A few trips to Storables and Ikea and we’re back in the storage business. Here’s how we’re wrangling all that “small stuff” like silverware and measuring cups…

The silverware is stored in a silverware caddy we found at Crate and Barrel. I’d toyed with the idea of using mason jars and a vintage wire milk carrier, but I really just wanted it to tuck out of sight and not take up space (our counter space is very limited as well).

The flatware is in three slots on the left. On the right we store odds and ends like cheese spreaders, tea steeping spoons, chopsticks, etc.

Directly below, in the cupboard, we made the most out of our two shelves by adding a storage shelf to the top shelf. The top is the perfect size for wax paper and cling wrap, and below it we have plenty of room to store baking pans. To the left on the top shelf we store our pan lids in dividers.

The bottom shelf had enough room for some drawers (see more below).

These drawers are actually designed as sweater drawers for a closet, but the measurements were perfect for our 11 inch tall shelf. The top drawer holds measuring and baking-type equipment. The bottom drawer holds graters, Ryan’s immersion blender, and attachments for the Kitchen Aid. Rubber lining keeps things from slipping around inside the plexiglass drawers.

We had these bamboo drawer organizers from the last house, and we used them again to corral smaller items.

And finally, over the stove we added a metal shelf and a magnetic strip for knife storage. Eventually we’d also like a small shelf/table here for our canister of spatulas, etc, but for now they are only feet away on our kitchen island (directly opposite this photo). We’re still on the hunt for a cute basket to hold the dishtowels, but they will live up there. We opted for magnetic knife storage because we didn’t want to take up counter space with a knife block (and we would have had to purchase one anyway).

Have you ever faced a similar storage problem? I’ll admit, this threw us for a loop, but a few weeks in and it feels very natural.

I’ve been working on a lot of home offices for clients lately – maybe in part because in this tough economy, people are starting side businesses or creative ventures that help them escape from the tense corporate world. They’ve been a lot of fun, and I thought I’d share some of my tips for a functional and inspiring home office.

1. Declutter. This of course applies to any room, but an office space is notoriously bad for attracting clutter. Papers, folder, clips and dead pens are just some of the things you can weed out. The office is also a typical “dumping ground” (I suffer from this too from time to time) – it’s out the way from guests (usually) and you don’t have to sleep there, so it becomes ground zero for all that STUFF that doesn’t have anywhere else to go. Boxes, gym bags, holiday decorations, trinkets… Do yourself a favor and spend some time tossing and recycling (and shredding!) all the clutter.

2. Carve. Maybe you don’t have a full room to devote to a home office, but you probably can carve out a little area for you to sit down, pay bills, work on the computer, sketch, or whatever else it is you want to do that is “work” related. Make this space a dedicated area, meaning that you have systems for dealing with the things that need to be there, and you monitor carefully the other activities that take place there. Maybe you only have space at the dining table to work, but you should have a dedicated shelf or cupboard nearby to keep a printer, office supplies, stamps, and a filing system.

3. Paint. A bright color or a dark color – pick something that makes you happy. Some people respond more to punchy bright colors, others feel more thoughtful and work peacefully in the cozy feeling of a dark room. Don’t know? Think of your favorite outfit that makes you feel accomplished and confident. Any color clues there?

4. Add shelving. The most common problem I find is too little shelving, or shelves that are taken up with clutter. Once the clutter is cleared, reassess your belongings and determine what needs storage space. Don’t cram everything in, let your items breathe. Store smaller items in labeled baskets or boxes on the shelves. If you don’t have much floorspace, try floating shelves above your desk area.

5. Curtains. I love fabric, and there is nothing more mood lifting than a beautiful curtain – it really makes the room feel “dressed”. I always recommed some sort of window treatment for client’s offices. Sometimes a roman shade makes more sense because the window is above the desk. Sometimes I choose something fun like a floral, but even simple white sheers can filter the light and soften the room.

