Good morning! At long last, I want to share our office/guest room with you. This room was a long time coming: we had round 1 metaorganization, a desk makeover and a blog and project command center to complete before it all came together. But came together it did, and now both Bret and I really enjoy working in here.
Office and Craft Room organization
This space wears a lot of hats. Principally, it's the place where both Bret and I can work from home (Bret has an office but flexibility about where he works, plus a lot of off-hours stuff that makes sense to do here), and where all our work, family and blog materials can live in happy harmony. The key players behind storing all that stuff in an accessible but not hideous way were the leaning ladder shelves (Target) we picked up back in November. After some serious soul searching about whether we needed every iPhone box we ever acquired, or every 2" square scrap of paper, we purged a bit and streamlined and ended up with shelves that meet our needs.
The far right shelf is mostly devoted to Bret's work files, plus a couple craft items. The other two shelves hold crafts supplies, plus our printer, sewing machine, and family files.
The second big area is the desk, which I talked about making over here.
I tend to camp out on the couch with my laptop and work from there, but the desk is nicely functional - not too cluttered, and with a large monitor for Bret. It's a great place to get work done, and the file holder on the side wall has been really great so far - all of Bret's stuff goes in one pocket, which is especially important to make sure things don't get lost while he's traveling, my stuff goes in another, and completed activities that need to be filed have their own space. It's pretty dreamy, as far as a ridiculously simple "command" center goes.
Next to the vertical file folder is my project management board and three dry-erase calendars that help me visualize the year in quarter-sized chunks. I love how the office works for us, and I'm glad that we've gotten some use out of it while we wait for baby.
In addition to office space, this room plays one more important role, one it will keep playing even after the nursery conversion.
Here's the room when converted to guest room. There's a place in the corner for the extra couch cushions, and the coffee table trunk relocates to the project board wall and becomes a place to put a suitcase.
It's so cute. And, though small, it's not a bad place to be -- when my sister comes up here to be my designated labor watcher, I think she'll be comfortable for a couple weeks. I hope so, anyway.
And as far as where we started, we've really come a long way, baby.
The beginning.
The middle (phase 1 organization of the craft shelves)
The middle.
So that's the picture-heavy story. If you're interested in sources for anything, leave a comment and I'll get back to you. But for the most part this stuff is stuff we've had and were able to put to use in here - which is always for the win. I love that this space is actually working for us exactly as we need it to. Sure, it took two phases, but I organize medicine cabinets in two phases, so that's no big deal. And in working slowly to refine the initial organization system, we were able to really perfect things. Just in time to shove it all in a closet and replace it with a crib! So it goes. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you Friday!