Decorganizing: My Office

Some of you asked and some of you didn't ask for this but I am going to give you a run down on how I organize my office. Feel free to mock me for being hyper-organized.

In each drawer, I keep an active client tray filled with all the notes and selections that I need for each project. This way, when I am working on that particular project, I can pull it out and I have everything I need at my fingertips! Conversely, when I am not working on it, I can put it away in the drawer. Keeps both my office and my mind clutter free!

I also keep an accordion file for each client so I can organize my notes by room. I can grab the file and take it with me to showrooms or client meetings if I need to!

Since my printer sits on the console, I keep copy paper, ink cartridges, Eclectic stationary, business cards, etc. in that center section so they are close at hand when I need them. I use those acrylic trays to organize all the boring paperwork like client invoices, vendor invoices, purchase orders, packing slips, etc.

I keep all my fabric memos organized in these canvas bins by type of fabric: graphic prints, prints, stripes, organic prints, animal prints, etc. I absolutely abhor fabric books so I mainly get memos from vendors or if need be, I tear apart the books so I can organize fabrics by category. This is how my mind works when working on a project...if I know I need a graphic print in a certain color, I know right where to look! I can pull out that bin and start weeding through them until I find what I need.

The "thing" on the far left is an old sewer grate that I use to hold all the fabric swatches of either fabric remnants I have or fabric swatches that I have picked up from a fabric store (fabric on the front and all info I need on the back). The galvanized wall rack holds all the e-decorating projects that I am working on.

The woven green boxes hold office supplies and the baskets hold solid fabrics separated by type of material like silk, linen, velvet, etc.

I think it is important to use attractive storage containers because if it looks good, you are more likely to keep it clean! Hence my emphasis on decor + organizing = "Decorganizing"! I found this old bottle crate from Hawaii and thought it would be perfect for holding all my pens, pencils, scissors and drafting tools, etc. The blue quadrefoil jar holds all my measuring tapes.

The aqua notebooks (below left) are all of my idea files. And the green magazine files (above left) hold every issue of Domino ever produced. I like to keep them close to me!

Hope I am not boring y'all to tears this week with all this office talk but for those in the biz or even design school, I thought it might be interesting to see how someone else organizes all the (bleep) that comes along with our occupation!