A PEEK AROUND MY OFFICE

Today I thought I would show you around my office, where I spend...pretty much every single day!

You may think that I would want my workspace to be a little bit more decorated or colorful, but I actually get very, like, mentally stressed by clutter, and I need my workspace to be a little bit on the boring, sparse side or I won't be able to think! The most important thing about my work area is that it is clean and tidy, just for my own sanity. Also, we don't know how much longer we will be in this house - we know that this isn't our "forever" house - so I didn't want to do anything crazy with the walls and then have to redo it before we leave. 

I definitely have plans to frame a whole bunch of my prints though, which, HELLO, are made for decorating your office, so I realize how ridiculous it is that I don't have any of them displayed. I guess just with all of the other decorating that we've been doing in the new house, my workspace has just been last on my priority list.

Anyway, enjoy this little mini tour of how my office has been looking these days! xo

Desk Area

This is where I obviously spend most of my time in my office. I try to keep my desk as clean as possible with a tray to contain the little things that I need to keep out, rather than stored away in the drawers. I like to have highlighters and a ballpoint pen ready to go, as well as a notebook. I love this phone handset thing that you plug into your cell phone - it's so much easier to have it to rest on your ear and it is supposed to prevent radiation, which is always a nice benefit!

I would love to eventually get a legit desktop Mac computer, but for now I have my MacBook and a large monitor combo that works just fine. 

I also have a bulletin board that displays my business license and other tax related papers like that (because I'm always afraid I will lose them and freak out). In the corner, I keep rolls of wrapping paper in a large trash bin, which I very rarely need but my office seemed like the best place to store gift wrapping type things. 

This is the only area of my office that has much decoration, with the tassel garland on the wall. If you watch my Youtube videos, you would probably recognize that this is where I usually film those.

Shipping & Inventory Station

I have shown you guys this part before, but this is where I sit and fill orders. I love having all of my supplies in one area so that I can quickly fill orders without having to waste time looking for things. All of the pretty products that you see are available in my shop, and you can find links for all of my shipping / packaging supplies in this post.

Photography Cart & Extra Storage

The cart in the corner is where I take photos for my shop and such. I feel so lucky to have two huge windows right there in the corner of my office! I store extra shipping labels, mailers, and other random things in the little shelf-cart things and then I store my printer and extra printer paper in the other wooden cart (maybe one day I'll get around to painting those!).

NEW OFFICE ORGANIZATION

I can't even tell you guys how much my life has improved since getting my own office in the new house! Just having a place to keep everything for the shop out and organized makes my day so much more efficient (I used to work in a corner of the living room in our old apartment).

Yesterday, the mister and I put together this new Ikea Expedit Workstation (which consists of this shelf and this table). It is perfect for containing all of my shipping supplies and prints, and the attached table is the perfect shipping work area. I already had the smaller Expedit on the left, so I put it next to the larger one and made a giant shelf wall for all of the boutique items. I highly recommend the workstation for any other shop owners out there - it is the best solution I have found.

I want to get about 8 more of these under shelf baskets as well because they double the storage space:

I also hung this pretty garland up on the opposite wall, which makes the room a little sparklier. I can't wait to hang more art up in the house! I've been waiting until other priorities are done, like painting, but hanging art always makes a house feel more homey.

The second I got the camera out, Chester posed for me, so I had to take his picture too of course (such a little diva, this dog). :)

I hope you guys have a great week! xo

WORKSPACE WEDNESDAY: VINTAGE FLORALS

For today's post, I gathered up a bunch of items to help you recreate the workspace look below, which is full of vintage elements and whimsical florals. I feel like this is a really timeless, feminine style for a lady's workspace. What do you think?

inspiration photo source

shopping links:

craspedia | vintage blossom notebooks | mini pencils | vintage telephone | vintage brass container

WORK IT WEDNESDAY: 360° TOUR OF JENNA LYONS' OFFICE

If you're a fan of J Crew, then you're probably aware of their super chic president and creative director, Jenna Lyons. While this is a job most of us could only dream of, now you can take a 360° tour of her New York City office, complete with chevron floors and amaaazing views. Check it out here!

What do you think of her workspace?

WORK IT WEDNESDAY: GOLD OFFICE ACCESSORIES

Today, I've rounded up a bunch of shiny gold accessories for your office or studio. I'm obsessed with gold (if you couldn't tell), and I can't seem to get enough. Surely I'm not the only one? Here are some goodies to pretty up your office (including one of the foil prints from my shop!):

sources:

print / candle / lamp / paper clips / mousepad / stapler / scissors / elephant

THE PRETTIEST DESKTOP WALLPAPER

I'm currently gazing at a beautiful beach on my computer thanks to Design Love Fest's awesome free wallpaper downloads. Ahh, makes me feel so peaceful (and jealous!). Check out all of the other summery wallpapers here!

NEW IKEA MICKE DESK!

As part of our spring cleaning project, we are rearranging our little one bedroom apartment to make it work better for us. The first thing we did was took down our floating desk and bought a smaller, space saving desk: the Micke, from Ikea. Wes had his doubts that I would be able to put it together by myself while he was at work on Friday, but I got out my handy tool box and electric drill and built that bad boy (thank you very much!).

I love this desk because it has a super sleek design, it's white (I love white furniture), and it has a really nice cable compartment at the bottom to keep all the computer cords and such hidden and out of the way. Also, it's a small thing, but I love that it has drawers! Our previous desk didn't, and it was easy to get the tabletop really cluttery after a while.

I'm excited to show you guys the other things we've been working on. I plan to have posts on space saving tips & tricks because we've learned a lot over just the past few days of working on it. Have a great Monday!

CURRENTLY CRAVING: AN OFFICE OF MY OWN

I love to daydream about my future office. Some day when we get a house, I plan on creating a functional, inspiring space where I can spread my supplies out and get really organized. Currently, all of the stuff for my shop (boxes, paper cutters, product, letterpress, tools, supplies, computer, etc.) are all squished in the corner of our living room. It's not horrible - I'm able to work while spending time with the hubbs and I can keep tabs on Chester (that rascal) during the day. It's not really that I'm wanting more privacy, I would just like to have enough physical space for each item to have a place. Right now, I don't feel like I'm as efficient as I could be because I'm always having to dig and shuffle around when I need to ship something out/photograph products/etc.

Like I said, I don't hate it but a little stretching room would be oh-so-nice. If I had to create my ultimate dream office it would be something like....

YESSS. Dream Office would have a desk for my computer & printer PLUS a table for product shoots, crafting, and shipping. It would have a wall of storage because I'm a clutterphobe. Big ol' paper drawers would be nice for storing my inventory and keeping everything covered up. And I think we can all agree that we're happiest in rooms with a lot of light (which is something that I do actually have now with the wall of windows in front of my desk).

What qualities would your dream office have?

Image sources (clockwise): 1  |  2  |  3  |  4