6. Lighting. Add task lighting to your desk or table, or very close by. And while I love the industrial look of vintage metal desk lamps, I also love the look of a beautiful table lamp on a simple desk. Short on desk space? Try mounting a task lamp on the wall, getting sconces, or installing a pendant above your desk. Your eyes will be less tired after a day at the computer if you have proper lighting.

7. Desk accessories. You have my express permission to pass up that matching set at the office supply store. I use a vintage file tray for my papers, a planter cup from Ikea for loose odds and ends, and I don’t have a pencil cup or desk blotter. Others might like to use mason jars to store supplies. Or you might like all highlighter neon acrylic pieces. Choose items that a) you have a legitmate need and use for, and b) that make you smile.

8. Multi-task. A lot of people don’t only do office work in the office – it’s often double-duty for a sewing or craft room. Maybe even a guest room. Consider how much space you have to work with, then add hidden storage. Don’t want all your papers and computer and junk hanging out when your in-laws visit? Make sure you have an easy place to stash those things out of sight. Only use your sewing machine once a month? It should have a “home” where it lives when you’re not using it, but it should be accessible and easy to pull out (or you’ll never pull it out). One reason I love the Ikea Billy shelves is that you can now order doors for them, even just for the bottom shelves if you want. Hidden storage. Hallelujah! Now Mom and Pops have a peaceful place to sleep and a clear desk to put their things on, and you won’t lose anything in the meantime.

9. Art. I’m a BIG believer in personal art in the home office. Buy pieces that inspire you, frame family photos that make you happy. Get big art – it’s not just for the living room! Please, no posters without frames. This is a grown-up home office, not a dorm room.

10. Seating. I would love a beautiful white or caramel leather office chair, but it’s out of my price range. So don’t blow your budget on a pretty chair if you can help it. A nice dining chair can be an alternative, especially in a fun color or with upholstery in the beautiful fabric you can’t afford to do drapes in. However, if you work from home and sit at your computer all day, please think of your back and invest in an ergonomically friendly chair. Your back, wrists, and all those nerve endings that cause tension headaches will thank you.

The corner of our dining room that has our two leaning bookshelves has pretty much been the same since I unpacked our books last October. Like this:

It’s not like we’ve been getting complaints or hate mail or anything, but it’s nothing to write home about either. And since we’re both big readers and we both had several boxes of books to unpack, the fact that almost all of them squeezed on here in the first place was pretty impressive. But it’s a little boring, and for all the brightening changes we’ve been making in the room (ditching the other dark furniture, painting the picture frames from black to white…), this particular corner needed to be a little less “dark brooding library” and more fun and refreshing.

Here’s what it looks like now:

The changes were simple. Here’s a run-down of what I did:

1. Relocated some of the books so it wasn’t so crammed. This sounds silly, but all the books with black spines went into our office (you can see them in this post, on the top shelf). It was the easiest way to clear out some titles AND lighten and brighten at the same time.

2. I took EVERYTHING off, dusted, and then put things back onto a clean slate.

3. I didn’t shove every last book on the shelves either. There are maybe 25 more titles that didn’t fit, and we’ll find somewhere else for them (luckily I kept most of those in genres). We also took the opportunity to donate some gently used titles that we no longer need.

4. I really wanted to leave lots of “white space” for decorative items, so I alternated placing the books horizontally and vertically. The horizontal books could act as pedestals.

5. Larger decorative items are balanced – One side has the clock and planter, the other side has bookends and the picture frame.

6. Especially on the top shelf, I tried to balance height. I didn’t want all vertical or all horizontal, but they needed to be even. So the right side got a picture frame and brass apple (which you can buy in my store!) for height.

7. I tried to use a variety of decorative objects, not just all similar objects. We have a potted plant, air plants (love those), pictures (one of us, one of the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption), a brass apple, a parrot figurine, a clock, marble horsehead bookends, and a chunk of amythest that used to be a paperweight on my desk.

