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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 12 2011 at 9:09am | IP Logged
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I decided that one of the things I just have to get organized first is our home office. Our new home is blessed with a small dedicated office complete with built in shelving, but aside from the shelves, I'm starting from scratch. I have few things I used before, but the space for this sort of organization was something we sorely lacked. The paper monster is the first in taking over, and I think having that system in place will really make a host of other things fall into place more readily.
From all the organizing books I've skimmed, tips I've perused, and experiences I've had, I've learned that A) I am out of sight out of mind, B) filing is not something I will do consistently, and C) my husband is most definitely a stacker. He will never make it a priority to organize, but if I can create a system that meshes with his stacking habit, he'll use it.
One thing I have found helpful in the past but never had great space for was Hanging Clipboards. I have a few of these hanging already and could use a couple more. I like being able to hang the stacks, lol.
I also really, really like the calming aesthetic of order that coordinated storage gives, but I haven't found anything I love that I can afford, and even Ikea prices are more than I'd like to spend in committing to the quantity I want.
I really like the cardboard mini-shelves that Jen posted on another thread, but again, it's a little pricey for the quantity I wanted. My Mother's Day gift came in pretty gift boxes which got me thinking about how stores buy those boxes in bulk. In searching, I think I might have found an option for me that will work even better than stacked boxes with lids, Stackable Corrugated Bin Boxes
On my shelves, I can stack them three high, which makes good vertical use of the tall shelves. I ordered the 9x12 which will hang over the front of my shelves by about an inch, but are wide enough to sort most papers and catalogs as well as things like art supplies, computer cables, and math manipulatives.
I plan on mixing these with the cheap Ikea Magazine Files.
They will all be the same boring white, but some day when I have time (famous last words, huh?  ) I can buy some paper or wallpaper or something that is a pattern I love with which to coordinate, and given the nature of the boxes, I would only have to put the piece on the front edge of the boxes and magazine files. Plus, I can make good use of my label maker! In the meantime, I still have order which is what I desperately need!
Oh, and one genius idea my husband had this week! --Receipts are the bane of my organizing existence. Dh had the idea to get two of those big sturdy packing envelopes, one for each vehicle, so that when we leave a store, the receipt can go straight into the envelope and never even come into the house. It probably sounds atrocious to the Type As out there, but believe me, it will be an improvement for us!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 12 2011 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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Oh, and I realize fifty boxes is a lot, but I think I will use over half in the office, and they appear to be very useful for a host of other applications in closets, the garage, toy room, etc... I'm already picturing a set of four the laundry room for socks!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Maryan
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| Posted: May 12 2011 at 9:18am | IP Logged
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I'm trying to rethink this wheel too Lindsey! I love your links.
I don't have a desigated office, just an area in the kitchen. I'm trying to decide whether to convert a closet into an office or just tweak what I have.
BTW - Please share pictures with what you accomplish! Visuals help me see what will work in my space. (I promise I'll do the same).
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Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 12 2011 at 9:33am | IP Logged
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Sure thing! I would actually love a space in my kitchen, but ours is a very tight galley style. Fortunately, the office is directly up the half stairs from the living area.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Mackfam
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| Posted: May 12 2011 at 12:07pm | IP Logged
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I love all of your ideas, Lindsay!
These look fantastic and super useful!!! I love them....and 50 doesn't sound over the top to me!!! 
CrunchyMom wrote:
| I also really, really like the calming aesthetic of order that coordinated storage gives, but I haven't found anything I love that I can afford, and even Ikea prices are more than I'd like to spend in committing to the quantity I want. |
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Me too. I love the look of coordinated storage, but I'll share a secret with you that I've noticed in my own home -- the decor of the organizing tools/equipment is really a non-issue in a functional, practical, ordered space. Here's why - you're going to stack these boxes and then you'll have books to the side of them, and you'll probably find other things to layer, stack, function, and place all around them so that they'll eventually just blend seamlessly into the background. What I've found is that the less you have to organize (and this isn't a statement on *stuff*...we've each got tools that assist the day, keeping it in order ensures that we're good stewards of those material tools), the prettier and more coordinated the organizing pieces can be and still be noticed. The organizing pieces themselves actually become an integral part of the decor. The more frugal one must be with space, and keeping tools and materials ordered, the less visible the organizing *pieces* become. They tend to just blend into an overall practical, functional space. Does that make sense? I would go as far as to say that the more frugal one must be with a quantity of space, the simpler, less decorative the pieces within it can be because all those different lines and visuals tend to start becoming a distraction. Anyway....all that shared because I was noticing the other day how in my learning room, all I really saw were the books and the things I had set about for the kids. The magazine file holders and the bookends and the other organizing *pieces* tended to blend into the background as supporting characters (which is exactly what they are), and I liked that and was thinking that the room is already so full that more visual competition (decor) would be overwhelming esp. for one of my children.
