As promised, we’re back with the details of how we organized the six new shelves and eight new drawers in our office, along with the drawers in my floating desk and the filing/printer cabinet on the other side of the room. In other words: what went where.
It’s awesome to have so much more storage space, both out in the open and behind closed doors, so let’s spin over to the left and face our new desk/bookcase wall first.
Here are the animated GIFs that John mentioned on Monday. You were on the edge of your seat for these, right? Or were you excited about donuts? I can’t remember. Here’s the bookcase to the left of John’s desk coming together in GIF form:
And here’s the one to the right filling up in fast motion:
Between both sides of the open shelves, we managed to work in eight magazine storage boxes (from Target). We used them to hold our press stuff since we’ve saved magazines with a mention/feature of our site or any column that we’ve written. Now instead of shoving them all into various cabinets in our dining room buffet (where we used to keep them) we finally have them all organized by year with little tabs on that page. It makes it a lot easier to find things.
We also brought out a bunch of books that we had stuffed into our kitchen cabinets, and added a few decorative boxes that we already had (the blue ones are from Bed Bath & Beyond when I was in college, and the cream one is from HomeGoods last year). They’re loaded up with various office supplies that we didn’t want crowding the surface of our desks.
We also included some of our hook designs (some in the packaging, and some out) along with a few copies of our book (the English version and the Korean one) since we figured an office is a good spot to display some of the stuff you’ve made, and if we ever have anyone over for a meeting we can grab a few copies of our book or a product or two from the office shelves.
A too-pretty-to-hide-in-a-drawer stack of notebooks and post-its ended up in the mix too…
… along with an “inbox” for the magazine tear sheets that used to collect on the kitchen table or the back of the couch. I have binders with clear sleeves where I eventually file them, but now they have a drop zone until I do that, which is nice. Even got to use one of our octopus hooks as a paperweight.
There are also deceptively decorative things that are actually up there multitasking for hidden functional reasons, like the spiky yellow HomeGoods vase which is where we stash our wires (extra chargers, headphones, uploading cords for the camera, etc). It’s nice to keep those less-lovely things (like a big mass of wires) incognito, but easy to grab. And the little zebra dish holds magnets for our magnetic frame wall along with a pink vase full of dry erase markers for that zone. And we finally have a spot for my yellow horse head bookends (remember these?) which add color but also do good equine work (way to hold those books up, stallions).
There are also a few purely decorative objects in the mix, just because they make us happy. There’s my wonky little painting of our first house along with a painting by my friend Lesli of our second house (she surprised me with it as a holiday gift shortly after I painted our first one). And we can’t forget about the awesome replica of our fireplace that Lisa made us.
I also put our little bee painting up there along with a catalog tear-out from Boden that says “Squeeze the day” to add a little office cheer/inspiration – and I found a spot for our family yearbooks. I love seeing that colorful little stack of them, complete with a cup full of Young House Love pencils in every color of the rainbow (a super sweet book tour gift from 2012).
Speaking of bees and stuff that makes us happy, it was pretty hilarious to have our little bumble girl playing dress up and making bead necklaces at her little desk while we sorted and filled our shelves and drawers.
In the drawers to the right of John’s desk, we have two empty ones (room to grow = the best feeling ever) along with one that’s half full of paint decks, and one that’s full of the magazines that I love too much to throw away (like every original issue of Domino) and some catalogs that we reference from time to time.
The drawers to the left of John’s desk are where we have the more office-related things. The two that are closed in this photo are full of design prototypes that we’re currently developing/tweaking, and the top open one is full of tax stuff (receipts, file boxes of back taxes, quarterly stuff to fill out and mail in, etc). The bottom open one has back-up external hard drives, old notebooks full of info that we still need, and a large ziplock bag full of miscellaneous instruction books and warranties for things like our printer, camera, etc.
As for the printer/file cabinet, that’s also full of documents and other tax/work-related stuff. Here’s a shot of it closed (it’s the Ikea Effectiv cabinet, which they discontinued a while back).
And here it is opened up. We keep the paper and our camera case on the top left, our wireless printer lives on the top right, and all of our files are in that bottom drawer.
