room Office
I’m writing this post from my cramped desk beside the tv hutch. Sure, I’d love to have a separate room for my office, one dedicated just to work, with a nice bulletin board and no toys scattered under my feet, but that simply isn’t possible in my house!
Unfortunately, having an office in the living room is just the norm for many work at home moms. Some of you might carve out a space in a bedroom or in the kitchen, but the idea is the same. You are sharing space with a non-office environment and usually are completely exposed to the kids!
Here are some ideas for making a living room office workable:
- Teach the kids that your desk is off-limits. Don’t let them play there, even with supervision.
- Get a small, lockable file cabinet. If space doesn’t permit, opt for a lockable plastic file box. Keep research and records here so that no one can get into them and color on them! 
- A diskette drive lock is a good investment if your kids are still little and prone to shoving things like cheese sandwiches into any orifice.
- Get a comfy chair. Preferably a swivel one so you can turn to attend to a fussy child without having to get up.
- A toy box near the computer is a life-saver. Keep old computer gear like a mouse and keyboard handy for your toddlers to play with.
- If possible, keep your office area in a corner so you can hang a bulletin board on one wall, a calendar on the other. Having the dual wall space is well worth rearranging some furniture.
- Consider investing in a closet office, a cabinet that can be closed up at the end of the day. This has two purposes, to hide the temptation to work all night and to keep kids out of your things.
Feel free to add any ideas that you have discovered work for you, I would love to hear them.
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