Project Make this House a Home - Office Edition
We own an older home. I think both Hubby and I have a love-hate relationship with it. There is a lot about the home that I feel is "old-fashioned". For example, it has the large front room that your grandmother used to have her ‘you better not be sitting on my white couch' with the plastic covers in. Except at my grandmother’s house, there were no plastic covers (double trouble if you were caught sitting on it). I was only allowed to be in there to be on the piano. It seemed like some sacred room, and as a child, I never understood its purpose.
Fast forward today…
I still don’t understand the purpose of this room! When we moved into our home, it was a dining room/sitting room. We turned that into the boys’ playroom (before we downsized them to the actual dining room), and then it became the office. It may not be the intended purpose, but we are running with it.
Our initial office setup was pretty sweet. Hubby and I had our desk, and I created a pre-covid space for the boys to do their homework. It was great until it wasn’t. Our catering business was beginning to take over, the boys weren’t using the space as intended (probably because they haven’t been to in-person school in over a year), and I needed to make space for my new love, crafting with my Cricut! The room is so big; I knew it could work. I just had to rearrange things.
Remember when Hubby was away a couple of weeks ago? While he was gone, I found all this energy to organize the space. I used the ‘Mommy’s way’ of organizing. The boys hate Mommy’s way because that means I dump everything in the middle of the floor and determine its home. It’s intense! Be prepared because everything gets messier before it gets better. When everything is in the middle of the floor, you tend to gravitate to the things you need or use daily. Once new homes for items are determined and shelves/baskets are filled… anything left in the middle of the floor is separated into the trash and donate piles and immediately removed.
A real 'day of' picture - it's not a project unless I hit up my mom asking for advice! I decided to go with the shelf placement on the right.
Step #1, get the boys out!
The boys' work areas had to be moved. It was nice while it lasted, but I needed more space, and their things were taking over. RX already has a nice workstation in his room for remote learning, so he didn’t need a desk in the office, too. I then moved DL’s desk to his room to have a workstation, just like his brother. The divider bookcase housed all their educational materials, but I condensed them down to a couple of small shelves on the main bookcase.
Cricut Corner
Secretly, creating the Cricut Corner was the whole reason why I rearranged the entire office! I am now using RX’s desk and the divider for MY space. It’s not quite a She Shed, but I will take it. I put all of my materials in a cart with wheels with my Cricut on top. It makes it easier when I need to move it to do bigger jobs on my machine. RX’s desk is now my heat press table, and the divider bookshelf holds my other knick-knacks. Once I add a few things to the wall, my Cricut Corner will be complete!
Keebler’s Kitchen
Hubby and I own a catering company. The pantry in our house is super tiny (another old-fashioned trait), so we had to be creative with storage options for the catering supplies. We bought this shelf from IKEA a while ago, and it works very well. Recently, we also bought a trailer, and I reduced the number of things that had to stay in the house. I packed it up with things we need while at our shared kitchen or our various events. Now that I can actually see everything on the KK shelf and in the trailer, it is easy to take inventory. You have no idea how many times I’ve bought powdered sugar and had pounds of it already on the shelf *insert facepalm emoji*.
The trailer is actually a little messy right now because this was right after an event. However, it is effortless to put everything back in its place. Shelving, rolling drawers, and labels make it possible!
Main desk and surround
Thank goodness the main desk and (especially) the shelf unit didn’t need to be repurposed or moved. It is cumbersome and heavy. The next time it gets moved will be by movers when we move out. When we first put it together, I didn’t use all the shelves that came with it. Since we have way more stuff than we did, I found them and instantly had more space. It’s like a whole new unit.
Be careful with the ‘extra place to put things’ mindset, though. Space can easily feel overloaded if every inch is filled. Containers and boxes will be your best friend. It helps hide clutter, and you can use labels to find what you need easily. If everything is contained, you can put away a ton of things without it feeling crowded.
As I threw everything in the middle of the floor, I made a pile of containers. Once I started putting things back, it was easy to find a container that worked! I didn't have to buy one extra storage box!
Labels. Are. Everything!
I'm extremely happy with how everything came out. It feels so much more open. Now, if I can stop the boys from pretending it's a football field or a wrestling ring, I'll be all set!
Grace, Space, and Love,
