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How We Organize the Studio (So That It Doesn’t Scream, ‘I’m An Office!’)

Last week, we shared our home studio, the room that has seen countless transitions in the three-plus years since we’ve moved in. Although I can almost promise you it will continue to evolve and change, one thing remains a constant: Our goal will always be to ensure this room has the same inviting vibe as any family room – desk and all! Because it’s directly off our master bedroom, we never want it to feel like a office, if only to prevent the feelings of stress after a long week. That said, it still needs to function as an office, so I wanted to give you all a peek around and inside our little (and not-so-little) workhorses that keep it operating from 9-5 but that don’t scream, look at me, look at me!

When we chose this pretty dining table as our desk – a decision made after years of battling vintage desks with too-low drawers – we knew we’d need to supplement it with a way to organize our pencils, notepads, sticky notes and calculators. Our desk/table is not quite 40″ across, giving at least two co-workers ample room to work across from one another. Of course, this allows for a good deal of space underneath, too, and so we tucked these two-drawer filing cabinets underneath, back to back:

Neither one of us actually uses them as a filing cabinets. Instead, the top drawer holds all of our supplies, and the deeper drawers on the bottom are used for stashing away a briefcase (him) and painting supplies (me):

For our files, we’ve been using this Martha Stewart console for years! We love that it looks like it could be a sturdy credenza, and after all this time, it still looks as good as new. You might remember when we lifted it onto casters, and soon after, we swapped out the standard knobs for gold ones (I can’t find the same knobs we first used, but these are spot on), but we’ve since taken the casters off after a teeny hairline crack started to show in one of the legs. Any files older than 2-ish years get stashed in clear bins and stored in the attic (we use these file totes, because they still allow you to flip through your old documents if needed).

For the painting supplies that I don’t keep by my desk, I use these stoneware canisters. Off the shelf, they come with a wooden lid that has a rubber gasket, as they’d typically be used for storing food in the kitchen! In our case, they wrangle extra paint and brushes, but I like that they could be used for virtually anything should we switch things up in the future.

To keep the Pet and Print shop side of things moving out the door, our tiny little shipping room has been one of our best uses of a room in this house! It’s so nice having all of my packaging out of sight, but our pink VARDE keeps everything nicely contained and organized. We recently rotated out the floral rug for the striped one we were using in the laundry room, and for now, we’re loving the simple swap.

Back in the studio, the fauxdenza is a storage beast, hiding everything from craft supplies to fabric scraps, camera gear and paint decks. We use these sturdy felt BESTA boxes, which are heavy duty enough to contain the weight of numerous camera lenses and sketch pads. You’ll notice that the far right door is empty, leaving us room to grow (best feeling!).

And last but not least, we picked up this bedside caddy, which folds over the arm of our couch and blends in surprisingly well! There are a lot of caddies designed specifically for couches, but we found that they mostly came in brown or beige, and they were too large for what we needed. This is just the right size to hold a few remotes and our laptop charger, and the arm is bendable to any size you might need. Game. Changer.

Getting this room laid out and pulled together has drastically improved our workflow, but diving into the smaller details to keep All the Things contained and organized has been well worth the effort! I know I personally enjoy seeing how others keep their things contained, so do you have any tips and tricks that work for you?

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  • Allie2.7.17 - 8:40 AM

    I was just looking the other day at that bedside caddy on Amazon but did not even think about its use for a couch. My couch is also grey so this would work perfect! Does it stay put very well?ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.7.17 - 9:08 AM

      Our couch has skinny arms, maybe 3-4″ across, and yes, it stays put great!ReplyCancel

      • Allie2.7.17 - 10:12 AM

        Thanks Kim! My couches arms is also pretty skinny (jealous haha) but is slightly rounded. I am assuming the insert part is malleable which is how you got it to fit. Am I correct in that assumption?ReplyCancel

        • Kim2.8.17 - 10:07 AM

          You’d be right! You can bend it into any shape. Hooray for skinny couch arms, haha!ReplyCancel

  • Paige2.7.17 - 9:21 AM

    This space looks amazing! You did an incredible job!

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.comReplyCancel

  • Megan2.7.17 - 1:09 PM

    The Varde is gorgeous! I was heartbroken when I saw that Ikea doesn’t make it anymore! Do you happen to remember whether what part of the store it was sold in (kitchen, living etc?). I’m hoping I can find something similar!ReplyCancel

    • Kim2.7.17 - 1:15 PM

      I know, SO sad, right?! It was meant to be a kitchen island.ReplyCancel

      • Megan2.8.17 - 11:38 AM

        Thank you so much! I’m thinking something similar would make a cute changing table. :)ReplyCancel

  • southern gal2.7.17 - 1:44 PM

    that couch caddy … ordering now. thank you for saving me a search!

    love all the organizing tricks (am like that too!)ReplyCancel

  • Karen Smith2.7.17 - 1:53 PM

    I am so glad I stopped by today! We are in a push to finish our office for the beginning of March and desperately need filing cabinets that are far from the old school medical office look. Digging the Martha Stewart console :) Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

  • Sara2.7.17 - 2:49 PM

    Ok, but where did the dinosaur magnets come from?!ReplyCancel

  • Kate2.10.17 - 10:17 AM

    Where is your simple globe pendant light from?ReplyCancel

  • Cindy Keller2.10.17 - 5:42 PM

    I have to say you got my interest not only with your superb organizing skills but I have my eye set on that bedside caddy we so…so need. That will change the way some things lie on our couch! Thanks so much for the useful tips!ReplyCancel

  • Steph2.14.17 - 7:51 PM

    Where can I find the carpet under your rug? Love it!ReplyCancel

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