So how did you guys do with cleaning and organizing the kitchen last month? Don’t worry if you didn’t quite get a chance to finish – you should be able to catch up this month. 🙂
Now that March is here, we are going to move on to organizing and cleaning our office spaces and going through all of that paper clutter. With tax season here, I thought that this would be the perfect time to do it. I also thought that this would be a good time to talk a little bit about clearing out the mind clutter as well. It is definitely one of the things that I struggle with the most and can be a huge obstacle when it comes to living a more organized life.
I know not all of you have a designated room for a home office {including me!} but you definitely need some kind of office space to keep basic office supplies together and to store important paperwork. I actually have three spaces that I will be working on – our basement office space, our kitchen command centre, and my blogging space {which is actually in our master bedroom}.
So here are the tasks for this month. For those of you that are not bloggers, print out the non-blogging version – this is exactly the same as the one below minus the “organize blogging binder”.
DOWNLOAD THE MARCH CHECKLIST HERE {BLOGGER VERSION}
DOWNLOAD THE MARCH CHECKLIST HERE {NON-BLOGGER VERSION}
DOWNLOAD THE MARCH BLANK CHECKLIST HERE
To keep myself on track, I also like to use a monthly calendar to write down when I plan on doing each of the tasks. You can read more about how I use the calendar HERE.
DOWNLOAD THE MARCH CALENDAR HERE
DOWNLOAD THE BLANK MARCH CALENDAR HERE
Are you eager to get going? Here are some tips to help you get started on how to organize the home office…
- When I am re-organizing a space, I always find that I do best if I completely empty it out before starting. Depending on the size of your space and how much time you have, however, you may want to divide your space into smaller projects that you can get done in a day so you don’t end up with a bigger mess than when you started! For example, one day you may tackle the desk drawers while the next day you organize the filing cabinet.
- Go through every item that you have emptied from your space and sort into piles: items to keep in the space, items to donate/give away, items that actually belong somewhere else in your home, and items that are headed for the garbage/recycing. Really be honest with yourself when you are deciding if you should keep an item or send it off to goodwill or recycling. If you are having trouble decluttering, read this post to overcome your decluttering paralysis.
- Now it is time to focus on those items that you are going to keep in the space. Group the remaining items into similar categories and come up with a plan for how you would like to store/organize your belongings. If your organization method wasn’t working before, you either need to significantly declutter or change up your organization system.
- Be creative in your storage and look around your home for other items that could be repurposed to meet your needs. Kitchen items such as spice racks, ice cube trays,and small muffin tins are great for keeping smaller office items in check and bathroom items such as caddies and shower organizers can also come in handy. Recover small cardboard boxes or tin cans with pretty wrapping paper or use clear mason jars for an inexpensive storage solution.
- Keep things simple. If you have a lot of items stacked on top of each other, it may look pretty at first, but it will likely lead to a cluttered space in the future. Make things easy to put away and use labels as much as possible so everyone knows where things belong. Try to keep items stored as close to the place that you will be using them as you can.
Throughout the month I will be sharing some tips on getting rid of the paper clutter, how to put together a family binder, as well as how I organize my bedroom blogging area and basement office space. I have a few bigger projects planned to brighten up the basement office, but they will likely take me a little longer to tackle. For now, here is some beautiful office inspiration to get your minds turning. Just click on over to their posts to see how they created their pretty and organized spaces!
So let’s get going! If you have any particular issues that you would like addressed, just let me know and I will try to answer them in this month’s posts. 🙂
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This post is part of The Household Organization Diet. If you need some organization inspiration, check out THIS POST to learn more about the plan and THIS POST for all of the 2015 updates. You CAN get that house cleaned and organized once and for all! To see all of the previous posts click the Get Organized tab at the top of the blog and go to The Household Organization Diet. I also have all of the posts pinned to my Household Organization Diet pinterest board. Start at any time and make sure you are following along so you don’t miss out…
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These are such gorgeous pics! My home office is very small (it’s a repurposed walk in closet) so it’s so important to keep it clean and organized. All of these look great, I’ll have to use some of these as inspiration!
