Ever since I moved into my house, cleaning up and organizing my office has been on my to-do list. I didn’t do a good job packing up my files (read: I just dumped them in a box) and I had been using my office as sort of a catch-all for stuff I either didn’t have a place for or stuff I didn’t feel like putting away.
I kept making organizing my office a goal, but every month I failed. I even let visitors see my super messy office. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I walked in, saw bills, invitations, books, and random pieces of paper everywhere, threw up my hands, and went to grab the trash can.
It took me two solid evenings to make any real progress, but I can now announce that, while it isn’t perfect, it is at least livable and usable.
The before:
During:
Caty wanted to help me organize my files.
And…the after!!
What I got accomplished:
- Unpacked the final boxes and put things where they belonged.
- Emptied the desk (top and drawers), threw out what needed to go, and put everything back in its proper and easily accessible place.
- Cleared everything off the futon and vacuumed up the cat hair.
- Went through every piece of paper (in bags, in boxes, in the purple basket, all over the place) and sorted it all into the proper files in my new black file box (it’s now next to my desk). This took the longest. It’s amazing how much paperwork I have even though I do almost everything online.
- Installed my printer cartridge and relocated my computer from the kitchen to the office.
- Decorated my bulletin board.
- Moved some pictures around and rearranged some things on the bookshelf.
What still needs to be done:
- Declutter and organize the closet.
- Hang up the small picture board (next to the bookcase) and figure out what to put on it.
- Buy baskets or something to better organize my craft and scrapbooking supplies.
- Decide if the bookcase needs better arranging or if it’s just going to stay cluttered.
- Sort through and find a way to dispose of all my old electronics.
- Buy a paper shredder.
There’s still a lot to be done to make my office look better. The important thing is that it’s very functional now and I can easily get to everything I need, which was my biggest problem before. Now it’s just some little cosmetic things (and the closet) that I need to tackle. Hopefully that won’t take me 8 months. 🙂
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
If you have a Best Buy near you they will take and recycle old electronics of all kinds. It was really useful when I moved cross-country recently. They only take 3 things per day, and if you bring a monitor or TV they charge $10 and give you back a $10 gift certificate. Every place else I looked either didn’t take some things or charged for everything.
That’s a great idea! As soon as I finish moving stuff from one computer to another, I’ll definitely take it to Best Buy.
Yay! It looks great!
Ooh, it looks so much nicer!! The “during” always looks like SUCH a mess at my house, too. Sometimes I start a project and then get scared halfway through because I wonder how I’ll ever get it cleaned back up.
And are those a bunch of the Dear America/Royal Diary books I see? I LOVED those!! I still have a huge box of them waiting for Simone to hopefully take an interest when she’s older. If not, please disregard my excitement. 🙂
They most definitely are!!! I credit those books to sparking my interest in history. My mom wanted to get me away from Nancy Drew and Babysitter’s Club, so she started buying me those and I fell in love with them. I think my favorite was the one about the Oregon Trail. What was yours?
Oh, I LOVED that one! It was my very favorite too. When they accidentally cooked with hemlock? GAH! I also remember really liking the one about the Irish mill girl and the one about the girl crossing on the Mayflower. I also loved the Elizabeth and Cleopatra books from the Royal Diary series. I read as many of those books I could get my hands on!!
I loved Nancy Drew and The Babysitter’s Club, too.
I had the Irish mill one, but it was never my favorite. I think it was probably because it told you that she died young in the epilogue. I know it’s realistic and everything, but I did NOT need to know that she died at age 19 or something like that. 🙂
There was one that was pretty awesome about a girl who got kidnapped by Indians and the one about the Alamo always made me cry. I could go on and on. Maybe I should read these…
Looks great! Horray for organization!
And I loved that Caty helped too. She’s trying to make up for waking you up so much, huh? 😉
Oh it’s great! Really that’s a huge transformation. I hadn’t seen more than just your desk area so this is a nice peek!
AND OMG CATY CAT LOVES TO HELP.
Quick question: Did you buy those diploma frames already matted? I bought these ridiculously expensive frames from my school before I graduated…and they got knicked and dented in the move… now I don’t feel like hanging them anymore but am looking for a cheap, good-looking alternative! I like the look of yours 🙂
Ha, I wish they came pre-matted. I paid something ridiculous (even with a coupon!!) at Michaels to have them framed. I’m sure they or Hobby Lobby has good, pre-matted options though.
Caty loves to help. Or to get in the way. I think it’s all the same to her.