Yep, today is my birthday. The 42nd to be exact. It's always been fun to share the date with the ever-popular Punxsutawney Phil. Will he or won't he cast a shadow? Will we have 6 more weeks of winter?
Well today he did cast a shadow predicting 6 more weeks of winter. Blahhh. Doesn't he know that for MY birthday I wanted Spring to come 6 weeks early? Oh well, that's ok Phil I really can't let you ruin my birthday because I have a lot to be super happy about. Like the fact that my sister already dropped off a gallon of Samoas icecream for me (I didn't even know there was an ice cream in my favorite girl scout cookie flavor....yum!)
And how about the fact that my husband spent the entire last two weekends helping me redo my office which I've been wanting to do for years! We made two power trips to Ikea and spent 4 long days getting rid of 10 years worth of misc. stuff I didn't really need but felt compelled to keep....like a white shoelace, two padlocks, a paper mache skeleton, 55 pens that no longer work, and enough random notes and ramblings written on little pieces of torn of notebook paper to fill a dumpster.
I have come to realize that I love writing down my ideas on the first thing I see, which is usually a scrap of paper with other random jots on it. Then I add the note to a big pile of other notes and piles turn into boxes full of paper and so on and so on. The problem is I have these ideas that I write down "for future use" but would never be able to locate them again ever. As I read thru my years of notes I found that I've definitely been drawn to write down lyrics and quotes that inspire me along with ideas about things I'd like to accomplish in the future. If only one of those notes said, "get some organization going you messy dreamer."
Better late than never, isn't that what they say. This office re-do is all about giving me the tools I need to help myself. I think the reason it took me so long to dive into a project like this is the realization that I would have to deal with a big huge mess first before the fun could begin. I had to go all "Clean Sweep" on my butt to get this project going.
My most recent organization system was what I fondly refer to as the "tub system." You know those giant Rubbermaid tubs that have lids? Well I personally own about 80 of them. I kid you not. Now I do use some of them at work...but a whole lot of them are at my house too. I just fill a tub with "like" items and voila....I'm organized. Then I stack tubs on top of each other without any kind of labeling system...because "I can remember" what is inside of them. Ya right. Pretty soon tubs start reproducing in the night and the pathways in rooms become smaller and smaller. Even I had to finally admit that something had to change.
One of the major problems was my piles and piles of magazines and work catalogs. I did the hardest thing ever and went cold turkey and recycled 10 years worth of decorating and lifestyle magazines. Goodbye my old friends. Now in the future I am going to rip things out of them as I go and say goodbye immediately. As for the catalogs...well I have to keep those for my work. I've got lots of ordering to do to keep 10,000 sq ft filled and it was impossible to find the catalog I needed when I needed it. I'd have to get down on my knees and start digging thru huge tubs just filled with trade catalogs. Not alphabetized...just all random. So my office re-do started with this project. How do I get the catalogs off the ground and organized?
Here is what I came up with.
Super ugly right? The shelf is new and from Ikea as are the 5 for 2.99 cardboard magazine files. Hey, 5 for 2.99 was in my budget! Bob was all...."you're going to buy those ugly white holders and I was all....yea, I'm going to make them better." I think he might have shaken his head in disbelief because I don't always make my ideas happen. Well when I told Courtney the same day about my idea to transform the cheap files she completely shut me down with "you're never gonna get those done." The challenge was on. Not only did I get them done. I got them done that night. Sure I stayed up till the butt crack of dawn to do it...but hey I did it.
I have been collecting vintage wrapping paper for the last 3 or 4 years. I just throw it into a suitcase and refuse to actually use it to wrap anything in it because I love it so much. Well, I decided that if I could look at pieces of it in my office it would make me all happy so it was worth chopping some small pieces off of it.
Like this.
I didn't want to use up too much of my beloved paper so I decided to cover just the front and an inch around the sides of the files. That's pretty much all you see when they are in the shelf anyway. I'm not fussy and things definitely don't have to be perfect when it comes to my projects. I know the tall side of the file is supposed to face outward but I like the short side forward. That way I can see which catalogs are in the files and access them quickly. I loaded my catalogs into the files alphabetically from left to right on the shelves. Much better than a jumbo tub!
I used a Tupperware rolling sheet as my craft area and simply used Mod Podge on the backs only of the paper which I then pressed carefully onto the fronts of the files. I guaranteed a good fit by creating a template first and then used it to cut out all of the different papers.
So you've now seen one corner of my office remodel. None of what is shown used to be there. I love having some surfaces on top of my shelves to put out some of my favorite items. Don't you love the painting of the retro lady with flower? It was painted by none other than the fabulous Pat Kirk. She is so talented and yet so very humble. I love working with her!!
In the next day or two I will share more photos of my office transformation.
Happy Groundhogs Day!
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