Home based businesses, kids under three, and a recent move.. This home office needed a lift.
The floor was filling with boxes containing business material, while life continued to march on, and it was becoming more and more of a challenge to locate needed items.
Before & After:
These pile ups start to eat away at us.
But what do we do? Some of us have the experience of organizing into what feels like a bigger mess than we started with. Or we spend 6 hours and we get nowhere.
As a Professional Organizer, I’ve established a System that Delivers Results:
Discuss WorkFlow
What do I need to do in this room? Where does that happen?
Establish Priorities
What are the most important goals in this space?
Establish a set amount of time dedicated to the project.
3 hours is a sweet spot of mine when working with clients.
Give yourself and your stuff a boundary.
I use an old tablecloth so we can spread out on the floor.
Purge, Purge & Purge Again.
The less you have the less you need to manage.
Sort Keepers into Groups of Like Items that are used together.
Supplies, PaperWork, Action Items, Etc.
Separate ACTIVE from ARCHIVE Items.
ACTIVE is used on weekly basis, ARCHIVE is used less.
Establish Storage System Once Items have been sorted and separated.
It’s temping to buy the boxes and bins before, RESIST.
We want to give Essential or Frequently Used Items the Most Accessible Storage Spaces, and Get the Rest OUT OF THE WAY as to not slow down the day to day workflow.
We used an open wall shelving solution, from The Container Store, in order to utilize wall space, keep items visible, while keeping the small space feeling open and spacious.
The white wall color provides opportunity to personalize the space with colorful accessories. It keeps options open as the space and its needs continue to evolve over time.
A clean white background also helps a small space feel more spacious.
For someone in a paper heavy profession, our client dreamed of clear open surface space on the desk. By offering file boxes, separate projects are contained and accessible, while relieving the burden of snapping items into binders or filing.
Reducing obstacles, big and small, is the name of the game in spaces demanding efficiency.
Mail and coats were lacking a place to call home. A wall bin is now the mail catch and wall hooks help keep personal items from landing on surfaces.
Things that are needed are within reach. Everything else is out of the way.
Increased efficiency allows the family to have more time together while attaining continued success in the professional world.
Dana is a professional organizer that specializes in family life simplification. As a mother raising three boys in the bay area, she understands the unique pressures of parenthood. Here she shares tips and inspirations for finding ease and balance in the home, and in ourselves.