My floating desk by the window (remember when we found it for free on criagslist?) has four more drawers for me to use, as well as a nice big top that I’m attempting to keep pretty clear except for a few notebooks and two vases full of writing paraphernalia (we use the pencils for book edits).
I put things like my scissors, stapler, and other use-a-lot stuff in the top right drawer, filled the right middle drawer with stationery/thank you cards, and kept the skinny middle drawer and the bottom right drawer empty for “space to expand.” There’s also a cabinet on the left side of the desk that’s empty (more remaining room = happy tingly feelings inside).
So that’s our little where-it-all-went rundown of the office. Only took us a year to find a spot for the stapler and the receipts… but I gotta admit, it feels better than it probably should.
That rush you get when you have a spot for everything is pretty addicting… even if your brain knows it’s only a little while before things start to multiply/explode. I’m soaking it up while I can.
Psst- Teddy’s eight week photo is up (we couldn’t resist that Spoonflower fabric).
Melissa says
Sherry! You are astoundingly talented at shelf-filling. I could watch those gifs all day. I’m not even a little bit joking (is that sad?!). I want you to come to my house and make my built-ins look like these!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, thanks Melissa! It’s a practice thing for sure. Years ago it took me foreverrrrr! It was styling so many shots for the book (hundreds of them!) when things started to click faster for me :)
xo
s
DAnielle says
Are you possibly rethinking the color on the walls. I know curtains and rugs will break up a lot the white in the room, but i think a darker color on the walls would look really good and make all those white elements…desks, shelves..”pop”
YoungHouseLove says
We still love the wall color! I think once we get window treatments and a rug and art going on it’ll be more balanced :)
xo
s
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
I long for the day we can have a functional office space. Right now my husband has turned the office into a recording studio, but I’m hoping to get my hands on that room before the summer is over! I need more storage space!
DP says
I would love to see a bold ceiling paint in here like in the show house. I know the ceiling is lower, but it looks like you could get away with it. Please consider it after the rug and curtains are done.
I would like to take everything out of my office and start again. Our small 4th bedroom serves as a office, dressing room, and 1 person guest room. My desk is way to big for the room. I’ll have to look into a smaller desk like yours.
YoungHouseLove says
I’d love a bold ceiling in there! I even told John that wallpaper could be amazing up there. Ahh! Just have to see if things feel busier once we layer in art, rug, window treatments, etc – but it’s definitely something we’d consider!
xo
s
Marissa says
Check out the “Precious Metals” store on Joss & Main today! So many cute metalic animals.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Marissa!
xo
s
Katie says
Oh Domino – I love you so! I have every one of my issues, but not every one ever. I keep telling my loved ones that the best present ever would be for someone to inventory the Dominos I do have, purchase the Dominos I don’t have, and then – and this is the kicker – mail one to me every month so I can pretend the old Domino lives. So far no one has taken me up on it. I have a subscription to the new Domino but it’s just not the same.
Mary says
I keep my warranties/instructions in a binder with a couple page protectors. Like goes with like, so there’s a page protector filled with small kitchen appliances, bedroom-related stuff, my tools, etc. It’s very easy to keep track of things, and if it’s in plain sight no one knows.
YoungHouseLove says
Smart!
xo
s
Evie says
Looks beautiful in there, guys! I’m painting my dining room now, getting excited about soon re-doing my built-ins. (seeing a hyphen trend) Your has me psyched about leaving some empty drawers and cabinets to grow into! Where does your second green chair live now?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s currently in the unfinished storage room upstairs, but I hope to find a spot for it somewhere…
xo
s
Amy@TheBlissfulBee says
LOVE how clean and fresh it all feels! Bravo;) As usual:):)
xo, amy
Annie T says
LOVE IT!!!!
Love watching your family blossom :))
I missed the paint color if you posted it…Simply White?
xo
Annie
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Annie! Simply White is the trim and the walls are Palest Pistachio (both are Ben Moore colors).
xo
s
Carly says
I need some more organization in my life. I set up a system but I never seem to follow through. Papers can be overwhelming.
Noodles says
Simplify101 have a fantastic Paper Clutter online course. I can heartily recommend it for helping tame the paper monster and set up systems.