8. I didn’t go with the first arrangement. Things moved around between my stepping back to view from a distance. Even a few books moved around when I thought there was too much yellow in one section, or that one fat spine stuck out when placed on the end of the shelf.

All in all, I’m happy with the result, and even happier that it was relatively painless and that it was free! And as part of the room as a whole, it looks so much brighter and more interesting. What simple projects have you tackled lately?

Not anymore!

Here’s a quick refresher of how we were crammed in before:

Notice how all the furniture, even when tidied up, was crammed together? We finally came to the conclusion that it was time to get rid of the sleeper sofa. We very rarely have overnight guests and it was more of a magnet for clutter than a useful seat. So we put it up for sale on Craigslist and sold it two weeks ago. Ever since, we’ve been moving furniture around and doing some uncluttering.

Resources:

My desk is from West Elm

The poster by my desk is from Made By Girl

The bulletin board is a DIY project that I’ll post next week

The “Live What You Love” print is also from Made By Girl

The globes are from Goodwill and ebay

The storage boxes are from Ikea and See Jane Work

Both shelves are from Ikea

The two small prints above Ryan’s desk are from 20×200 (my housewarming gift to him last year)

The pendant flags were a free printout from blog Aubrey and Lindsay’s Little House Blog.

But we didn’t have recipes burning a hole in our pocket, waiting to be copied down letter by letter onto the little cards. Oh no, we were more drawn to the cute little pea/radish/onion motif for a more, er, organic reason…

Seed storage!

We had a few random packets still hanging around that didn’t get planted this spring. Using the included tabbed cards, we sectioned them off into F(lowers), V(egetables) and H(erbs). For only $8 I can finally move these slippery seed packets off my desk (and table and inbox where they’ve been floating to and from) and into a cool, dark place for storing. And thanks to the cute design on the box, we won’t have to wonder “what is in THAT random shoebox/tupperware/milk jug” next spring. (Yes, we use old (clean) milk jugs for some storage – with a handle!).

You can find cute recipe boxes for a dollar at Michael’s craft stores, or for just a few cents more at Goodwill or other thrift stores. Or you can pay quite a bit more if you’re so inclined. But for $8 we felt the price and the pattern was right.

How do you store your seeds? Or if you don’t have a green thumb, how have you adapted a storage item to fit your needs over the supposed use of the product?

I’m happy to report that after a trip to IKEA and a few days of paper-sorting and hard where-to-put-this decisions, our office now looks like this:

We picked up an Expedit bookshelf from IKEA and some storage boxes to stash stuff in. My color printer/scanner/copier fits perfectly on top, and  thanks to the slimmer profile than the last arrangement, I can get to the printer without climbing over everything. I also got a to-be-filed-or-dealt-with basket from etsy vintage shop ethanollie. And do you recognize the little $3 bulletin board from Goodwill? My desk-top is clear except for the pieces that I really love or want to access very easily.

My West Elm Parson’s Desk has been free and clear thanks to my new file basket, leaving room for some of my favorite little pieces including a little Eiffel Tower, notepad cube for quick scribbling, an old basket to toss change in, and a stack of magazines topped with my favorite new purchase, a rock crystal used as a paperweight. The yellow M was a gift from a blog-swap with Camila of High Heeled Foot in the Door. She picked it up at Anthropologie.

I pulled my chair back to get an “aerial view” of the office. You can see that the couch is clear and the cardboard box that was stuffed between the desk and shelf was replaced by an old nightstand and our regular B&W printer. Both pieces used to be in the corner between our two desks. Pulling it over to the other side of my desk allows more access to the drawers that hold extra paper and things like labels.

