Make it Work!

So as a designer and avid card/letter writer, I love my desk. I love having a place where I can spread out and have everything in front of me looking at the month seeing what bills I have to pay and what trips are coming up. I like to stay organized. Over the past week I've reorganized and spring cleaned my room. Now while I did not take before and after pictures I did make one big transformation to my room, my work space.

Before the transformation I had a simple corner desk, a little dresser and a plastic thing full of fabric (yes I have an addiction to fabric). And now I have the first two solely for the office and supplies and a new table I am using for sewing. While making this transformation I realized some easy and tips that might be helpful for you in redoing your work space this spring. 

1. Purge your room - Do you use it? No? Trash it, goodwill it, get it out of your space. I had this plastic double letter tray I'd used since middle school and it collected more dust than anything, gone. I found a bunch of old magazines, one of them being a high school musical edition of People, GONE along with that phase of my life. If you haven't used it in 6 months, get rid of it, unless it's something great like a label maker that is always good to have on hand and as a theater tech I could never live without. 

2. Organize, Organize, Organize! - I turned my little dresser that had only been used for clothing with the top drawer for the junk office drawer and now I have the top drawer for all my office supplies, the middle for all my art supplies, and the bottom for my cards and letters. While cleaning, I realized, had I organized like this sooner I would have noticed I had duplicates of a lot of art supplies and watercolor pallets.  

3. Invest in actual organizing tools - I have an letter tray and a little blue bucket on my desk as my only organizers. The little blue bucket holds all my frequently used items from paintbrushes to pencils. The letter tray has my stamps and other things I like to have on hand without opening a drawer. 

My revamped work space. Still need to get all the cords tamed going to the power strip. 

4. A Cork board - Pin up receipts, save the dates, wedding invites, ticket stubs or whatever you need it for. It's great to utilize for things you don't want getting lost in a drawer. I have a couple save the dates, my strips on a string, my steampunk necklace and just things I don't wanna lose on my board. When I'm shopping and designing a show I always have a bunch of receipts pinned to remind me to reconcile them. 

5. Inspiration - This is my biggest thing I need in a work space. When I got my first office last year I went and immediately printed photos of the people who are a huge impact on my life and great memories. It's great when you're stressed and look over and see your family or your best friends and know they're proud of you and the work you're doing. I also have this awesome design board from a film in the 1950's that I got for Christmas and it's just something that makes me happy. 

I hope this gives you some inspiration when cleaning this spring and makes your work space your happy place. A clean and organized desk is a happy desk. 

Until next time, blessings to you all.