Spring Cleaning an Office {My Home}

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My home office is a place of work, a place of play, a place of crafting, a place of creating, a place of design....

I could go on and on.  I am so lucky to have a room to myself for ALL of these things that go on in my home office, but when trying to conquer so many different things in one small space, it is hard to keep the room clean and organized!

First, I have to say my office isn't even CLOSE to my expectations of design, yet!  I have started blog posts about my office and how I organize many times!  But I have never finished them because I feel like my office just isn't quite up to my expectations yet.  So, I guess until then, I will have to show you bit by bit how I am putting it all together.  And maybe one day I can do a final reveal of the entire thing!  Until then, my goal is to just keep it clean and organized the best I can.  With so many different projects going on in here, that is often very hard to do!  With any huge project, you have to tackle it one area at a time.

via @jessmarhoefer on Instagram

This is how messy my office and desktop usually looks.  And this is the "clean" side of the room!  As soon as I clean, it usually looks like this by the next day!  Embarrassing!

I have found that an area like an office or craft room really needs to be cleaned/decluttered/re-organized at least bi-monthly to stay on top of things.  I like to

 "clean like I am moving" 

which means, I throw things away that I know I really don't need.  Not just move them to another area of the office.  You know when you are moving into a new house and you end up throwing away or donating a lot more items than a normal cleaning day??  Well that's my mindset for really keeping my office clean because it is surprising all the craft supplies and paperwork I can accumulate in such a short amount of time.  If I haven't used the item for over 2 years (for craft supplies) I throw it away or donate to another crafter.

For me, a huge one is catalogs!  I keep almost every magazine and catalog, thinking I will use them for future reference.  And some I do.  But most I don't.  Also, organizing files.  Organizing fabric -- my biggest hoarding obsession!  And organizing my fabric samples.  Those are my most concerning day-to-day items that usually end up everywhere in my office except in the place they belong.

For me, Mondays are clerical days.  Filing.  Paperwork.  Invoices.  Organizing files on my computer.  Making to-do lists for the week.  Cleaning.  Organizing any chaos from weekend projects. 

I use IKEA cardboard boxes as my filing system for clients.  They are the perfect size to hang filing folders.  And I needed easy access to these folders as I am constantly adding new files, removing old files, and referring to past clients for information.  The lids no longer fit on the IKEA boxes with the hanging folders, but that's okay with me!

I've started hanging my fabric in the closet area.  The larger pieces of fabric anyways.  That way I can SEE what fabrics I have and they aren't tucked away somewhere in a box.  I have some new hangers on order from online too.  This way, it will look a bit tidier with all matching hangers for the fabric.

For now, I have a lot of books, catalogs, and magazines just lined up in my IKEA bookcase.  Which by the way, was the first thing I bought for my office when I first moved into this house.  It is awesome!  I would highly suggest a bookcase like this for staying organized.  It is perfect for books, baskets, and filing.  I have some future plans for reorganizing this as my inventory grows.  I just bought 4 new matching baskets online that I am SO excited to see in person and to use in my bookcase.

If you LIKE the place you work in, then you will most likely be more willing to keep it clean and organized!  I have included lots of pictures in my office space of friends and family to keep me happy and to keep the space not looking to office-y!!  I also love to incorporate words of wisdom and words to inspire me throughout the day.  I spend a lot of time at my desk so it is nice to look at the wall every once in a while and be reminded why I started this little 'ol business of mine and to keep me motivated!

Even if this is just a craft room for you, and not a place of work, let people know who creates here!!  For me, I thought it would be fun to add signage to the wall to show who works here!  Like a REAL place of business.  Because after all, my office is a REAL place of business.

 (more info on how I made the JSD sign later in the week!)

That's just a start to my organizing/cleaning/decluttering of my office and craft room.  There is still a lot of things going on in here and a lot of supplies that each need their own space.  It is definitely a post in the makings as each area gets reorganized.  One day I might do a complete "staging" of the space and do a really pretty photo shoot.  But for now, this is my office and this is how it looks most days! When it is clean!  :)