Home Office Organization
The last stop on the main floor tour is my home office. It's where I do lots of things: mail, bills, calendar updates, blog writing, budget tracking, online shopping or looking through the kids' homework. All this is easier because what I need is quick to grab from here. My pencils and scissors live in a vintage cup. My paper clips are in pretty green glass containers. I don't know what it's like for people who aren't so incredibly visual, but seeing my stuff in sparkly cut green glass is a fun surprise. I seriously feel joy when I'm not going too fast to notice.
Since I struggle with memory and complicated stuff overwhelms me (adrenal fatigue) I sometimes feel like my lists keep things safe, so I consider my planner my external brain. Kind of important, so it belongs here when it's not in my bag. This is where I put papers I need to reference for a temporary amount of time (like a school year or billing cycle). I also keep my treasures from Antony here. That's the boy we get to sponsor. We picked him because he was born a couple months after Cadence and Chandler, so I say he's my far-away triplet. :)Below this I have my ugly cord hider, my envelopes, tissue, and the orange box is full of thank you notes I made with Shutterfly. One caution with using photos on stationary...I don't write notes to people fast enough that I use these up before the photos seem pretty dated. Something to think about. Unless you don't suffer from hair ADHD like I do. My hair's different now, again. Yep. I get bored.
Now for the desk drawers. In the first drawer (which I must've deleted the photo for and I'm writing from Colorado!) I have my hot glue gun (super handy tool even if you aren't a crafter), extra glue sticks, fabric scissors, scrap paper for lists, and wire cutters. It's nice to not have to go all the way to the basement for tools I use semi-frequently. In the next drawer I have pens, highlighters, staples, calculator, date book, address book, and notepads.
In this drawer, I use an organizer to keep little stuff neat. If you cringe at spending money on an organizer, you can look for used ones at thrift stores. Since I can put them in my dishwasher, I don't mind used ones and they're way cheaper. Also, if you have a couple organizers and feel like you need more, you may want to wait. If you're flirting with the idea of doing a minimalist-minded sweep of your home, you may find you consolidate and free up organizers. When I did my first sweep, I got to pick my favorite containers/organization tools and got rid of all the so-so ones. In this drawer from the top: packaging from my iPhone, hole-poking tool, erasers, chapstick, flash drive, headphones, 3-hole punch, ruler, labels (we collect these for school), tape refill, check register, rubber bands, the things you put under the shelves in your cabinets, white-out, Washi tape, hole punch, address labels and stamps, stapler and measuring tape. Whew! So many little things but they're so handy if you can put your hands on them quickly.
The file drawer holds fancy printer paper, a folder with all the health info I've gotten since I realized I have adrenal fatigue. The hanging files hold empty recipe cards, important documents, tax documents (for the coming year's taxes), credit card info, insurance documents, and the others hold owners manuals for things in four categories: electronics, kids items, yard equipment, household items. Some of those I never refer to and others I do. It's also nice when we sell or give something away, because we're able to pass on the manual.
Under my desk I have two containers like the one above, though the second one only holds a keyboard I use when I'm tired of typing on a laptop. This one holds my greeting cards, receipts in envelopes by month, extra checks, more important documents in the back and a binder. It holds our yearly Christmas letter, plans for the yard, and a few other things.
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