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
I hope we are able to get to that point where everything has it’s place. I just emptied our armoires to be moved and painted and it’s like okay, do we REALLY use Play Doh? No, but I want it.
Now I won’t be able to get Blind Melon’s “No Rain” out of my head!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha!
xo
s
Lindsay @ The Newlywed Notebook says
This post was SOO super helpful – thank you! I’ve never been one at creating fun displays. In our new house, I feel like there are so many spaces that are just empty, missed opportunities for some cute decor displays. One of my summer bucket list goals was to collect some unique pieces at garage sales, etc and fix them up and use them to create some bookshelf/tabletop displays. Your post is going to come in handy when I actually collect enough things to start decorating some of our empty spaces, so thank you!!
Jessica Ann says
I love that you have all of your Domino mags too! I may have cried when they announced that they were stopping publishing, and then did a happy dance when they came back. :) Do you guys maintain a list of the different magazines/websites/etc where you have been mentioned/published?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes to the end of Domino thing. I had a friend in publishing who told me before the official announcement and I kept hoping she was wrong :(
As for press stuff, we try to keep a section at the bottom of our About page updated with scans of things, but we’re not always the best about remembering to update it.
xo
s
sarah says
another thing you could do would be to pull clara and john’s desks out from the wall and bring the chairs around so that their backs are to the wall and you’re all facing the middle of the room…that would make you all feel like you’re working together in a collaborative space or bullpen. that’s how we’ve got things set up at my office and it’s fun :) Either way, it looks awesome in there! great job.
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds fun!
xo
s
Emily @ Life on Food says
I love that you have your houses painted. I am looking for someone to do ours once we get our lawn redone this summer. Is it nuts that I love bookcases? Accessorizing them is such fun. You did a great job making it look great but also functional storage.
Emily says
Perhaps you should embrace a scanner? There’s a lot of paper in this office and it doesn’t have to be that way. Your owner’s manuals and warranties could be scanned. Receipts, office files, magazine mentions. I completely get saving every original issue of Domino but those are the magazines I’d want to have in the holders, not press mentions (especially the small-ish blurbs).
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Emily!
xo
s
Jayme says
It all looks wonderful and so wonderfully organized!! Very Exciting!! I may have missed this, but where do you hide (and plug in) the cord(s) for the laptop on the floating desk?
Jayme says
Never mind! Just saw your answer to a comment that answers my question. I’m good to go. :)
YoungHouseLove says
I have a cord that snakes across the floor for my computer now, but we’re planning to add an overhead light fixture and a floor outlet for the desk. Will keep you posted!
xo
s
amanda says
Love it! But what I really wanted to say is–thanks for making the octopus hooks! How did you predict that my four-year-old would be obsessed with octopi, of all things? He likes to greet the little octo key hanger (often with his menagerie of octopus stufties).
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet! I love hearing that!
xo
s
Crystal says
“That rush you get when you have a spot for everything is pretty addicting…” YES YES YES! I want to go home and organize now!
I love it when the kids mix and match dress up items! Looks like you have bumble bee princess (or queen? lol). My daughter had on an ariel costume, a tails tuxedo jacket, and bonnet that was part of her Elizabeth Bennet Pride and Prejudice costume the other day.
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Joanna @ TheNestbook says
I’m right there with ya. There’s nothing better than feeling organized. I feel giddy just looking at your organized drawers! Imagine how I’ll feel after I tackle my own… :)
ajira says
This looks amazing. Well done for waiting until you had something that felt right. Now I’m wondering about your ‘gtd’ routine- how do you stay on top of daily to-dos, parental responsibilities, future projects plus the blog and all that entails? Phew. Tired just writing that. it’s something I’m constantly struggling with, which I get may just be the state of things but I’m always open to more tweaks to get a little more time out of a day. LOL
YoungHouseLove says
I’m with you! We need more hours in a day! This magnet frame wall helps us organize blog and book and side-gig stuff as well as home maintenance/projects: https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/making-an-advert-sticky-on-mobile-site.2689432/ For family stuff I usually use a day planner to remember things like dentist appointments and school events for Clara, etc. I’m a mess though. Truly. I’m in that newborn fog. Haha!
xo
s
RebeccaNYC says
Can I just say how wonderful it is that Clara has her own workspace, and that work is FUN. It should always be that way, and if it’s not, one should find new work! xo
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Rebecca! I love having her nearby!
xo
s
Allen says
How is the new office command center working out? Is the one in the kitchen less commanding now? I love all your organizational ideas and I usually love implementing them…its the upkeep that gets me every time!
