Project Organization: Amanda's Office Area Re-Organization: Part 4

One thing I always struggle with is the placement of my computer monitor on my desk. It takes up a lot of room, and the angle at which I look at it is a constant work in progress to get perfect. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to change the placement of my monitor to make it better. And it never fails, a few weeks in and I'm frustrated again. And it's little things- the tilt of the screen, how close it is to me, how far away it is, etc. I finally decided that it needed to be a bit higher so that I could look up at it (just a bit, not enough that I was straining my neck. In the office furniture business, that's a big no-no!)... so up it went. Are you noticing a trend? VERTICAL SPACE. Can't say it enough.

Here is a before picture:

We actually had a pleasant looking black platform laying around, so I used that, but we have lots of different option when it comes to monitor risers in our catalog.

I also have struggled (and this is going to sound crazy) on where to put my cell phone during the day. I normally don't do a lot on my cell during the work day, BUT it is the main contact number that my children's school and care takers have, so I need to have it close by just in case. Also, our delivery drivers text me with questions, so that's another reason it needs to be out and accessible.  And it hit me- a business card holder for the desk is the PERFECT solution for a cell phone holder! Sure, we cell lots of desk organizers that have this feature, but most of them are larger than I needed or wanted. I wanted a small something to just set the phone in. So I got this:

ITEM NUMBER: ROL 22251ELD (pg 787 in new catalog)

And it's been perfect! Great multi-tasking item, Rolodex!

I also needed a good place for everyday necessitites-- paper clips, pens, post-its, etc. Before I had a very bulky desk organizer (you can see it just to the right of my monitor in the before picture) that didn't work great. But I decided to try this:

ITEM NUMBER: ROL 1746466 (pg 786 in new catalog)

What I love about this: it holds all I need and still makes it completely accessible! The one I had before was all closed in and not functional at all. This one has open sections for paper clips and what not, and a drawer that is perfect for the post-it notes I use daily. It's great and still stylish (very important! ha!)

Now I feel organized and in control of my desk, thanks to very small changes I made. I've said it once I'll say it again-- use that vertical space! It makes things so much better!!

Here is an after picture:

See what I mean?? Tons more room!

Project Organization: Amanda's Office Area Re-Organization, Part 3

I don't know about you, but I watch a LOT of HGTV and DIY network. And one thing I have learned (among the many) is to use your vertical space. And when you have a small office space or desk area, that can make you or break you. It can give you SO much more room on your desk to work and spread out, and depending on what you're doing, that's a big deal!

I have always had a bulletin board hanging over my desk. However, it's basically been a landing space for a lot of personal items like my little boys' art work, pictures of said little boys, phone numbers I needed to remember, post-it notes with passwords on it for me to remember, etc. You know, important stuff! And honestly, this is probably the one area of my desk that prompted me to re-do my whole area- it was bad. A cluttered mess that was unprofessional and not fun to look at. So I set out yet again in our catalog to find a good solution.

Here is my before picture:

It's OK. You can say it. YIKES. It was bad! Pretty much the only thing I loved looking at in this area of my desk were the little faces smiling back at me. Definitely not the area or board! A big part of the problem was the busy pattern in the bulletin board. I love Vera Bradley as much as the next girl, but a sleek more professional look was in order. And I decided I had too many picture of my kiddos up and the post-its were out of control. All the information needed to be consolidated! So I started with finding the perfect board, and here is what I found:

ITEM NUMBER: BVC-SF0722581012 (pg. 382 of new catalog)

It was nice looking (warmer than what I had before), larger than the board I had before, and professional looking. Check, check, and check. So I took down everything and started from scratch. I consolidated all my notes that were on post-its and made a master list to hang on the bulletin board so that they were always in my line of vision (and got rid of all the colorful, seizure inducing notes) and cleaned it all up! Here it is in all it's glory:

See, I didn't get rid of ALL the pictures of my kids :) Just don't have as many. And I think it looks good.

I also want to share another product I used in this part of the re-organization. They are the display pockets that you see my lists in:

ITEM NUMBER: MMM WL854C (pg. 1450 in new catalog)

Melissa and I both are a little obsessed with these pockets. They are made my 3M and are 8.5x11" (so fit a standard piece of paper, or 8x10 photo) and are stiff; so much better than your normal sheet protector.  Here are the specs: Display Pocket.

I also splurged and got aluminum push-pins because lets face it- they look better than the standard push-pin! :)

ITEM NUMBER: GEM CPAL3 (pg. 379 in new catalog)

So that's my vertical space. I am sure I will add more to it, but for now I'm happy with how clean and "empty" it is! Do you have vertical space you're not utilizing to it's fullest? Try it! I promise you won't be disappointed! We have a ton of products you can use for this exact purpose that you can use in an office or a cubicle!

Project Organization: Amanda's Office Area Re-Organization, Part 2

I have a lot of "apparatuses" on my desk that take up a lot of room. A LOT of room. In fact, a big problem for me was that these apparatuses took up so much room, I didn't have a lot of work space! Something needed to be done, for sure. I will talk more about this in later posts, but vertical space is a beautiful thing. After dealing with this mess for a long time:

It was time for another layer of space. I needed a shelf, I determined, to hold some of said apparatuses. So my search started. I don't have a huge desk, so I needed something compact but that would be functional- not just add to my cluster I already had going. I found this in our catalog:

ITEM NUMBER: SAF 3604BL (pg 789 in new catalog)

I thought this could be a good solution- it was only 7" deep, so not obtrusive, had storage on each end for me to utilize, and had good shelf space for me to use. I decided to give it a try and I'm so glad I did! The scanner you see in my "before" picture was able to slide under the shelf, I have a check scanner for making bank deposits that sits on my desk that was able to go on top of the shelf, and my lamp also went on the shelf! It has not only given me more room, but visually it looks like I have more room, which is great. Here is the after picture:

Much better, right?! And I even have room to the right of it for my phone to sit. Which was always in my way before. This has been a great fix! And the storage on both ends has been great- things I need at my finger tips but that needed a home! Love it!