Basement Design Idea For Your Dream Home Office
If your basement is just being used for storage or sitting there unused, why not make it into your home office? Use that space to get organized and have the office of your dreams right there in your own home.
Home Office
With this basement design idea, you can get organized, and create a space just for you. This will allow you to be more efficient with your work and your time. You will enjoy a place that is set aside just for you to work in.
By the way, when you just want to get away from whatever it is you want to get away from, you can always say, “I’m going to work!” Just click on your computer and play those great video games you’ve got hidden on there.
To begin your design, you can make a list of things that you will need. You probably already have a computer and a desk, but here are some other things you may need:
- A comfy sofa you can use to ‘think’ on when you’re not on the computer.
- A file cabinet to make sure you keep up with important documents or project ideas.
- Office supplies that you may need, or just haven’t had the room for before.
- Desk (if you don’t already have one)
- Book shelves for reference books or workbooks
- Shelving for projects or supplies
- Bins to keep your things organized and at your fingertips
- Big screen TV. for media referencing…okay, you might not be able to get away with that one!
- ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign for your door
Now you can put your office basement design idea into motion.
Find a great place to put your desk and computer. You can set up your supplies in a way that will keep you organized. Try placing a large calendar on your wall next to the computer to keep you organized and ensure that you will never miss a deadline or due date.
The shelving is great for organizing and storing supplies, projects, or other items you may need. You can get shelving that goes from the floor to the ceiling to maximize space, or just the ‘shelves in a box’ that you can put together yourself.
Place your bins on the shelves and label the sides that you see. This way you won’t have to launch a search to find a certain supply or document. You will know exactly where it is.
Place your sofa and any other furnishings you may have decided on in your office. You can keep the space from being so boring by using a few great things to spice it up. Place candles around the room for a calming effect.
Get some great houseplants that don’t need a lot of light, and place those in your office. The greatest thing about your home office basement design idea is that it’s yours. You can do whatever you want. Hang some great art on the walls to brighten it up, or place some comfy chairs for meeting with clients.
This is a great basement design idea for people who work at home. Give yourself a space to call your own, and get organized. Use these tips and ideas to help you create the perfect home office in your basement.
Home Sweet Home Page
“Your home page is the world’s introduction to you and your company. Make it COUNT!” – Heidi Richards
Think of your home page as the cover of your brochure. It features exciting information about your company, but like a brochure it must be opened to reveal the rest of the message. It is connected to other pages in a way that allows other visitors to your site to move from one page to another by clicking on the highlighted text or images.
Getting your home page up and running on the Internet requires design, operations, and the update of your information. Many Internet Service Providers offer home page construction for free, often with a standard format in their “host” package. This is an inexpensive way to get up and running more quickly on the Internet. In the beginning, it might be an option for your site.
The options of design, operations, and update depend entirely on how much maintenance your site would require and how much information you want the surfer/customer to have. It could be as simple as listing your location, hours of operation, and the types of products and services you provide. Or as elaborate as picture graphics, movement, and even sound.
Design It yourself. This no-frills approach is inexpensive. The many new and easy-to-use software applications available make it affordable to get started. Provided you feel comfortable with this do-it-yourself approach, and feel comfortable learning a new program you can create your own home page. There are, however, some disadvantages. There is no guarantee of quality for the finished product, and it requires a lot of time and energy.
Microsoft offers a free package that allows Word users to build a Web site from their word processing software package. Check out their web site for Internet Assistant for Word (http://www.mircrosoft.com). Adobe has a package called PageMill 2.0, using click-and-drag commands that create web pages. Less than $100, it has the basics needed to create a site. Just call 800-833-6687. Corel offers a Web Graphic Suite of products. More expensive, but you can get more features. Corel’s number is 800-772-6735.
New packages become available frequently. Check out the computer software catalogs and local stores for what’s out there.
Hiring a Designer. Companies specializing in Web site design are abundant. And new companies are springing up all the time. Of course, it can cost up to $500.00 to develop a modest site. And about $30.00 per hour for updating the site. You will still need the Internet Service Provider to host your site.
Updating your site. The more often your site is updated, the more successful it will tend to be. Active sites are updated weekly, maybe even more frequently. If you want your Web site to be more than a billboard, it could require several hours per week to keep the site current. It all depends on the types of products and services you provide.
Make sure your Web Site is “linked” to other similar industry sites, and professional associations.
Excerpted from The PMS Principles – Powerful Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Business
Home Page Design – What is the Purpose of Your Home Page?
Not all home or landing pages are created equal, nor do they have the same goal in mind. So, if you want yours to do its job, you need to know what that job is.
Your home page can accomplish several different goals… just not at the same time. That’s why most online business owners have several websites, each with their own landing page. Let’s take a look at the jobs a home page can accomplish:
Establish Your Brand
Your brand is so much more than a simple logo or a tag line. It is an emotional experience. A landing page that communicates this experience is probably one of the more difficult ones to create… for how do mere pixels on the screen convey emotion?
Mostly, emotion is communicated through a website with images, color combination and, possibly, headlines. A branding page is usually heavy on ambiance but light on information.
Landing pages that establish expertise or try to build a relationship are a form of this type of home page.
Make a Sale
Also called sales pages, a web page that makes a sale is basically a sales letter or store front online. All actions that a visitor can take (besides leaving, of course) is to buy something.
Amazon.com is an example of a store front home page. But for most small business owners a simple sales letter suffices. If you’re getting really creative, your sales letter can be in the form of a video.
Build a List
Landing pages that have the sole purpose of building a list are often called squeeze pages. Basically a visitor to such a web page either provides their name and email address in return for an opt-in bonus… or they leave.
This type of web page has an opt-in box as its focal point. Any and all text is there to convince the visitor to enter their name and email address in the form provided.
The purpose of your home page… indeed, your website… determines how you go about designing the look, feel and copy of that page. So be very clear on your goal before you start working on its design.