I have recently come to the conclusion that I am going to be a messy person, with occasional bursts of cleanliness that help to keep me somewhat organized on a daily basis. I have a relatively clean desk today. But, I am in need of some serious help in organizing all of my stuff that I use for amo-ink. As you can see in the photos, I have to store a LOT of paper, envelopes, supplies, etc. Since my office is in my bedroom, I have limited amounts of space to do this. I have these metal bookshelves that hold all this crap, but it looks terribly cluttered. I want all those nice fabric boxes and drawers to store this stuff in, but that is expensive. I need your ideas on how to make this feel better to work in. What is out there to help me besides those gross plastic storage containers? I also have a pile of cardboard boxes that hold old invitations - I want a better (and inexpensive) way to keep those nice and pretty. Help.
9 comments:
dude. i don't know what to tell ya. i always love coming over to your house because i think your home in general but especially your desk area is superfun and cute and cluttered, but in a cool and creative way. i think the key to organization will be uniformity. even if you have to find cheap/free boxes to put all your massive amounts of paper and envelopes in, maybe if they all just looked the same it would be better. hmmmm...where could you find such things? Could we cover cardboard boxes in scrapbook paper?
Yay, Amo!! I'm so glad you are blogging now, so we can keep up on your adventures.
I think it's adorable that you think your place is messy. I probably do a small fraction of the creative work you do and I am a zillion times messier.
If you just have cardboard boxes for your envelopes right now, you can cover them with scrapbook paper. I've seen this done and they can get quite elaborate, but you could probably stick with simple and punchy and have a great time with it. Also, I have a copy of a Martha Stewart Organizing book that shows how to cover shoeboxes with fabric and end up with a fantastic set of storage boxes.
Check out twopeas for some great box ideas.
http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1056640
http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1045942
http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1019790
I hope that helps. Sorry for the epic comment. :)
Amo -- my mom loves those canvas boxes, and she gets most of them at Big Lots ... that store is an adventure all it's own!
Oh, Big Lots! What a fantastic idea. Do we have a Big Lots in Cincy? Also, thanks for the ideas Erin! Those are fantastic. FYI: that is about the cleanest I have ever had my desk and office area. EVER. Usually there is no room to walk to the chair. I browsed around at Staples this morning, they have lots of little canvas covered organizer type things, but nothing that would really meet my needs...
There is a Big Lots around Ridge near Lowes.
yay for Ridge road. Big lots is KEWL.
I want to cover boxes in nice stuff. sounds like fun.
Amy, I just found your blog through Paul's and I didn't even THINK of checking Big Lot's for those canvas boxes - I too am struggling to get organized and this is a brilliant idea. I might stop by this weekend...
Thanks for the advice, folks. I went to Big Lots (fantastic store, btw) Much like an outlet where you have to dig and discover awesome prices... I got 8 small-ish canvas crates, and one big one. Time to start organizing!
Hi Amy,
This is aunt Linda, hope you are having a great day. When I saw your problem with your desk area, I thought of a curtain made out of what ever you want to hang from the ceiling or just to cover your mess! You could make it out of what ever you want. You are so creative anyway! Open it up when you need access and close it when you don't need it. Then everything does not need to be in order! I am like you. I clean the clutter and then cannot keep it in order. Just a thought!
Love @ Prayers,
Aunt Linda
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