A fun way to re-organize your office is to empty the room completely and give it a fresh coat of paint. Then put everything back into your office exactly where it belongs. Suddenly your office is more organized than it’s ever been, and it has a new, fresh look.
That is exactly what my husband and I did one Saturday afternoon this summer. It was completely unexpected, but my husband wanted to change the light fixture in the office because of poor lighting. I said, “Shouldn’t we repaint the ceiling before changing the shape of the light fixture? Otherwise it will be harder to paint later.” You see, the ceiling was blue, a bold blue that used to match the nursery decor back when this room was a nursery. Now for five years it has been an office, an ugly blue office that we had always planned on painting but never had the time.
My husband answered, “I guess you’re right. Do you want to help me paint the office?”
“Sure,” I said, and off he went to buy the paint. While he was gone, the children and I emptied the room, except for the furniture. Those my husband scooted into the center of the room, covering them with a drop cloth. I started putting blue painter’s tape around the window frame and door frame. When my husband got home, we started painting.
By the time we went to bed that night, the office looked completely different. I found a stack of un-filed papers three feet tall. Our file was completely full, so this is why it was impossible to file our paid bills. My husband and I started shredding older papers that weren’t needed. Then we decided that burning the papers would be better than shredding them, so we threw bills from as far back as the 1980’s into the fireplace. It felt fresh and clean to be caught up on our filing. All the necessary paperwork was filed properly, and it barely fit. There were no stray papers in the entire office.
The next day we put all the office stuff back into the office. Many items belonged in the garage or other rooms in the house, not in the office. When we were finished, the office had less in it than ever before, and we knew where every single item was located. I have smiled every time I’ve gone into the office ever since.
For more ideas on organizing your home, watch Organizing for a Fun Homeschool.