Glad you liked them! I always really like the office closets. 🙂
Thanks for the Studio <3!
Such a GORGEOUS space!! I love it!!
Thank you for the printables! They will come in very handy.
Glad you like them! 🙂
These all look lovely but what about the wires (cords)? Most of us use a computer and a printer and even a lap top with wireless printer needs to be plugged in regularly, also what about charging you mobile phone, tablet etc.? These are inspirational but not entirely practical.
I do think using boxes to store things makes for a much better look and keeps stuff free of dust too.
Thanks for the post it has made me think I need to do some organising here.
Yes, I know what you mean about the cords! For my desk that is pictured, I have some command hangers on the back of the desk that I wrap my cords from my computer and desk lamp so they do not hang down. There are also a variety of cord clips that you can buy that work in a similar fashion. For larger items such as a printer or a charging station, a cabinet or set of drawers with a solid back can always hide the cords as well but you would need to have them up against a wall rather than open in the room space. There is always that fine line between beautiful design and function! ;
Hey Jenn, I just wanted to say thanks for all the work you put into these posts. I’ve been following since the end of January, playing catch-up on the detox. I’m almost finished with the January tasks and have managed a few of the February ones too. I’m a techno-junkie so I have created my binder using Microsoft OneNote, which syncs to my iPad with Outline+. I paste your lists and the URL to your blog page for the month (so I have it later to reference when I’m doing a specific task) and then retype the checklist, adding or subtracting things that I do/don’t need on my own list. I love organizing but am not so great about planning it out so this format is really helping me! I also really love the cleaning and organizing tips and ideas.
I’m so glad you are following along and I always love hearing how people are customizing things to fit their own needs!
Hello Jenn!
I am so glad I found your website and Organization Diet along with all of the binder things and printable. I run off of lists and folders.
My family and I just moved from the east coast to the midwest and from a small town to right in the heart of St Louis! Lots of changes and quite frankly I’m in over my head it feels like. I know it’s March but I just started your Organization diet and I am very much looking forward to it.
It’s so hard to keep this new space organized right now. The best part is that when we moved we started with a clean slate. We had a massive garage sale and literally sold everything except for necessities and cherished items (we kept no furniture). So this will make it so much easier to see what I will need to stay organized! As opposed to “Oh this basked looks cute! We could use that for ___” and then it never gets used and just sits there and turns into a weird catch all. lol
We do have furniture now by the way.
I can’t imagine all of the chaos of moving – especially half way across the country! What a great time to get organized though and it must feel great starting with a clean slate. Hope the Organization Diet helps! 🙂
I was wondering if you could give me some ideas since I have my desk right next to my husbands and he like the dark paneling we have in the room now but I would love to be able to add some color to everything! Any ideas you or you readers have would be wonderful!! Thank you, Kim
Are you able to hang some white shelving above your desk to decorate with some of your favorite pretty things or hang some colorful artwork. Some white frames would pop nicely against the darker paneling. Investing in a nice colorful or light colored desk chair might be another way to brighten up the space. Hope that helps! I’ll be interested to hear what other people have to say. Good luck with your space! 🙂
Thank you for the tips I can’t wait to try them…
Hi Jenn,
Love your organizing tips and pics. Please share info on the Linford Family wall organizer. That is perfect for my apartment. It beautiful and funtional.
Hi Tania! You can find more information on the link below. I just painted the sign above and the wall organizer was from the Martha Stewart collection at Staples. Unfortunately, that line has been discontinued but you can find lots of similar organizers at Target, The Container Store, Home Goods, World Market, etc. Really, you just need somewhere to organize your paperwork. 🙂
https://www.cleanandscentsible.com/2013/03/updated-kitchen-command-center.html
You have inspired me!! Thank you for the motivation, which I have been really needing lately. I love the orange and pink framed wall pieces (nail polish, clutch purse). Do you happen to have a source you can share? Thanks again, such a beautiful space!!
How do I download the May Calender?
Here’s the May post:
https://www.cleanandscentsible.com/2017/05/how-to-get-your-yard-ready-for-spring-may-hod.html
Look for a new calendar the first of every month! 🙂
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