Operation Office Space

I have decided that I am going to start my first organizing project with my "office" space. Like many of you, I don't have an entire room dedicated as an office. All I have is a corner in our family room that houses a desk that I picked up at a thrift store for $25! I love finding previously loved items and giving them a new home, besides where else could you find a solid piece of wood furniture at such a great price?

Clearly there is WAY too much going on in this space. I spend a lot of time in this corner and when it gets out of control like this it is just adds to the stress in life.

Here is what's going on!

This is my "garbage bag". Isn't that sad? Obviously I need to find something better than this! What an eyesore.

The bottom right drawer houses, well, um, I'm actually not sure. Because I never go in that drawer. I'm pretty sure it has labels and office supplies but they are not accessible without digging through so I just never bother. Definitely a space that can be utilized better!

I have a basket sitting on top of a filing box which I just dump random papers in and when I'm looking for something this is the first place I look. Sometimes what I'm looking for is there, often not. Clearly not working.

Pens, receipts, random things... My husband and I can often be found digging in this drawer looking for who knows what!

Camera and camcorder equipment and cords related to the computer are in this drawer. At least there is some purpose to this one but still, lots of room for improvement!

Another drawer that is under-utilized, mostly because it is blocked!

On my desk I have a few baskets which end up holding bills and various paper items.

Now to start the purge and organization process. I started with emptying out everything from this area. All the drawers and everything on and around the desk, except the computer. Then I dusted and vacuumed since this area is often neglected!

Ahh, feels so much better already. My next step will be to go through everything and only bring back the things that are necessary in this space, and set up good systems so that this area can serve its purpose and function the way I need it to.

Can you believe this much stuff was crammed into that tiny space??

Just to refresh, let's take a quick look at where we started:

And where we are now:

Stay tuned to see how I tackle this project, some inspiration I found to help me along the way as well as a DIY project for a new filing system that I am going to share with you!