Project Organization: Amanda's Office Area Re-Organization Part 1

I love neat, organized spaces. Who doesn't!? But getting a space organized and KEEPING it that way are two totally different animals. Anyone can organize something and make it look good. But when it comes to your desk and office space, you want it to STAY that way so that it's functional and flows better.

I have worked at Tierney for twelve years. I have basically had the same desk accessories and organizational techniques that long, too. And one day I took a look at my space and it gave me hives. It was cluttered, tacky, and never STAYED organized no matter how many times I dug in to fix that problem. So I created a new mission for myself: to create an organized, FUNCTIONAL space that would stay that way! And look good while I did it :)

So, I have decided a blog series is in order. Each week I will highlight a section of my desk that I re-organized, share the products I used, and what works about the new system that didn't about the old.

My first project was to organize the corner of my desk that I use a LOT. It houses all our customer invoices, my catalog, pending purchase orders, custom orders, and important information I need to keep track of. It also (not purposely) severed as an In-Out box that I didn't like. So I needed to fix that. Here is a before picture:

Not horrible, I know. It just didn't function like I wanted. And LOTS of paper work would make it's way in there that didn't need to be there.

So I perused our catalog in search of a better option. And I came across this:

It has several different landscapes it can be used in, which makes it super versatile, it's not huge (a big criteria of mine, as the "before" picture shows my last file holder was huge and not meant for corners) and sits nicely in a corner. It is also meant to hold file folders, so the walls of it are higher than my "before", as you can see didn't hold file folders well. So this was it! Also, I saw that I could use it in a landscape that didn't allow for an in-out box :) That made me happy. (Don't you hate when there is an area that EVERYONE thinks is OK to just throw stuff on your desk? And it  gets buried under everything? Yea, this was the place on my desk where everyone put everything.)

And this is where I ended up:

ITEM NUMBER: ROL 1742322 (pg 785 of new catalog)

What I love about it: Everything has a spot. I think this is vital in any good organization plan, and certainly helps things STAY neat. The tall walls of the file folder sections are great so that nothing flops around and bends down, as did my "before" picture.  I even have a little place for my stapler! I love how clean and streamline this has made this area on my desk! I know it seems small, but it is a high-use area on my desk!

Hope you liked the first installment of Project Re-Organize Amanda's office! Stay tuned next week for bulletin board organization! Spoiler alert- this one was a MAJOR eye sore in my office! :)