CrunchyMom wrote:
| They will all be the same boring white, but some day when I have time (famous last words, huh? ) I can buy some paper or wallpaper or something that is a pattern I love with which to coordinate, and given the nature of the boxes, I would only have to put the piece on the front edge of the boxes and magazine files. |
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I really don't think they'll look boring at all once you have them all set up and you have other materials grouped around them! All that having been said, as you know, I like pretty. So, I wanted to suggest a couple of things that I so treasure for adding a simple touch of pretty without being visually overwhelming:
:: I really, really enjoy decorative tape!!! Japanese masking tape in simple colors with a variety of patterns and lines adds a tiny punch of something that makes a label really stand out.
** This is a favorite etsy shop of mine! The tape can form a simple border on the bottom front of some of your boxes, or it works very well behind a label. It would also provide that coordinated look you're going for if you applied it creatively and judiciously to a variety of areas in your space. AND...it's not permanent, so while I'd say that it has an effective *stick* factor and doesn't peel up willy-nilly, it does remove without fuss as well.
:: I'm such a fan of Amy Butler fabric and designs. Some of her patterns are quite bold (and of course...it might not be your style at all!!), but in looking through her site, I could see making several things work:
** Wouldn't it look neat to see a group of three cards from her stationery line framed very simply and grouped to hang?
** Or perhaps one well placed piece of wall art as a focal point in a room with clean, simple lines.
** And of course, in addition to wallpaper in any style you like, don't forget that fabric could work really well, especially if you found a print that you really liked and used fabric stiffener, or even just simple modge podge to apply a few pieces to the sides or tops of your boxes.
CrunchyMom wrote:
| Oh, and one genius idea my husband had this week! --Receipts are the bane of my organizing existence. Dh had the idea to get two of those big sturdy packing envelopes, one for each vehicle, so that when we leave a store, the receipt can go straight into the envelope and never even come into the house. It probably sounds atrocious to the Type As out there, but believe me, it will be an improvement for us! |
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This is a really fantastic idea, too! Thanks for sharing!
I have another idea, that I think YOU might have shared with me, and I'm passing it back your way because it's one of my favorite things in my spaces! If you end up with just a little dead space between the top of your stacked cardboard organizers and the bottom of the next shelf:
** Get two simple drawer pulls from the hardware store - something like this - and screw them into the BOTTOM of the shelf above your cardboard organizers. So...the drawer pulls should be hanging DOWN. Now, you can hang SO MANY useful things from these drawer pulls using simple book rings and S hooks, but you can also suspend a wooden dowel rod between the two drawer pulls and use it to corral spools of twine and ribbon. I might be the only person that likes this...but MERCIFUL HEAVENS I find that useful. And, I'm pretty sure that YOU are the one that gave me that idea in the first place!!
(By the way...those are two eye hooks screwed into the center ends of the dowel. I used ribbon to connect the eye hook to the book ring which is suspended from the drawer pull.)
Hey, it's been a delight thinking of all the potential in your new space, Lindsay!!! Do post some pics when you can!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 12 2011 at 12:40pm | IP Logged
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I LOVE my bulletin board.. make it pretty and cover it with fabric.. but it keeps important things up and more or less IN SIGHT.. like bills that need to be paid.. like that business card for the orthodontist I'm supposed to call.. like that check I need to take my daughter into the bank to cash.. like the alter server schedule..
I keep a list on the computer of which bills get paid which paycheck.. that way I'm not dependant on keeping track of bills to be sure I'm paying everything. Also if you pay bills online going "paperless" will help reduce the amount of paper coming into the house.
Having a trash can easily available means that you can drop things into it vs onto the desk.. and having a paper shredded also easily available.. helps with another pile of stuff that needs to be tossed but really should be destroyed first.. if you don't have it.. then you just get another pile that you have to remember to get back to.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 13 2011 at 8:21am | IP Logged
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Love your ideas, Jen! I've used Amy Butler papers on a number of things in the past, and pretty is a priority for me.
One catch is that the office is knotty pine, and everything in there is knotty pine: the walls, the shelving. And not the cheap stuff, either. Heavy duty solid pine. I will never in a million years convince my husband to paint. It is actually kind of cute given the size.
