Hi there and happy new year! It seems everyone gets the organizing bug this time of year and I am no exception! I have so many areas of my home to tackle but the one that has bothered me the most is my desk area. In the very busy days leading up to Christmas, I had to let certain things go – one of those things was mail and my kids’ school papers. In fact, I didn’t open a single Christmas card until after Christmas.
My desk is situated in a little niche in our foyer. It is super convenient as I can bounce back and forth between my desk and the kitchen where I spend most of my time. The downside is that it is in plain view of everyone as they pass through to the rest of the house. So, let me be real and show you how it looked on Christmas Eve when we hosted dinner for 14 …. cringe.
And here is how it looks today – all organized and prettied up!
Organizing and decluttering is overwhelming to me. So I discipline myself to spend 1 hour on an organizing project and then walk away from it. It also helps if I have a little somethin’ new to add to the space … then I am more motivated!
So here’s the details on what I use to keep this space functioning and attractive.
My framed bulletin board was a DIY project from a year ago. Just a yard sale frame, some burlap and the cork from a standard bulletin board (also found at a yard sale). I cut the cork to fit my frame, wrapped it in burlap and secured the back with staples and hot glue before inserting the whole thing into the vintage frame. It is positioned a little off center above the desk so that it isn’t blocked from view by the computer monitor.
My bulletin board essentially serves to inspire me. I love Pinterest but there is something about seeing ideas that I want to try, feeling fabric swatches and viewing paint samples in real life. The gold and white push pins are from the Nate Berkus line of office supplies at Target. The vintage XOXOXO game card banner is from our Etsy store.
I use two wooden divided boxes to keep the desktop tidy. One is for my address book, birthday book and a supply of various greeting cards, note paper, envelopes, address labels and stamps. It also corrals an assortment of pens, pencils and markers.
I love this old wooden box with the words “finish nails” etched in the wood. It makes me smile to think of a man who cared enough to organize his nails. No doubt he made the box himself. I use it to keep paper clips, binder clips, sticky notes, elastic bins, pushpins and gift tags neatly corralled.
I changed out the lamp with a new one from Target. This was the “little somethin’ new” that I mentioned earlier to motivate me into action. It’s the Threshold brass task lamp. It takes up less space than the one I had before and fits my more rustic/modern style. In the other corner of my desk I have a brass floor lamp which takes up no space on the desktop. I found this one on clearance at Target about a year ago.
For the inner walls, I use a three-tiered wall organizer – one bin for each child. It was originally chrome but I sprayed it with some gold paint and then added the chalkboard name tags.
On the left wall, I hung some old clipboards because I like the way they look and are in easy reach when I need one.
Under the desk things aren’t so pretty but I wanted to share that I use two large baskets from Basketville for my active files (purchased on Ebay). One houses everything associated with the business side of my Etsy store. The other is for the work I do with a local non-profit organization. I love baskets because they are so versatile. These two are about 2 feet long and 14 inches wide. They fit nicely under the desk without interfering with the leg area.
Ahhh. It feels so good to walk past this space now. I am inspired to create again and vow not to let this desktop get buried in mail and paper which was a major creativity drain!
Incidentally, the desk is Ethan Allen, 1990’s era – hence the green paint. I plan to give it a coat of black paint and change out the hardware to something more modern but right now I just want to enjoy my clean work space!
Oh one more thing – the mug is from madebywallflower.com. This was a gift from my oldest daughter two Christmases ago. I love it!
And now it’s on to the next organizing project … my pantry!
Debra
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