Do you ever have that moment when you finally do something you’ve been meaning to do for a long time, then wonder what in the heck took you so long to get around to doing it?  Why did I wait so long to redo my office?!? It’s been almost two weeks and I have nothing but love for my new office space. My whole attitude toward being in this space has changed since the redo, as evidenced by the fact that I am actually writing in it rather than lugging my laptop upstairs so I can avoid it.

 

 

I love it.  I come in every day now.  I will admit, a huge part of it is getting rid of a lot of the clutter, which any good organizer will tell you is the hardest part anyway.  All those little things that you save for “just in case” really do get in the way.  Having appropriate space to store the things that survive the reaping is also pretty helpful.

If you’re so inclined, I’ll give you the nickel tour.

 

Let’s start with my desk.  It was my dad’s.  It is made of solid teakwood and I love the mod feeling to it.  I think my mom said it came from Scan Design back in the day.  It has all sorts of nooks and crannies in it which are fabulous for hiding my not so lovely office supplies that I tend to hoard.  One day friends, I will have the desk of photo shoot dreams. One day.

I cleared it off and started from scratch with where things would be.  As lovely as my desk is, it has no file drawers, only the shallow drawers for pens and small stacks of every Post-it pad I’ve ever been given in my life.  I love them.  I never use them.  Sigh.  That’s another post. Anyway, it means things live mostly on top in plain view.  I haven’t really purged this part yet.  I’ll get there…The binders on the right are a project for another time.  The blue one is my feeble attempt at a home management binder, the black one is my job hunt binder that is ready to go at moments notice (yep, I needed it and can’t let go), the small black one is my travel binder for hotel confirmations, tickets, etc., and the white one is my party planning binder.  Eventually they may all be white.  I’m not sure.  They’ve been this way for years.  It works.

My file sorter holds a folder to hold my monthly bills, Miss O’s school handbook, and a couple of files I really need to go through from other business ventures.  (PURGED!) Even as I write this, I’m thinking of laying it flat and using it as more of an in/out box.  Yes.  That might have to happen. Top for things that really need attention, middle of things waiting for decisions, bottom for either long term storage or reference that I want close by.  (See, I can’t stop reorganizing.)

On the desk below that I have my To-Do list, and my project files with things that require action. I try not to let that pile get too out of control, but it’s great to have it where I can see it and it can nag at me overtime I’m down here.

Above my monitor, I made a little gallery collection of fun  family photos.  I’ve always wanted a gallery wall and as my first attempt, I think it turned out rather well.  I just happened to have frames that were wood and some that were gold brushed wood.  Instant collection. I totally slopped into that.  It makes me happy.

The new table I put alongside my desk to make an L shape.  It lets me move even more seamlessly from working to creating and I love not having to turn completely around to see my computer if I have some sort of tutorial or inspiration image on my screen.  It also allows me to sprawl and the flow is just so much better.  I kept the markers, pencils and scissors on the table because I like have them readily accessible when I’m working, especially when I’m doing a scrapbook or event decor.

Under the L, there’s a little pocket of space that can bemused to hold bins with some of my larger sewing supplies, my gift stash for Miss O and some larger in progress projects.

So now it’s time to address the elephant in the room.  See that mountain of plastic boxes topped with an impending avalanche of paper on top of my lovely new table?

Yeah, that one.  That’s Miss O’s scrapbook.  The sliver of purple about 3/4 of the way up is the actual book.  It covers from the moment we found out about her to the day we brought her home.  Three project bins and the mound above the book is everything since that day.  Between acclimate to having her on the outside, buying our house, moving, a trip to the UK (that’s the bottom box) and keeping up with a toddler, let’s just say I’m working on it.  That’s at least more organized than it was.  The first box is from where we left off on the day we brought her home and her first birthday.  The second box is from then until her second birthday.  The third box is from then until now.  The top is a collection of her paintings that I need to “curate.” The black bin next to it contains 4 plastic files and one unopened envelop of photos that span that time and are sorted according to the same timeframe. Someday, these two things will some together in beautiful harmony and a scrapbook or two will be born into the world so they can gather dust on a shelf until I pass them on to Miss O who will most likely not give two figs about any of it. UPDATE: The top is clear!  You can see the scrapbook now!

I’ve already christened this set up with my first project and I love it. I was worried the table I chose would be too narrow, since it is more narrow than the folding 6′ I was previously using, but it was perfect! Even with the mountain looming in the corner. I had a printed copy of the instructions and I was able to post them on the board above the table with magnets rather than taking up valuable real estate on the table and it helped me keep track of where I was in the process. Above that, I framed one of my favorite original works by Miss O.  It brings some color and fun to the room and just plain makes me smile.

The greatest thing I did was move the bookshelves that used to be in Miss O’s room along the wall where the 6′ table used to be.  I kept a little bamboo shelf we had in our guest bathroom in our apartment and it holds two bins of fabric, along with some ready made things posted on my Etsy shop.

This is the first time I’ve had all my supplies in the same place and all in groups that make sense.  It’s a novel concept and being able to find things is amazing.  Who knew?! The big green boxes (The Container Store), I already had from a previous attempt at reorganizing our apartment and the little white ones (IKEA) were a welcome addition.  I now have space to display some of Miss O’s larger creations and a few other things I love.

The big brown bookshelf is back against the wall where it was before, but benefitted from a little purging and reorganizing as well.  It’s still a work in progress. Don’t even get me started on the closet that still won’t close.  I suspect that’s more the fact that the door is a little funny than the fact that we have an odd assortment of things in there, but it is crying out for shelving and purging.  Maybe next winter.

I love my new space and I know I’ll spend so much more time down here.  It’s not perfect, nor is it the stuff of a Real Simple photo shoot, but it works for me and that’s saying a lot!