As this year comes to a close and I start to think about 2006 my mind settles on one major goal -- organization! As least in my office.
I run two businesses and homeschool Maddie in this office and it's a mess. Maddie uses an old cardboard Kinko's box as her school desk (well, it is kind of good because the box holds all of her school "stuff" too) and she's getting a little big for that. Then there's the fact that I have two computers set up right now, but one isn't on a computer desk, so it's pretty much unusable. And there are piles of things everywhere! It's a mess. See for yourself. . .
Western View of the Office of Shame
Southern View of the Office of Shame
Eastern View of the Office of Shame
Northern View of the Office of Shame
So, as you can see, it is a total mess. I spend a majority of each day in this office and I would love to have it look like a spread from Martha Stewart Living, know what I mean?
Here are the major issues:
- I have patterns (currently in the plastic drawer thingies on the "shipping" table on southern wall) and rubber stamps (currently on two shelving units on the northern wall) that need to stay here and be near me for work.
- I need a packing area where all of my packing supplies are easily within reach (the big table along the southern wall serves this purpose now, but often gets covered with non-shipping stuff.)
- Two computers -- I want to set up the old one (which is currently not really usable due to its location) for Maddie. The second computer desk in the room is on the southern wall and is covered with my paper cutter, postal scale (which I use a lot and should have with the "shipping" stuff) and sizzix (which I don't use very often anymore).
- I have built-ins at each end of the room which you can see in the photos, but they need better organization. But how?
- Three walls are mostly windows, so I can't really put anything on them. This is good (natural light abounds!) & bad (only short things can be on these three walls).
- The eastern and western walls are metal below the windows -- they are actually radiator covers (yep, we have an old house with radiant heat).
- I have lots of files, but no filing cabinet. If I had a filing cabinet, where would I put it? Ugh!
- I don't know where to start. This is my biggest issue. I think if I start I'll do something totally wrong and have to start again and again. Is there a method I should be following? Help me!
Here's where you come in. Send me links! Send me ideas! Send me photos! Help me out here!
I'll pick a random name from the list of idea senders. And I will post a list of the best ideas (otherwise known as the ideas that I end up using or learning something new from) on the blog.
You can post ideas in the comments, or email them to me!
