Studio Makeover: Organizing the Office Section

I’ve decided in putting together my ‘studio’ that I am going to start with function over beauty… that is, I’m going to get everything in place and useable – THEN I will go back and ‘beautify’ everything (refinish furniture, cover/decorate storage containers, etc).  Doing it this way means I will be able to use my studio a lot sooner!

The first area I’m going to put together in my studio is the scrapbook/mixed media section.  And I want to use an old dresser turned hutch to hold some of the supplies. 

However… that dresser/hutch was holding my office supplies in its drawers and my equestrian models on its shelves.  So everything had to come out of it and be put in its new location.  I want to backtrack as little as possible (I’ve done enough of that already and frankly I’m getting tired of having to go over the same area time and again!). 

So Himself and I headed out to the shed and dragged in the desk and 4-drawer chest that will make up my new ‘office’ portion on the studio.  Even tho I’m not working on that section of the room at this time, I’m going ahead with moving things from the dresser/hutch as tho that were exactly what I had in mind to begin with.

Everything was sorted into like-piles and culled down to a reasonable amount.

One of the first things I had to decide was “how much is enough”?  Such as, how many ink pens and pencils do two people need?  It’s hard to cull them because they work… but no one wants slightly used ink pens or any other office supplies!  And I hated to just throw them away. 

Finally down to what we kept!  The desk has 4 drawers and has a specific purpose.

1. (large center drawer) – This will hold my oversized graphing paper… when I find it…

 

2. (small side drawer) – storage of pens, pencils, and things I need often.

3. (small side drawer) – storage of other ‘officey’ things.  With lots of space left to store other things as I find them.

4. (large, deep side drawer) – files and folders.

And in the dresser I have put…

In the small drawers… #1 – Notepads, index cards, etc and in 2 – labels of all sorts.

1.  Notebooks and loose-leaf notebook paper.

2.  Mailing center.  More envelopes than a Hallmark store… and a ton of odd stamps. 

3. Electronics bits and pieces; each item’s accessories will be stored in a labeled zip bag.  Plus a container of ‘office things’ like staplers, pencil sharpener, etc.). 

4.  Computer ‘stuff’.  Every time we’ve gotten a new computer, it comes with all sorts of extra cables and do-dads that aren’t needed.  But every computer person we ask says “Oh… that’s good stuff.  You’ll want to keep that ‘just in case’.”  I did manage to unload TWO grocery bags full on the last person out here working on Himself’s computer.  He was happy…I was happier!

And now that this office section is done, I can start on my scrapbook/mixed media area!

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