Quick! Your friend/mother-in-law/work colleague/client just decided they're going to stop by for a visit. Your over-worked self needs to scramble to make your over-worked home office look magazine-spread-ready in about 15 minutes. It's time for some clutter-busting shortcuts.
No room seems to be such a magnet for clutter as the home office. In addition to your office's own messes of paperwork and wires, it also seems to be the place where the "we-should-keep-this" junk from the rest of the house ends up. Luckily, there are some quick and easy ways you can make your home office appear cleaner than it really is.
Real Simple recently published a guide to faking a clean house, complete with tips for every room. Here are a few suggestions they had for the home office:
• Stash stray office supplies, like pencils and pens, in decorative stationery boxes or filing containers on your desk.
• Take down calendars and notes from bulletin boards and file them in folders. Or align them so that the tops are all in horizontal lines.
• Rearrange crooked books so that all spines are facing the same direction and the titles all read from top to bottom.
• Stow the keyboard and the mouse in a drawer so only the computer monitor tops the desk.
• Temporarily hide wayward Post-it notes and to-do lists underneath the keyboard.
In addition to those stellar ideas, here are a few of our own for faking a clean office. All of these can be done together in less than 15 minutes. You'll always be ready for unexpected guests.
• Run your desk top through The Breadbox Test and stash small items in drawers or bins.
• Use a lint brush on your desktop and keyboard for a quick dusting (especially if you have pets). If you have time, deep clean your keyboard with tape or a sticky note.
• If you've got a rip or stain on your office chair, cover it with a decorative throw or a small pillow.
• Stack books and magazines in neat piles, or place them into files or bins, like these inexpensive ones from IKEA ($1.99 for a pack of 5). You can keep them folded and ready to go for clutter-clearing emergencies.
• Unplug unnecessary cords (like that cord you leave attached to your computer for syncing your iPod) and place them in a decorative box, or in a plastic baggie in your desk drawer.
• Create a temporary "stuff-to-file" file and get that stack of papers off your desk and into your cabinet.
• Empty the trash can (you'd be surprised how a bare bin can make your office feel cleaner). If you don't have time to run to the trash chute or dumper, empty your office trash into a can in the bathroom or kitchen.
Do you have any other tips for quickly cleaning your home office area? Please share them in the comments!
More on "Faking" Clean: Real Simple
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Hah! sorry, but just one or two of those tips would take that long.
How about, this:
Keep a large box handy that easily fits behind a closet door.
Step one: When you need to clean quickly, place the box at the end of your desk, and push everything that isn't nailed or wired down into the box.
Step two: push box into the close and shut the door.
I actually do this at work. I have a filing cabinet next to my desk and I keep one drawer empty. If my desk is out of control and someone important is coming, I dump it all in the drawer, and take it out when they're gone.
You have a home office and you don't want anyone to see your KEYBOARD??? Pens and pencils on your desk? Oh gimme a break! Pick up the trash, put your papers in a semi-tidy stack, and dust if you need to.
Take your piles. Carefully stack them into one. Use rubber bands to bind together and make sure nothing falls out. Put into desk drawer until the coast in clear. And if there is a very active to-do item in that pile, put it on the top so you don't forget about it.
If people are coming over on short notice, the last room I'm going to let them see is the home office which is why there is a door on it.
How about not faking a clean home office and tidying things up every evening ? It takes 2 minutes to do it, and if someone is coming, the clutter won't amount to much. Plus, you know, people are usually working in their home office, nobody expects it to be magazine-ready...
I'm the laziest person on Earth, and I found it easier to put books and magazines back where they belong directly after I'm finished with them. And if I'm not, well, I'm working and I won't pretend otherwise, so no, I won't fake-clean my desk if I'm working on an article and have my reference books all over the desk, even if the Pope is coming to check on my home office. And if He did, I don't think He'd mind anyway...
I really thought that the list would end with "buy some fresh flowers and display them artistically", "take a quick shower and don't forget to vacuum under the fridge" or "quickly change your computer wallpaper for something with neon and chevrons in it".
"Your over-worked self needs to scramble to make your over-worked home office look magazine-spread-ready in about 15 minutes." Maybe you could clean that stupid way of thinking first ? (I'll bring hot tea, you'll get the cookies ?)
What dustinstruckmeyer said.
What babyfishmouth said. However, I do appreciate the tip on cleaning the keyboard with tape! Durn cat hair...
I have for years used the "stash everything in a box and put it in the closet" method. But it really needs to be renamed "stash [yada yada] and then LATER, take it back out and deal with it." Cause out of sight, out of mind is so very very true.
Loora said: "I really thought that the list would end with...quickly change your computer wallpaper for something with neon and chevrons in it".
True, and hilarious.
Now I can feel virtuous for cleaning my keyboard while listening to boring conference calls.
Other than that - if you actually work in your home office, just leave it as is, and tell your mother-in-law work has been very busy and direct her to the living room. You might want to clean up for a client but I wouldn't go as far as hiding the keyboard. They might doubt whether you actually work!
I have to say, this wasn't as helpful as the faking a clean house. I loved that post. We live across the street from our family business in the old business office, and so people are constantly wanting to pop in to see our renovation progress. Renovating makes it difficult enough to stay tidy looking, and busy days can put off cleaning. My rush cleaning is to immediately light a candle or oil burner, put any couple of dirty dishes in the sink into the oven or microwave (thanks to a commenters recommendation for that one!) clean the back of the toilet and quickly scrub it, wipe down the sink, then spray every room plus drapes and couches with homemade linen spray. What i took away from the last post was to make sure the things people have to touch like the bathroom look exquisitly sparkling clean and it does make a lot of sense. When I had messy roommates in college i was a huge fan of a big storge ottoman to stuff with clutter.
Push the Staples 'EASY' red button.
I can't push the EASY button until I find it underneath a pile.....
The best way to clean a keyboard is using q-tips slightly dampened with water/rubbing alcohol. Be careful not get them "wet" or push down too hard. This will clear up grime, especially on a light-colored keyboard such as an Apple one.
I have definitely done the "stash a box/bag in the closet" in my studio apt, but mostly I try to deal efficiently with papers by not letting everything pile up. This include mail (junk gets tossed in the trash room before i get on the elevator, everything else opened and filed -- payables in a specific open file; paid bills in their respective files in the cabinet).
Ehm, I will remove empty cups or mugs and trash, put the pencils and similar things which are lying around away & put my books, papers and binders into stacks and maybe dust. Removing keyboard & mouse seems totally unnecessary. Probably whoever is visiting you will be confused and ask "What the hell happened with your keyboard? Is it broken?"
I put things away in the correct place, otherwise I get stressed out if I can't find something later. It probably takes just as long. I categorize my piles and then put them away.
I'm sad IKEA no longer sells the clock in the picture. I have one, but always wanted another for my office. Oh well.