The majority of entrepreneurs that work from home can remember the days when their home office was brand new. It all looked so professional with the newly bought equipment and furniture. There was very little clutter or mess. Several months later, we look around to find areas crowded with stacks of papers, disks and files from our daily work; it doesn't look so tidy or professional anymore.

To work properly it's not only important to have your office organized but also to have plenty of space in the office itself. Having room to work will help keep you motivated and inspired to complete your daily tasks. It helps you stay focused on what you're doing instead of becoming annoyed at all the clutter around you. Here's a few tips to keep your home office spacious and functional.

1. Get rid of all the clutter. Anything that doesn't serve a purpose or is required for your day-to-day work has to go. Old memos or drafts of work past their sell by date? Get rid of them. Any paperwork that's not needed gets sent to recycling. Simple.

2. Mounted cabinets are a great way to tidily store office items. A medium or large sized cabinet will hold more stuff and keep papers from piling up into small mountains on the floor and your desk. Having them wall mounted means your floorspace isn't eaten up by yet more office furniture.

3. Non-work items. Look at your desk. How many of those items are actually required for your work and how many are just useless accessories that got left there over time? Get rid of the items that don't serve a purpose.

4. Your desk shape plays a huge part here. Having a desk in the shape or a U or L will give you more room because you can sit "into" the shape of the desk giving you more room than you might imagine. Use the small drawers of the desk to store additional office supplies like pens, staplers, stamps and so forth.

5. Tidy up the wiring. If you're using a computer and a phone there's going to be wires hanging all over the place behind or underneath your desk. Not only does this look bad but it can be dangerous - people can trip over these things. My dog loves getting herself caught up in any loose wiring and trying to drag computer equipment off my desk.

6. How much light is in the room is also important. Good lighting will make any office appear more spacious. Always let in as much natural light as possible. In the evenings have plenty of floor or desk lamps to make sure you're not sitting in the almost black of night while you're trying to work.

7. Shelving can also be very handy. One or two large shelves in your home office will give you space for printers, fax machines and files. I personally keep my printer on a shelf away from the desk. Why? Because it eats up too much space and I can still reach it from where I sit.

Using any of the above tips will give you more space in your home office. That space allows you to mentally and physically breathe in that room and get the most out of each working day. You owe it to yourself and your business to do this.