How many people do you know who work from home today? I bet you can think of at least one or two! More than 50% of my friends work for themselves at home or at least have the option to take on the daily grind from the comfort of their own couch. And if you can believe it, according to Business Insider, 40% of Americans will be freelancers by 2020!  With the number of people working from home on the rise today, the need for a calm and orderly area to focus on their jobs is growing by the masses.

Of course, I'm part of that statistic and after setting up a home office for Shelfie, I know first-hand the challenges people face when figuring out how to create a space where they can thrive creatively while growing a successful business from home.

Speaking of creative and successful, meet a near and dear friend of mine, Rupa Mehta! Rupa is the Founder of NaliniKIDS, a non-profit organization aimed at teaching children physical and emotional wellness and Nalini Method, a fitness studio (the original inspiration behind NaliniKIDS and my FAVORITE fitness class in the city). As a wellness expert, Rupa writes and publishes books educating adults and children on how to be healthier and happier. So far, she’s written over 30 books, some of which have been implemented in several New York City Public Schools!   

Rupa lives in a 2 BR apartment in Manhattan with her husband who also works from home. For years, the second bedroom primarily served as a studio where Rupa taught private fitness classes and shot video content for her YouTube channel. She also kept a futon in the room for guests along with luggage, old paperwork, memories and art supplies. But once NaliniKIDS took off and Rupa’s team grew, the bedroom quickly became a storage space for her event materials, office supplies, and 25,000 books in boxes stacked to the ceiling leaving the dining room/living room area as the dedicated common workspace for both Rupa and her husband.

While they enjoyed sharing a workspace, conducting meetings for their respective businesses became tricky.  As you can imagine, schedules collided, voices on calls traveled and the area became quite crowded. Rupa decided it was time to officially give NaliniKIDS a real home to hold meetings, create a co-working space for her employees and storage for all her books and supplies but she could no longer fully open the door to the spare bedroom. Luckily, Shelfie is a dedicated Nalini Method student so Rupa knew just who to call and I was thrilled and honored to tackle the challenge!

Before I came in, Rupa and her incredible team spent several hours purging, recycling and donating older copies of books not being used. Afterwards, Rupa and I worked together to unload the remaining books in use alongside all the other stuff in the room. The end result is a light, airy and modern home office with storage space and room for meetings and multiple NaliniKIDS employees to work at once. Below are some tips you can follow to create your own organized home office!

 PRODUCTS USED IN THIS POST

Book Ends/White Wire Basket (discontinued)/Elfa Shelving/File Cabinets/Clear Plastic Stacking Bins/White Bins/Clear Canisters/Copper Wire Basket/Acrylic Letter Sorter/Magazine File Boxes/Document Box/Book Stands/Small Acrylic Trays

All photos were taken by Sara Losonci and are the property of ShelfieNYC.