So, I'm a little stuck trying to figure out what I want my style to be that will mix well with the knotty pine. Plus, it needs to be dh friendly since he'll use it a lot as well.
I'm sort of stuck trying to decide whether I just take either the Amy Butler (modern) or Cath Kidston (vintage) ball and roll with it. I'm leaning Cath Kidston just because that's the direction I'm leaning for my kitchen and the upper boy floor level (I bought her adorable cowboy wallpaper for the boy's toy room!).
Anyway, in our old house, we modge-podged nautical charts to the ceiling off the front room, and we hated leaving it. So, the office seems a place that we could do that again someday. I was kind of thinking of modge-podging strips of nautical chart to the fronts and going with a more study-like theme.
But darn it, those tapes are CUTE and SO MUCH easier!!!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: May 13 2011 at 8:58am | IP Logged
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Love Cath Kidston, that cowboy print is so cute 
Did you see her tape?
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Jenny
Mom to dds(00,03) and dss(05,06,08,09)
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 13 2011 at 9:37am | IP Logged
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Grace&Chaos wrote:
Love Cath Kidston, that cowboy print is so cute
Did you see her tape? |
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Well, there you go.  I have seen her tape before, but didn't think of tape for this until Jen mentioned it, and then I just spent my entire early morning nursing spree in bed on my iPad looking at Jen's tape link for the prints that would look Cath Kidstonish. 
Maybe it is fate??? Especially since Amy Butler doesn't make tape, lol.
What would I do without you ladies to do my thinking for me?
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Mackfam
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| Posted: May 13 2011 at 10:05am | IP Logged
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I'm so glad you linked that, Jenny! I have seen those, too and how fantastic that would be if you went with a Cath Kidston theme, Lindsay!!! I Cath Kidston, too!!!
What exciting plans to consider for your office space, Lindsay!!!!!!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 13 2011 at 11:39am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
I'm so glad you linked that, Jenny! I have seen those, too and how fantastic that would be if you went with a Cath Kidston theme, Lindsay!!! I Cath Kidston, too!!!
What exciting plans to consider for your office space, Lindsay!!!!!! |
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Well, I couldn't have done it without you ladies 
Seriously, I think that Cath Kidston appeals because her style is more eclectic and easier to recreate by winging it with flea market and thrifty finds. I Amy Butler, but her stuff is a bit more expensive, especially since it hinges so specifically on her design, yk? I find it more limiting somehow whereas a can of spraypaint goes a long way in creating a Cath Kidston look.
I think the Rose Tape will work well with some chintz I inherited from my SIL's move, and the red stars will be SO perfect to use labeling the Toy room once we get that cowboy paper in place (perhaps before the nexr baby comes )
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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seeker
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| Posted: May 13 2011 at 4:57pm | IP Logged
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I just had to comment that it sounds like it will be beautiful! We used to have the same knotty pine you have, so I understand the difficulty in decorating around it. I can't wait to see pictures!!
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 16 2011 at 2:42pm | IP Logged
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My boxes came 
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Erin
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| Posted: May 16 2011 at 8:51pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| From all the organizing books I've skimmed, tips I've perused, and experiences I've had, I've learned that A) I am out of sight out of mind, B) filing is not something I will do consistently, and C) my husband is most definitely a stacker. He will never make it a priority to organize, but if I can create a system that meshes with his stacking habit, he'll use it. |
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I was going to suggest stacking boxes but see you've already thought of that. My dh is also a stacker until it topples and then he becomes and excellent filer.
CrunchyMom wrote:
| One thing I have found helpful in the past but never had great space for was Hanging Clipboards. |
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I'm an out of sight girl too, I don't know if I need these, but I so love the look of them.
CrunchyMom wrote:
| Oh, and one genius idea my husband had this week! --Receipts are the bane of my organizing existence. Dh had the idea to get two of those big sturdy packing envelopes, one for each vehicle, so that when we leave a store, the receipt can go straight into the envelope and never even come into the house. It probably sounds atrocious to the Type As out there, but believe me, it will be an improvement for us! |
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Wow that's organised, you'll have to let us know if you stick to plan. Our system designed by accountant husband is; all receipts are kept in our wallets/purses until the end of the month, then we empty into a letter envelope with the month and year written on the front. Envelopes are stored in postal boxes. Our working system for 18 yrs now.
Still drooling over the hanging clipboards, mmm how can I utilise them?
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Office Organization
