Organize your Office with Repurposed Goodies!

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My office space was a disaster area. I am almost too embarrassed to show you a before photo, but I am going to so you get the full effect! When I first moved my office downstairs, it was shoved in a corner. It wasn’t a bad space, but having my back to door was awful. I was beginning to think I was being sent to time out for bad behavior. (Mind out of the gutters ladies)

After some debate, and a pow wow with my best friend, a new office plan came to me. Yes, it was perfect. It would soon be a space that oozed creativity and inspire posts that were worthy of Shakespeare. (Ok, well at least mainly grammatically correct) This new office was to be my center of zen, my chi, my homey place. If I was going to spend hours on end working here, I might as well LIKE being there, right?!?

Enough of the rambling let’s get to it. Just promise not to laugh at how awful this before picture is! I mean it is BAD! It’s proof that ADD and OCD are a bad combination. (Ok, pulling off the band aid) Let me show you how to organize your office.

Organize Your Office

 

This is what I had to start with. Clutter was everywhere. Nothing had a “home,” which just resulted in never finding anything. Bless Mr. Crunchy’s heart for putting up with me.  I am not usually one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year I have resolved to get organized. First spot to start was going to be my office.

Now let me walk you through the fabulous changes I have made, and are still using, in this great new space. The first thing we did was moved it out of the corner and against the wall. This way nothing falls behind my computer anymore, never to be seen again.

At an estate sale, I was able to pick up these two great drawer units for $10 total. They offer great storage for all of my office supplies. In my drawers I even made my own organizers out of contact paper and cereal boxes. (Tutorial to follow) It keeps all of my pens and such nice and neat, plus it matches my desk.

My desk is just a typical pressed board desk you can buy at Walmart. I’ve had it for almost 10 years. It still functions so I figured rather than spending money, I would give it a face lift. For the tops of the desk, I used this cute contact paper that I found on Amazon. For the back, sides, and front edges I used black acrylic paint to give it a fresh new look. It turned out great, and took me less than 30 minutes to do!

Now onto the organization! I broke down and bought this great filling cabinet from Walmart. It has three great drawers to fit all my important files and papers in. I grabbed some color coded folders and organized my families files. Here’s how I organized them.

Yellow – Needs Attention

•       To be paid
•      To be filed

Blue – Long Term Finances (these are files that protect your finances and/or family)

• Auto Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Retirement
• SSI
• Warranties
• Credit Reports
• Car Records
• Homeowner’s/Renter’s Insurance
• Taxes

Red – Medical Files

• Each family member has their own red folder
• Explanation of Benefits
• Paid Doctor’s Bills

Green – All things money related

• Bank Accounts
• Savings Accounts
• Loans
• Credit Cards
• Bills (I have a separate manilla folder for each bill we pay)

Keep all bills for 12 months, and then shred.

Orange – School Records

• Each child has their own orange folder

On top of my filing cabinet is my  mail center. I found this really cute basket on eBay and it’s where my kids know to put the mail. When there are items in there, I know I need to review the mail and take action. This may mean recycle it, pay it, or shred it. My goal is to start every day with this basket empty!

 

The last part to my office are my shelves. Mr. Crunchy and I got this great long set of shelves for $15 at an estate sale. Mr. Crunchy cut one of them in half, so that I could paint them black. We hung them up and added some of my favorite goodies I have gotten at estate sales and some of my favorite photos. I have to say the shelves are really one of my favorite parts of my new office! 

Here’s the grand finale. This is how nice and neat my office looks now!

If you have magazines in your office you might enjoy learning how to make these Repurposed Magazine Holders!