My Office: Organized

Do you recall the "A Peek at My Office" post from a month or so ago?  I left you knowing that IKEA pulled through with a fantastic delivery that I was all excited about. Since then the inevitable assembly has taken place, a couple of small storage purchases were made and the fun part happened! Everything found a home and things were made lovely along the way. 

Most of the good stuff happened on my side of the plumbing pipe & 2x10 plank desk Tim and I built for this space, and in the closet. Let's start with the closet. Remember how thrown together and shoved in it looked in there? And that was after I cleared out half of it!

This closet held all gift supplies, our filing system, my collection of paper (both pretty and functional) (it added up to a fair bit!), random electronic boxes - empty, party decorating supplies, some craft supplies, blank CD's and a whole bunch of other odds and ends. It was packed! 

My first solution was to buy a second Helmer drawer unit from IKEA. We already have one for Hadassah on her side of the desk and it holds her mountains of craft supplies - construction paper, stickers, stamps, markers, crayons, etc. So handy! When I was thinking of the best way to organize my paper - everything from computer paper, to cardstock in various colors, to scrapbook paper, I realized that a matching unit on my side would be perfect! Plus the top two drawers allow me to stash a lot of office paraphernalia. (stapler, paper cutter, ruler, push pins, etc.) Did I mention it's a matching unit? That balances out the desk? My heart sings. 

This freed up some space in the closet previously used for paper stacks. (plus, it's metal! I can tuck away my to-do list - another thing off my desk space! yes!) Note also the new rug. Also IKEA. Also loving it. 

Next up was installing the Mulig shelf in the closet and the items I chose from the Bygel series - 3 rails, some hooks and a couple of baskets. First up, the shelf and all of the space it allowed me to stack boxes, containers and fun stuff.

There's even a spot left on the bottom shelf! Amazing! My rolling cart, a previous IKEA purchase and a favorite yet, finds its home in front of the closet door now. It rolls along easily enough that getting in the closet is not a big deal - plus it frees up space beside my desk. Having a chair that spins around helps - everything in the cart is a 180 twirl away. 

And then the rail system. So, so much more efficient use of that door space!! Thanks for the idea, Brooklyn Limestone. It also helped that I drastically scaled down my gift wrap supplies. 

With my stuff all put away and organized, my next goal was to somehow de-clutter without de-cozying. I don't mind having my pick of nice stuff around me in my office. However, the way things were was starting to get to me. I had to tone it down, finish it off...streamline perhaps? Clearing off my desk was a great start, and removing the rolling cart from my direct working space helped already. But the walls. They needed some tweaking! Here's a reminder of what it looked like before:

After removing a lot and moving things around, adding the rug and curtains for a "warm layer", it now looks like this:

Oh, there's still some clutter with the shelf area. But in my world, re-doing the cork board and having the clipboards line up nicely, on top of minimum junk on my desk, helps things along toward what I was looking for. And I'm loving the result so far! (my desk remains cleared off...it's great!

Although this little goal of mine took a bit longer than I anticipated (doesn't everything?!), I do so love working in here again. And it's pretty neat to glance up and see some of my own prints on display! I enjoy the fact that I can switch them out, quickly, whenever I want. Clipboards are handy that way!

There is a reason I'm not showing you the other side today! Ha! While I've organized the bookshelves a bit better, my daughter has been feeling continually crafty lately. Plus, while I've been organizing my side, she's decided she should "organize" her side. Not my kind of organizing, however. Her kind. It's cute and sweet and it's been great having her around for the process...but it leaves me waiting a bit to take "it's finished!" pictures. :)

And there you have it! What I've been up to in here. Where I sit and work. Where I sit and play. Where Hadassah and I often hang out. My very own little office. I'm so thankful for it!