Home offices are not just for paying bills and kids doing their homework anymore. People working from home, either full or part time, is on the rise.
Cabinets are essentials tools to any household office. These facilitate organizing materials, files, documents and other items that have to be kept for storage, reference or future use.
While the design of the cabinets, particularly for a house, is of great importance, there are also other things that need to be considered before buying one or having one custom-made to your specifications.
The size of the cabinet depends on two factors: the size of the space to be allotted for the furniture and the amount of materials that will be placed in the cabinet.
Consider the space that will be allotted for the cabinet. There should be enough space in front of the cabinet that you can easily open it and take out whatever you need.
It is also advisable to have enough walking room when the cabinet is open. This means that a person will be able to pass or stand freely in front of the cabinet while taking or placing the contents.
Also consider the amount of materials that will be placed in the cabinet. It is better that you have one cabinet for organizing related things than having several cabinet in which you need to check when looking for a single thing. It is better that your cabinet still has enough space in case you acquire more similar contents so you can fit them all in the same place.
The concern on whether to have vertical or lateral drawers usually arises when deciding on what to get for keeping files.
Vertical drawers are the most common filing cabinet used in offices. These require little wall space and stack two to five drawers that contain legal-sized documents. The files are arranged from front to back and are facing the user.
These are good for storing personal files, since because of its compactness, each office employee can have one. However, because these are quite deep, they might diminish the room’s walking space when the drawers are open.
Lateral drawers, on the other hand, require a larger wall space. Even if these are not as deep as vertical drawers, they have a high capacity.
These can also contain legal files arranged in two to five drawers. The files, however, are arranged facing one side or facing the user in multiple rows.
The commonly used materials for cabinets may be wood or steel. Wood is used usually for home office cabinets, while steel is preferred for important office files, due to its strength and durability.
Wood is preferred for homes because of multiple decorating possibilities and its ability to add warmth and homey ambience.
Make sure that the drawers can be extended fully and can glide smoothly. A drawer that is stuck can lead to several other problems.
Purchasing cabinets for your home office can be an investment, so take the time to plan out your space with a professional, so that it is a functional space f or you.