I also changed around some of the stuff on the bookshelf. While all those storage boxes were there before, I wasn’t using them properly because I had arranged by aesthetics and not purpose (doh!). I moved my craft box lower because I access it often and moved my fabric swatches (in the pink suitcase) to the top since I rarely dig them out. Now it’s much easier to get things back in their proper place when I pull it out. I also moved some books and binders around so they were all in the same place. The file boxes on the second shelf are from See Jane Work. They are organized by category and then alphabetical. And yep, that cord is bugging me, but the only plug over there is way on the other side of the room. Until we get a different extension cord, it stays. Luckily it’s not really in the way.

Here’s a closer look at the new bookshelf. You can see my vintage file box on top. Down below we have Ryan’s stuff on the left and mine on the right. Not sure what Ryan’s keeping in his storage box but I have fabric stashed in mine. I pulled out books that I like to reference frequently or am using at the moment and put them here to keep them handy.

So what do you guys think? On a pretty tiny budget and some brute (organizing) strength we came pretty far from this:

Are you tackling any organizing nightmares or polishing up a room that is ALMOST done? Please share!

Exhibit A: The sofa.

What is particularly sad about the shelving/couch area is that I have boxes for things (labeled, even) but I just haven’t been using them. Can’t say as much for the desk, which is the clutter magnet for anything that doesn’t have a spot.

Exhibit B: My desk.

The plan:

1. Sort and toss/recycle/put away clutter.

2. Analyze what doesn’t have a “home” and figure out solution

3. We have two printers (not shown), one of which is taking up a ton of space on Ryan’s desk. Need a plan to get these both onto a table/shelf and would love additional storage space (preferably hidden storage)

4. I know that I’m a paper person. I need forms, letters, reminders, bills, etc accessible and not in a file box somewhere or I’ll forget about it. But on my desktop is NOT the place for them.

5. Electronic stuff needs somewhere to be.

6. Empty that box next to desk (it’s framed art from my old apartment that never got hung here) and recycle it.

Do you have an office or office nook in your home? What are ways you have organized or decluttered? I need inspiration! Once I get everything in place, new photos!

I’ve been pretty scatterbrained lately with the move, the bridal shower, the wedding, and regular stuff like work and my (pathetic) social life. Plus I’m always trying to dump my task lists onto little bits of paper that I have lying around, which means that “steam clean carpet” is floating around on about 5 different lists right now. Wouldn’t it be cool to have them in one clean, neat page?

This is a screenshot of Printable Checklist, a free site that lets you create your own tidy lists! Here’s how it looked after I wrote in some of the items on my cleaning list:

Finally, all in one place, readable, and detailed enough. It’s totally free, you just click in the box to edit, save it, and print it out when you’re done! My only complaint is that you can’t make it outline-style (one of my favorite list-making tricks). But other than that, what a handy way to create neat checklist!

What are other uses for this service? I’m thinking basic lists for your housekeeping notebook (like “spring cleaning” or “housesitter to-dos”) or even for babysitters (“nighttime routine”) or a simple entertaining checklist (plan menu, count place-settings, buy wine, set out butter to soften for bread). What might you use this for? Or do you have other list-making tricks you want to share?

Some exciting news here from Casa Magchunk… it’s soon to be Casa Magchunk-and-Ryan. That’s right folks, sometime this October we’ll be moving in together. Which means a fun new space to decorate, new neighborhoods to explore, and of course a fun housewarming party to plan!

We’re still looking for a place (and plan to move that first week of October), I’m still planning Melissa’s bridal shower that will be at my apartment! Between the shower, bachelorette party, and finding a new home, things have already started getting pretty crazy. So to beat the rush, I’ve already started packing to get a head start. The week after the shower will be non-stop packing and cleaning!

As a guideline, I’ve been finding Martha Stewart’s Organizing Checklists to be extremely helpful. She has a full moving timeline (geared more toward full house moves than apartments, but still helpful), tips for packing books, lamps, kitchen stuff, and even checklists for stocking your new pantry, garden shed, and yes… craft room.

Any moving tips from the peanut gallery? Share some of your best (or worst!) moving experiences. Let us learn from you!

Photo from Martha Stewart.