Home office organization for two people
I’ve been organizing for years. Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up certainly inspired new ways to think about organizing and her new show on Netflix spurred even more organization. Years ago my friend Suzanne used to say “make a list of every space/drawer/closet in every room and organize by amount of time you have for the task.” So I’ll organize a kitchen drawer if I have 5-10 minutes. This weekend I organized the office. It’s a home office that functions perfectly. It’s not at all beautiful, but we have a place for everything and that’s what makes it work.
We used a simple shelf from Ikea for a little extra storage. The bins from Serena & Lily hold things like my camera equipment and chargers. The vintage card catalog holds notes, every type of tape and sticky stuff you can imagine and the same with the twine. I love having everything of one type in one place. The card catalog came from Mongers Market in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It has tons of industrial salvage organized by type. Unlike anyplace I’ve been…not for what it has, but for how it’s organized. Like items are placed in one area throughout the huge warehouse. If you can’t make it to Connecticut, Etsy is a good resource for card catalogs of all types.
A vintage card catalog holds small like items all in one place making things easy to find
We have every type of tape from electrical to packaging in this one drawer. It makes life so much easier when you know exactly where to find something in the house.
A large cabinet holds the not so pretty things in a small office
This piece used to be in our living room at our former home. To find a spot for it in this house we had to have a door closed off. There was once a door to the mudroom bath so that this room could also be a guest room. By closing it off we were able to use this cabinet which is great for storage.
We make use of even the smallest spaces
Having a place for every item is key to making a small home work. In this tiny closet we have a file cabinet which holds the printer. In the space on the sides, I can store tall glass vases when not in use, which happen to hold my tripod in one and rolls of kraft paper in the other. I like to make it look as pretty as possible so that when the door is open, the busyness of it all is not too distracting.
We keep the desktop clear of any clutter
We keep the desk clear of any clutter, which makes it easier to switch users. Both my husband and I will use this space at different times and keeping the desk clear makes it easy to sit down, plug into the monitor and get to work.
A DIY drawer organizer using boxes you already have around the house
The drawer in this desk from west elm is extremely shallow and I’ve never been able to find a drawer organizer that fits. I used the tops and bottoms of various old small boxes to make a DIY organizer of sorts. This gives true meaning to the proverb: A place for everything and everything in its place. Off to tackle another project! Have any organizing ideas that you would like to share? Send a photo and I’ll share during the week!
Shop the post
Stefanie Wall says
Annie, you have made the best use of this space and organized everything beautifully!! Love the idea of keeping the desk cleared off so it’s always ready for the next person. Your trays and boxes would make Marie Kondo so proud!