How to Create Your Home Office on a Budget

To set up a home office, we recommend choosing a space in your home or apartment that will be just for your home office. This might be a separate room in your home or a space in your bedroom or other special place of your choice.

What will you need? Some of the most basic items are a desk, phone and computer. Also, will you be working for yourself in your home office, or will you be working for a company from your home? If you're working for yourself, you can determine what equipment works best for you and your budget. If you are working at home for a company, they may have specific guidelines as to what type of equipment you will need and use. If it's the latter, then you will most likely be reimbursed for your equipment expenses.

Make your own desk: I need a lot of desk top space when I'm working, as it seems that I have many projects going on simultaneously. Instead of spending a ton of money on an office furniture suite, we made one very easily. We purchased a large, unfinished wooden door (without the doorknob hole in it) at a building supply store (similar to Lowe's or Home Depot) to use as the desktop, stained it with a color of my choosing, then put on a sealer of clear polyurethane. We then drilled a few holes towards the back on both ends and inserted plastic grommets, so I could have my equipment cords pass through to the back of my desk and connect to a power source underneath.

For the base of the desk, we purchased two 2-drawer filing cabinets which gave me filing space and also a good base for the top of the desk to sit on. I also added one more 2-drawer filing cabinet at a later date as I needed more filing space. The desktop fits perfectly on top of the filing cabinets, and I have a beautiful desktop that is very functional and can be easily disassembled should we need to reconfigure the office space or move. Add a chair of your choosing, and you're good to go!

You can find 2-drawer filing cabinets on sale at local office supply stores or at used office furniture stores. Also, check out garage sales for special deals.

Add a chair and you're good to go: It doesn't have to be a big comfy office chair. It can be as simple as a folding chair. Start small and grow into that big, comfy office chair when you can afford it.

Desktop Phone, Cell Phone or Both: This decision will depend on your requirements. If you are working for a company at home, chances are they will provide the type of phone they want you to use. For example, some companies insist on a land line and compatible phone. Or you can use your cell phone. But, if you want a separate line and phone number designated just for your business, you might opt for a desktop phone with some features like call waiting, speakerphone capabilities and voice mail.

There are many types of desktop phones that will work with VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) lines such as those services provided by your cable company or use your computer to complete this solution using a service like Skpye. These types of services are much cheaper today than when they were first introduced and the call clarity is clear.

You may want to add a telephone headset to the mix which will free your hands to type while conversing with a customer. Headsets are better than scrunching that phone between your ear, neck and shoulder. There are a large variety of headsets to choose from and you should consider what type of solution would work best for you based on your type of business: Corded, wireless, Bluetooth or one headset that work with all three devices such as the Plantronics Savi 740 which works with your desktop phone, PC for VoIP calling and your Bluetooth smart phone.

One or Two Computers: Desktop computer, laptop computer or both? Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, I think it's safe to say that you can begin with one machine - either a desktop PC/MAC or a laptop. If you need to add more than one monitor, this can be added later, after you're making money.