YoungHouseLove says
Still really happy with it! We have been in a little bit of a newborn haze, so it’s nice to feel a little more organized thanks to that wall!
xo
a
Lindsay says
Wow, in week 8, Teddy suddenly started looking so much like Clara! :)
YoungHouseLove says
We see it too! It’s fun to compare their weekly photos (he has more hair and is a bigger baby, but there’s definitely a resemblance!).
xo
s
Beth says
I just love it all, what kind of plant is in the corner?
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! That’s a fiddle leaf fig from Home Depot. Haven’t killed it yet…
xo
s
Nicole @ Liberty Belles says
man do I love me some organization. I think I might be as excited as you guys!
Colleen says
Where did you get the adorable bee hive vase on your printer cabinet?? So cute! The room looks so alive!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Colleen! John got me that from West Elm a while back!
xo
s
Diana says
Love the organizing/making things pretty step! Mine is never as pretty as yours but it’s still my favorite part!
Lacey says
Looks great! I think it would be awesome if you painted some sort of pattern on the back if the floating desk. It will help break up all the white that john talked about. It could be subtle but amazing.
YoungHouseLove says
That could be fun!
xo
s
Mamaw says
Glad to see an update on this room. It looks great and seems to be very functional for y’all. I know y’all feel a sense of relief and organization getting this done.
Danielle says
Love this, so pretty and yet functional! Great ideas for my home office :)
Jen says
Are you still planning on adding french doors to this space at some point?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we’d still love to do that!
xo
s
suzanne l. vinson says
love. love. love. so bright and cheerful. the yellow and teal bursts of color make me smile. ((and i love spying my let it go wisdom card! happy summer days!))
xo.
YoungHouseLove says
I love that card Suzanne! Still have it after all these years – in mint condition, which is kind of a miracle with grabby Clara!
xo
s
Lindsay says
Everything looks great! You guys wanna come over and organize my office this weekend? It could use some help! :) Do you all have a fire safe? We keep our backup hard drive in ours, just in case the unthinkable happens, all of our pictures and important documents will be okay.
YoungHouseLove says
We do have a fire safe although we tend to use our safety deposit box the most since it’s completely off-site. We should put those back-up drives in the safe though – that’s a good reminder!
xo
s
Rachael says
It looks amazing! Just wondering where you got the white file cabinet?? Ic currently in the market for one :) My apologies if you already answered that!
YoungHouseLove says
That was from Ikea a while back. It’s called the Effectiv but they no longer sell it (boo!). Maybe you can find one on ebay or craigslist?
xo
s
Laura says
I am a magazine-oholic (yes that is a real thing), and I have magazines from years ago that I can’t seem to get rid of either. But my husband has insisted that I start purging. So I’m going to look through them and tear out any articles/pictures/recipes that I would like to keep. I would love to hear your filing system for your magazine tear sheets! You might have talked about it before, but if so, I can’t remember.
Holly says
Ugh. This is so great. I remember when you framed “Squeeze the Day” – I scrambled to find it in one of my catalogs and didn’t. I also hoard all of the original Dominos. Can’t bring myself to part with them.
Jess @ Crunchy Hot Mama says
Lookin’ good you two! Maybe that will motivate me to finally get organized ;)
Random ? Did ya’ll go out and buy one of each item from your line? Once I saw the hooks on your shelves I was curious. I’d probably be so giddy that I would buy every single one, and if I was walking around Target, I’d probably give myself a shameless plug ;) Ha! Just curious.
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve bought a few and got some from Liberty as part of the designing deal (sort of like how we got some copies of our book from the publisher after it came out :)
xo
s
Elle says
I hope when you guys were putting away the magazines you took a moment to say to yourselves “Not only are we in a magazine, we’re in so many that we need organizers!!”
