Junk room turned home office status report
Well, today was a cleaning type of day. My husband and I dumped about 8 BAGS of trash from our junk room. It was amazing to see the floor again! I couldn't even believe how much paperwork we had piled up from years past, for the past 3 years or so of our lives together, so it was great to purge that all away. It felt GREAT. It was amazing. We then moved all of the books to one area of the room. I need to work on that project and figure out what I want to keep and set up an organization system for my library. We have a large bookshelf that we'll be using in that room, so I want to work on setting up areas of the shelf for both my husband and I and then organize it by type (once you start organizing you just can't stop!) We also went through our walk-in closet that, since we moved into our apartment 2 years ago, has been a dumping ground for junk. We put our Christmas stuff in there, all neatly organized in various rubbermaid containers (very stylish I may add!) and also put other things like memorabilia in there. That is another beast to tackle but we are not quite there yet.
I am setting up 3 areas of the office/guest room -- one for my husband's desktop, one for my laptop that will become a billing station and craft area as well, and one for a guest space. I know how everything will come together, but it's just getting there. The CPU station is easy...it will have my computer on the desk, along with my printer. Simple. I have a plastic filing cabinet thing with 2 smaller drawers to keep office utilities in along with a larger drawer on the bottom for our filing.
The space I am seriously having problems getting figured out in my head is my multipurpose laptop/billpay/craft area. I need this area to be multipurpose. I am using a larger plastic table for this area simple because it's large enough for me to do what I need/want. But I don't know how to put everything so it'll work. So I need some advice. What's the best way to organize my craft stuff? I do some scrapbooking and I also make handmade ornaments and Christmas decorations around the holidays. It's nothing ultra fancy. But I do need a system so I can access it when I need it but stow it away so I can use it for more productive uses at other times. Anyone have any suggestions?
Also, what is the best way to handle paid bills? I am trying to keep them for a month then throw them away after I pay the current month's bills, marking the date that I paid the bill and check # if applicable. But I always seem to end up with old bills that I have already paid stacked up and mixed in with my new bills. I do have carbon copy checks so I don't need to keep my old bills... but who knows. I could really use some advice on that too.
Thank you thank you thank you.
ETA: thank you for all of your practical advice about bills and scrapbooking. I am going to implement the ideas I got here, making my own personal adjustments, and I think it'll be great. I should take a picture of my junk room almost but not quite there office...
I am setting up 3 areas of the office/guest room -- one for my husband's desktop, one for my laptop that will become a billing station and craft area as well, and one for a guest space. I know how everything will come together, but it's just getting there. The CPU station is easy...it will have my computer on the desk, along with my printer. Simple. I have a plastic filing cabinet thing with 2 smaller drawers to keep office utilities in along with a larger drawer on the bottom for our filing.
The space I am seriously having problems getting figured out in my head is my multipurpose laptop/billpay/craft area. I need this area to be multipurpose. I am using a larger plastic table for this area simple because it's large enough for me to do what I need/want. But I don't know how to put everything so it'll work. So I need some advice. What's the best way to organize my craft stuff? I do some scrapbooking and I also make handmade ornaments and Christmas decorations around the holidays. It's nothing ultra fancy. But I do need a system so I can access it when I need it but stow it away so I can use it for more productive uses at other times. Anyone have any suggestions?
Also, what is the best way to handle paid bills? I am trying to keep them for a month then throw them away after I pay the current month's bills, marking the date that I paid the bill and check # if applicable. But I always seem to end up with old bills that I have already paid stacked up and mixed in with my new bills. I do have carbon copy checks so I don't need to keep my old bills... but who knows. I could really use some advice on that too.
Thank you thank you thank you.
ETA: thank you for all of your practical advice about bills and scrapbooking. I am going to implement the ideas I got here, making my own personal adjustments, and I think it'll be great. I should take a picture of my junk room almost but not quite there office...