Despite the trend in more and more people working from home, the office furniture industry has been slow to catch up. You'd think there would be dozens of ways for people working from home to hide their home offices in armoires. Yet armoire home office options are few and far between. The furniture industry doesn't seem to do much to help people with setting up home offices.

An armoire is a great way to hide a home office. It offers many benefits:

• looks like regular furniture and blends into a non-office setting
  
• closes up to hide your computer
• maximizes height while minimizing space
• fits into a small space and takes up less room than a big work desk

But, at the same time, I see an awful lot of problems with armoires for home offices. Some of the challenges include:

• most models have office furniture colors and may not look right with home furniture
• pine- and oak-look armoires may not blend in with more modern settings that feature steel and espresso finishings
• lack of writing space
• no blocks to lift up a laptop so that the screen is at the right height
• no filing cabinet space
• no drawers
• printer is near the floor, meaning that your tidy home office is open to children and pets when in use

Although I've noted some flaws above, I still think computer armoires are a great home office solution. If you can keep the drawbacks in mind, you can easily eliminate poor armoire offerings and better accommodate your home office. So, when shopping for a computer armoire for your home office, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I need to use this with a computer? A laptop or a desktop?
• If so, what height do I need the screen to be at for ergonomic comfort?
• Do I need space for a printer?
• Where will I keep my inbox and outbox?
• Will the armoire provide space for a few books and working files?
• Is there a filing cabinet drawer?
• Where will I keep pens, scissors and other home office supplies?
• Do small children or pets prevent me from using storage along the floor?
• Will small children slam their fingers in the doors or spend time flapping the doors while I'm working?
• Do I have enough space to open the doors as widely as I need to?
• Is my space tall enough for this armoire?
• Do I like the color and finishing?

Those are just a few shopping tips. Before you hit the stores, come up with your own list of questions. Whether you're spending $250 or $2000, you'll want to make sure you pick the armoire that best suits your home office and not some fictional display.

Armoire home office options.

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