I lived in New York City for over 10 years – in a variety of teeny tiny apartments – and moved to Atlanta right before the pandemic hit. I got a house and it ended up being the best decision I ever made. But in those 10 years in New York, we got pretty good about making the most out of our small space (and, I know – not everybody’s as lucky as I am to have all the space you need these days).
While you’re stuck at home, you might be asking yourself questions like how do I make it look nice? How do I make it feel better? And how can I have an office without a desk? So here’s a few ideas along with some products that might bring a little bit more organization to your life and make that home office setup a little bit better.
How can I make my office look nice?
There’s two easy answers – plants and wallpaper. Houseplants are relatively inexpensive and can add a lot of vibrancy and life to your space. They also filter out bad air and make things smell a little bit better. The best way to organize small house plants in a tiny space is to hang them or to get a tall, potted plant stand. Just get that electric drill and step ladder out, and find a good corner space where you can hang it. You can either hang it vertically or off the wall.
I found a great company called arshi on Amazon that sells a four pack of plant hangers for 20 bucks. I also found a really great six tier bamboo potted plant stand for less than 50 bucks. If you’re looking for plant providers, Costa Farms aloe vera and Perfect Plants’ Snake plants are both relatively easy to care for and pretty cheap.
We decided to paint our walls. You could paint or choose wallpaper. I found a really great wallpaper company on Amazon called Tempaper that makes stylish hipster-y prints. Plus, they’re easy to use and self adhesive. Just peel the back, straighten it out, and pop it right on.
Let’s talk about desk space.
Now let’s talk about desk space. You don’t want a desk that is going to take up the entire room or corner. Find something that will attach to your wall to take up as little room as possible. We got a fairly big one, but I put in the description a couple of smaller ones that are cupboard sized and perfect for any small space. If you’re on a budget, you can always build your own with brackets. Just install them in your wall and find a solid surface to put on top of them – all for less than 10 bucks.
How do I make my space feel bigger?
To answer our last question – “How do I make my space feel bigger?” The best way to do that is to find a space with good light in your house or apartment – really any window – and set up your office space near there. If that’s not an option, you need to find a way to counteract the blue light from your computer that’s constantly messing with your head all day. Try a sound machine with ambient or UV lighting. It’ll give you nature noises with bird chirping, and all of the other things that don’t make you feel like you’re stuck inside of a computer.