YoungHouseLove says
It’s totally crazy! I always think “this all started with a quick little blog post back in 2007…”
xo
s
Laci says
You may have already answered this somewhere, but what crafting, drawing supplies, etc do you give Clara “open access’ to vs which are put up somewhere else to be used only with a parent around. With the birth of our third, we’re trying to reorganize our kids’ crafting area to be less supervised/more free draw/free craft/ etc. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We have little cups of markers, colored pencils, and those twisty long crayons that are out most of the time in cups and things like stickers and beads and paint get put away and pulled out sporadically by request (we keep them in the toy closet we made in the foyer).
xo
s
Vanessa says
Looks so great, guys! Now… what are those 3 matching books next to your YHL book? My curiosity is SUPER peaked.
YoungHouseLove says
Those are the Korean version of our book! So cool to see it with a different layout and everything (Burger made the cover!).
xo
s
Sharon says
Wow! So bright, attractive, uncluttered and functional! Major office envy here.
Liz says
Thanks for sharing – I’m definitely inspired! Love Clara, too!
Liz @ http://www.shoppingmycloset.com
Julie says
Hi! Love the new look! I’m in the middle of moving and seeing a clean room makes me so jealous! It’s awesome that you were able to redesign with your new business goals in mind. Which, speaking of, I know it’s only been 6 weeks or so since you announced the slow down, but whenever you get to a good update point, I’d love to hear about how you’re feeling now. Have things slowed down? How has that affected business, life, etc? Also, other blogs I read talk about the shift in blog business/readership/comment leaving/advertisements etc. and if you guys have seen a change or feel that change, I’d love to hear about it from your perspective! Just some thoughts! I’m a daily reader no matter what you write! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Julie! We’ve definitely experienced the fewer-posts-lead-to-less-traffic phenomenon that we expected, but we’re really loving the new flow of things. It’s nice to be back in the groove instead of feeling frazzled or rushed. Of course less traffic leads to less advertising income, which is also something we expected, so if we ever have to go back into our previous careers, we’ve both left the door open there :)
xo
s
VV says
ooooh such pretty and functional organisation makes my heart siiing~!!
And boy, nothing feels better than not filling up shelves/drawers entirely. Having room to grow always gives me such an amazing sense of freedom. But then the evil mini-me that sits on my shoulder cackles evilly thinking of all the new stationery and old magazines that could wander into there… ;)
Noodles says
The shelves look very pretty but as a book and magazine lover, I don’t “get” stashing all the lovely magazines in a drawer. I’d much rather have them out, in piles, or pretty rattan baskets… makes a room look warmer to me.
Also, with the office supplies, I’m guessing you’re not visual processors :-) I recently discovered I’m a visual processor and “out of sight” definitely means “out of mind” for me. I’d never remember which box on the shelf had what in it (and it sure as heck wouldn’t get put back in), so I’d fill the now-empty magazine drawer with different sized acrylic boxes and stash everything in there. One place, all visually calming too :-)
Wanda says
The desk looks a little stark in the almost all white office. Just for kicks, why not play with some graphic design on the back side (facing photo). Like you did on th wall behind the crib? Just a subtle touch. Love your office! All that room, I’m jealous!
YoungHouseLove says
That could definitely be fun! I think after the curtains and the rug come in we’ll make the back-of-the-desk call since pattern or bold colors in those areas might make us like the white desk for balance :)
xo
s
Diane says
I just found your site and I am starting to feel really inspired to start making simple changes to my (rental) home – mostly room/wall decorations and furniture layouts. Do you have recommendations of good magazines to start looking at/buying? Do you subscribe to any?
YoungHouseLove says
I love so many of them! Let’s see, there’s House Beautiful, BHG, Real Simple, Canadian House & Home, DIY Magazine, Coastal Living, Southern Living, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. I like online ones too (google “free online home magazine” or “free home ezine” to see what comes up). Also sites like Houzz & Pinterest are awesome for all the eye candy and inspiration!
xo
s
Susan says
Love your little bee! And the 8 week photos are adorable, that little boy in his outfit!!
Love the office, too, and that satisfaction of having everything in its spot. Your shelves look so lovely and bright.