Home Office Organizing

My desk is a disaster today. I have been travelling a lot this summer and I let things pile up! I have also been really busy and I have not taken the time to keep it organized. I do have a great system in place though so I know it won't take me long to whip it back in shape! Here are few great tools that I learned about that will make it easy for me to clean my pile up! I hope they help you too!Every home office space needs a few key things in my opinion:

1. A happy space is a requirement for a home office. You simply will not ever spend time in your home office if it is dark and dreary. I set my desk up right by a window that looks out over a bird feeder that hangs in our back yard. My desk is not large and it is literally in a closet but I have such a lovely view! I like to be tucked away but some people like to be in the middle of all of the action, like the Kitchen for example, so that they can be a part of the family activity. It takes the edge off of paying the bills!

2. Everything needs it's own place in an office. I have boxes for catalogues and magazines as well as bills that need to be pay. I also have a box for everyone in my family and for things that need to go to the office. Justin's mail goes right into his box and he often makes a quick stop at my desk to grab his things. When I leave for my "real" office, I always grab whatever is in the box of papers that goes there! I really love my 31 day organizing box. It is my favorite thing in my office. I use it to sort invitations, bills that are due and paperwork that needs to be sent out. Pottery Barn makes a wonderful new one that does not have an outside edge. This is great because my papers often don't fit in the one on my desk. This option from Christopher Lowell is great because it has storage underneath. In addition to boxes, I have a simple little filing system. Always file alphabetically....you will never remember the color coded system that you set up when you are looking back for something.

3. I would not know what to do with out my bulletin board either. I stick everything that does not belong anywhere else on the board. I have photos, fabric samples, gift certificates and my son's schedule up there now. I also have some tear sheets from magazines of things that inspire me. If I put my gift certificates away in my wallet or in a file, I always forget about them so having them in plain sight is helpful.

4. If you are a "piler" like me then you will love these PileSmart clips. They have erasable labels on them so that you can stack and stack and still find what you need!