From Old and Ugly to New and Beautiful

The transformation of my bedroom office continues! Now that I am absolutely ecstatic with the layout of my bedroom and not minding the intrusion of my desk in the room, I figured a little updating was in order.

I have been using a little tiny 4'ft table as my desk. It's short enough to fit inbetween my bed and the window seat, but it is hideously ugly! It had that faux wood finish and it was peeling off everywhere and I just couldn't handle it any more. So today, I ran out to Target and found a beautiful wrapping paper that would look nice with my bed. Then I hopped on over to Staples and grabbed a clear desk protector to place over the wrapping paper. This way it wouldn't get all nasty when I worked at the desk.

A simple cut, some double sided sticky tape and a pretty hat box later I have a beautiful new desk that makes my room look stunning!

Inside of the hat box, which I also picked up at Target, I have my headset for my podcasts, the cord for my camera and iPod and an extra headset for my phone. :o) It is PERFECT! Plus, it is a fantastic extension of my gorgeous bed!

Command Central aka Project Planning

I have done a lot of blogging and composed Podcasts on Mind Mapping. I have also talked about the Walls of Cork and how to use them to manage thoughts and projects. Well, today I am going to share with you my latest development! Nicely dubbed "Command Central!"

We were on a very tight budget so doing an entire wall in corkboard was definitely out of the question! Instead, we used foam core board! This stuff works out well for more than just science projects for the kids! It's an inexpensive way to do your Family Organizing Board and perfect for Command Central or Mind Mapping.

I didn't want to just use a black 30 x 40 piece of foam core as it is so boring and very plain. I also needed something HUGE so multiple projects could be tracked. So I snagged my more creative mother and drug her with me to the fabric store. :o) I love moms! We found some very nice material to cover the foam core with and off we went back to her house.

I wanted to keep this project as simple as possible for all of those out there who are more like me and don't have a creative bone in their body! For those of you who have an abundance of creative flair, please share with me your ideas on your own project boards! I would love to hear and see them! As for this simpleton, we used a stapler to attach the fabric to the foam core. :o) I told you, I like it simple!

I could have stopped at one or two pieces of foam core, but instead I went for the gusto and used 4 - 30x40 pieces. It looks GREAT!

In order to mount them on the wall in the very plain and small office, I used wall mirror hooks I picked up at Ace Hardware and they worked out perfectly! I was a little concerned that the overwhelming size of the boards would make the office/closet look itty bitty, but much to my surprise it made the office seem a heck of a lot bigger than it really is! Woo hoo!

Once I had all four pieces mounted on the wall, I printed off sections for our Project Planning board. For this client, we segmented them out by customer and marketing projects. This way, anytime their Business Development team had a new action item or project they could pin up the emails, documents, etc. to the board and the rest of the team could track it.

Now the emails printed off worked out nicely, but they were also inundated with phone calls as well. So, instead of writing each project on a piece of paper, we used some pretty 3x5 cards. We wrote the project on the card and pinned it to the proper area.

Not one to use plain Jane office supplies, I had to buy some nifty tacks! The great part was the more decorative tacks came with a nifty foam backing. I used a binder clip to attach the foam to the board and then put the regular tacks in the foam so I had a nice place to store the tacks and it was easily accessible.

The entire board, including fabric, cost about $50. The majority of the cost was tied up with the foam core and that was primarily because I used the big sheets. If you use the regular 20 x 30 it would probably cost you a whole whopping $25 to put together your own Command Central!

The best part about the whole experience is when the Director of Business Development saw the new board, he LOVED IT! He didn't know what was all on the board, but it felt like his team had everything in control and it definitely felt like "Command Central".

Happy Organizing!

Suzanne Babb

New Office Photos

Our new office!

Project boxes
Dana's desk when she is here

Office Picture Slideshow

Well, I am trying something a little new that my 14 year old daughter showed me! Amazing what you can learn from kids these days! Thanks, Jordyn! These are a bunch of before and after pictures of offices that I have done over the last 4 years.

Some of them are my different offices over the years. Oh, speaking of which, did I mention I will be moving offices?! Yep, this Organizer is moving out of the house and into a real live office in downtown Gilbert! I will definitely throw up a picture of the building, because it is down right picturesque and I am SO excited about it! Anyways, hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Laura's New Office

Ms. Laura is one of my new Organizational Empowerment ladies aka My Girl Friday. She is one of those lovely people who comes in and makes our clients lives so much easier. Plus, she does a lot of my editing for my newsletters and eBooks. My blog posts she leaves for me to butcher with my atrocious grammar and punctuation and I'm ok with that!

She, however, had the extreme pleasure of putting together her very own home office! Her husband wasn't too enthused about the idea at first, but my little team went in and we transformed his gaming dungeon into a stunning office for two!

Disclaimer: I will give Laura all of the credit for the paint job as I am not allowed to paint. I do tape a mean line though! She has made me swear in blood that we will not paint another office...EVER! As far as the aesthetics, that all goes to Denise, my Sr. Consultant on all things beautiful aka Mom. I go in and make sure life is working properly and "mom" goes in and does a beauty sweep.

Office Organization

I absolutely LOVE to organize offices. I will whole heartedly admit that organizing garages, kitchens and closets are not my forte nor do I tout that they are, but offices! There is just something about working with all of the papers, files, office furniture that really excites me!

Today I organized an office for a gentlemen who is transitioning from an off-site office into a full time home office. He has an absolutely stunning loft area with great views, lots of space and a wonderful decor. Granted I had a fabulous area to work with, but the before and after was an incredible transition.

Where most people will look at a room like this and shudder, I look at it and see a challenge demanding to be met. Almost as if it is taunting me and saying, "Ha ha you will never see the top of THIS desk."

As I go through all of the papers, take out all of the misc. match boxes, souveniers from long ago trips, momentos from family members and loved ones I know the reactions that will surely fly across the face of the owner. A little regret, a moment of embarrassment, a smile, a tear, and uncontrolled laughter at memories long forgotten. Most of the items get thrown in the trash, some make it into a momento box, and others are found new homes. Regardless of the emotion, it's always a wonderful thing to witness.

Sometimes my clients stay and help me with the clean up and organization and other times, like today, they leave me to my own devices. They leave their office carrying a huge weight on their shoulders and a sense of overwhelming foreboding and when they come back in it's a look of shock and awe! The jaw drops, speech fails them, and they are amazed at what I did in a little over 3 hours.

I must say that the one thing I really admire and respect about Russ and his decision on set up of his office, is how he really wanted to make the office inviting for his little daughter. He wanted to make sure that she had some toys and books that she can play with while he worked. Most parents, single or otherwise, want to make their office exclusive to them and their business, myself included. But in this case, Russ's daughter is a priority and it works out fantastic in the space he has.

Now he has a great place to sit and read to his daughter, his desk now faces out over the loft instead of the wall, and his must have papers, files and documents are nicely tucked away within easy reach. Not to mention he can now SEE the top of his desk!

This was truly one of my all time favorite home offices to organize!

Thank you, Russ!

You can find out more about Russ and Keane Creative by visiting his website, you have seen his office now you can see his business! www.KeaneCreative.com