Home Office Makeover Part 2

For me, one of the most frustrating things about being a parent is not when your child doesn't sleep, it's not all of the laundry, it's not even when you've just finished struggling to clip him into the car seat and then you hear the slow, rumbling vibrations of what could only be a massive blow out in his new, clean outfit. For me, the most frustrating thing is that I get nothing accomplished. I can start 1,000 projects easily, but the odds of me completing them are slim to none. 

Why am I telling you this? Basically, I want you to get an idea of what motivated this massive overhaul of my mother's office. In case you missed my last post on How to Organize Thousands of Pictures, my mom's office was becoming seriously overloaded. It was not a functioning space and it was definitely not a space where someone would be motivated to work. 

So when I spent the week with my parents in March, I basically begged them to let me tackle their office. I was desperate to complete a good organizing project, and I had some of the best babysitters on hand.

Here is what we were starting with... 

Again, I apologize for the picture quality. My iPhone doesn't know what to do when there is a bright sun shinning into a space so the light is a little off in all of these. Anywho, as you can see, this is not a relaxing environment to go and get work done {you may also be able to see my baby monitor and cup of coffee, aka my right and left hand when he's asleep}.

The space is not huge, but it's the perfect size for a home office. However, it felt much smaller because it was full of books, pictures, clutter, and bulky furniture. We started with getting all of the pictures organized, which took care of the closet and the large bin seen on the floor below {yup, that was full of pictures as well}. 

The next thing to address was the bookshelves. My mom teaches Kinesiology and Health and has tons of text books, medical journals, and articles for all of her classes. She's great at having all of the latest information for her students, what she's not so great at is tossing the information that is outdated or is accessible online. 

This is midway through the organizing. It's hard to believe that this is considered progress. 

After we had sorted through everything and determined what was going back into the space, we could start looking for new furniture for the room. The desk and chair were unusable together and the bookshelves really needed updating. I started looking for things to maximize storage space and brighten up the room without taking up too much space. And since my mom loves the comfort of that chair, the new furniture had to have the space for the chair to fit. 

After some research and measuring my dad and I set off for Ikea, which in my hometown is only about 20 minutes away. I never realized how spoiled we were until I moved away. Also I just have to boast about this, my dad and I are like machines. We did an Ikea and Costco run, with travel time, in under two hours. This was mainly achieved because my mother said we would take forever and my dad and I are just slightly competitive. 

Ok, I digress. So we were able to get everything for the office from Ikea. Bookshelves, desk, storage bins, etc. It was such a successful trip! We went in with a very detailed list, including the section where each item could be picked up. And, did you know you could bypass the show room? That winding, confusing maze can be avoided through a very poorly marked, almost hidden, door just beyond the escalators. Huge time saver! 

Cube shelf | Small storage box | Desk | Box with lid | Large storage box

You guys, we got all of this for a grand total of just over $250!! For an entire office makeover, I am seriously impressed! There was one piece of furniture that we didn't need to replace in the space, the filing cabinet. They wanted to keep it because it fit the printer so nicely on top, they just needed it to be more functional. Understandable, however it needed some serious cleaning out as well. 

After cleaning out old manuals {using this method} and reorganizing the file racks, the file cabinet is now a great place for my parents to store their tax documents, bills, mortgage information, etc. 

So my dad is a saint and loves setting up Ikea furniture! Name one person you know who has said that. Brit avoids Ikea like the plague specifically because he hates setting up their furniture so much.My dad put together all of the furniture so quickly and easily. And now I'm pretty jealous of my mom's new space. 

We switched the desk location so that now my mom can glance up to a great view outside the window while she works 

My poor mom, always putting our ceramic pieces on display as if they're a Wedgwood

All of her text books and teaching needs are readily available in the cubbies by her desk. 

We put the items she refers to regularly on the top shelves, and the books she uses when writing exams or research on the bottom, since they're not used as frequently. 

In the boxes, we stored her medical supplies {she's also a registered nurse so she keeps a stethoscope and blood pressure measurer thingy on hand, which is apparently called a Sphygmomanometer. Just be glad I knew stethoscope, Mom}

The top shelf contains boxes of our family photos, mentioned in the first post. 

Since the new desk does not have drawers, we labeled these lidded boxes and used them to store some additional office supplies. 

Just to the right of the desk is more shelving and storage. This is where we were able to organize the family photos and albums from the closet. 

The albums are now labeled and placed in chronological order.  

The white boxes are each assigned to a child. They contain pictures specifically of us on birthdays or special events. 

The larger black boxes contain our baby books and my parents wedding album in one, and athletic achievements in the other {we were all pretty active in sports when we were younger}. 

I am so excited about how this space turned out, it's one of my favorite projects to date. The rooms feels so much more spacious and relaxing. The space is more functional and allows much easier access to our family history. We had such a great time going through each sibling's box and teasing each other for our awkward years.

Here are a few before and after photos for those of you who scroll to the bottom immediately just to see the results quickly {I ain't mad at ya}.

Finishing this project made me feel so accomplished, but also motivated. I have so many new projects to share with you all I can't wait until I find the time to sit and write about them. 

Have you recently overhauled a space? Is there a project you've been desperate to complete but just haven't been given the time? Share you struggles in the comments below. It helps to know you're not alone :) 

Thanks for visiting!