The office armoire is one of the greatest organizational tools known to man! What other room in your house would fit into a closet? You certainly can't sleep in a closet, or cook or eat in one (although if you are scarfing down the last piece of cake, that's is a great place to hide). So if you don't have the luxury of an extra room to use for an office, you don't have to live like a nomad with nowhere to run your life. The office armoire is a fantastic tool that can give you all the space and storage you need to run any operation like a general. The essential components of a home office are a desk, shelving, and file drawers, many pieces out there have all you need.
I know it sounds too good to be true, but I recently had to put this theory into practice myself when I had a baby and had to convert our second bedroom from the office to a nursery. I was highly skeptical and nervous about this undertaking, but since I had no other option, I knew the office armoire was my only solution (I just had to get rid of the fish tank to make room). I am happy to report that I write this column from my office armoire, and run my organizing business and the comings and goings of my family from here as well. It can be done, and in fact I am doing it better in the smaller space than I did in the whole room, seriously. Hard to believe, but it's the same concept as packing a smaller suitcase. You really don't need a lot of the stuff that you think you do, and when you streamline down to the necessities, you don't waste a lot of time rummaging around for the right item, and you don't distract yourself with all those shoes you brought for "in case." Just don't forget your passport.
But I digress. Of course, there are many things you have to consider when shopping for an office armoire. The size of the piece is the first issue. You may not have another whole room to dedicate to an office, but you need to make sure you have the wall space for the armoire as some of them can be pretty wide. You also need to figure out what style of furniture works for the room in which it will live. It's also important to take inventory for what exactly you will be fitting into this space. What kind of supplies to you have or need to keep at hand? How much desk space do you need? Is there enough space for the printer, computer, monitor, and speakers? Once you figure that stuff out, there are some really great options out there.