It’s week two of our Drawer Organization Blog Hop. Desk Drawers can get messy pretty quickly for me if I don’t take the time to think about what I’m stashing inside of them. The process of purging, sorting, and organizing that I used for my kitchen drawers is the same process I used for my desk drawers.
Welcome to the Drawer Organization Blog Hop!
For the entire month of April, 10 bloggers will be sharing the process of cleaning and organizing drawers around our homes each week.
We kicked off the first week in the kitchen! If you missed that post, we shared tips on using Dollar Store Bins for Organization.
This week we’re sharing tips and ideas for organization in our Office, Craft and Living Rooms.
My Pinterventures • Intelligent Domestications
DIY Adulation • Domestically Creative • Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Domestic Deadline • Across the Boulevard • Michelle James Designs
Mom Home Guide • Centsably Creative • Olives & Okra
In our home office we have a large desk and I also have a smaller craft desk. Both of these got a chalk paint makeover a few months ago. The space is done using lots of peacock accents and I love how much brighter the space is now. The desks both look great on the outside, the drawers, not so much. I have a bad habit of stashing items in drawers to get them out of sight. That leads to lots of clutter and disorganization.
We use the drawers in the larger desk for our home office paperwork. At least that’s what they are supposed to used for. Unfortunately, over time we’ve used the drawers to stash all sorts of items making it difficult to find the items we actually need.
I emptied all of the drawers out and created piles of items to sort through. Lots of things could be tossed. Why do we keep so much stuff? I don’t have the answer to that one! Next, I sorted all of the things that belong together into separate piles. The last step was to organize each of the drawers so that we can more easily find what we’re looking for. While most of this desk holds our home office items, I did use one of the drawers to hold a tray that has some crafting items in it. This tray is placed over the top of some paper work that we don’t often need.
The smaller desk in this space is the one I use to hold lots of my craft items. I organized the closet in the room that I use for most of my craft items when I was giving the room its makeover, but I didn’t take the time to get the desk organized.
Again, I emptied all of the drawers out, tossed some items, and then sorted the remaining items into piles of similar items.
*Tip ~ Keep similar items in a drawer making it so much easier to find what you’re looking for quickly.
One drawer now contains extra hot glue guns and an assortment of other adhesive products. I used a couple of bins that I already had that were previously purchased at the The Dollar Tree.
Another drawer is now used for ink pads, stampers, and shape cutters. More Dollar Tree bins are used in this drawer, too.
*Tip ~ Small storage bins come in handy for keeping similar items contained. Check out your local dollar store for inexpensive containers.
I added a few odds and ends to one drawer, leaving space in it for more items that might need to be added.
*Tip ~ Leave at least one drawer with some extra space because you’re bound to have some odds and ends that don’t belong in other drawers.
Keeping paper towels, gloves, and other cloths that I use when painting close at hand is always a good idea for me. This drawer was organized to hold those items.
We all have receipts that we need to keep up with. I wanted to use one of the drawers for nothing but blog related receipts. Using card stock that I’ve used for other spots in the room, I created folders and labeled them. The folders will hold online purchase receipts and blog related expense receipts. To hold the receipts from store purchases for craft items, I gave a quick makeover to a thrift store find.
I tried to pry the heart off of the box, but didn’t have much success. I sanded it using a palm sander, but that didn’t work well either. The solution was to cover the top of the box with some of the same card stock that I used for the folders. The card stock is glued in place. I added some teal rope trim around the top of the box.
*Tip ~ Set up an organization system for receipts to make them readily accessible.
I can’t even describe how much easier everything is to find now! Using Dollar Tree bins and a thrift store find to help with organization kept the cost of this organization project very low. Sometimes an organization project just means sorting and rearranging items so that everything is easier to find.
It's Week 2 of the Drawer Organization Blog Hop! We're sharing tips & ideas for getting our home office / craft room drawers sorted & organized. #DrawerOrganization Click To TweetPin Me, Please!
Office & Craft Room Desk Drawer Organization Tips
Want more ideas for Office, Craft and Living Room Drawer Organization? Visit the links below to find ideas you can use!
Beverly shares easy, inexpensive craft tutorials, diy projects for the home, coastal decor projects, & thrift store find makeover projects all designed to help you create a beautiful home on a budget.
Jenny says
The drawers look great! I have a bad habit too of stuffing things into drawers. It’s just so easy. Love the idea to put paper on folders and boxes to give them a pretty look.
Beverly says
Thanks, Jenny! I think we all have that habit! It’s one I’d like to break. Using Card stock is a easy way to add some color.
Shirley Wood says
I love grouping like items together also. Keeping the glue guns and adhesives together just makes me smile. I have always liked your color scheme for your craft Room/Office space. You have done such a nice job with organization! It’s inspiring.
Beverly says
I think grouping things together is the key to staying organized once we’ve sorted through it all. Thank you, Shirley. It’s been a work in progress for a while, but I’m pleased with how it’s all come together.
Julie says
I love seeing the before and after pictures! Of course, I love anything organizing related. I think I’m a junky. You did a really good job going through and organizing everything, and I totally agree about the small containers. They make a huge difference in drawers.
Beverly says
The before pictures are such a mess! Using those containers has been an easy way to keep things separated. Thanks, Julie!
Laurie says
I tend to tuck things away in whatever drawer has room in it and then have a hard time finding what I’m looking for – especially craft supplies. I really need to sort it all into groups of similar items. I’m attacking the problem by first trying to use up craft supplies that I have and really trying to avoid buying more – seems almost impossible! Your drawers look great! Pinning to share!
Beverly says
That’s what I’ve been doing for too long! Now, I’m really hopeful that I’ll stick with the plan to keep things sorted and organized! Thanks, Laurie and thanks so much for sharing.
Sherry Nappa says
After reading everyone’s post about organizing, I’m starting to feel like a hoarder. I like how you sorted and organized your supplies.
Beverly says
It’s easy to let things pile up! I’m hoping that once I have all the drawers organized, I’ll keep them that way. Thanks, Sherry!
Michelle James says
These look amazing. They are very organized! I try really hard to keep things organized and neat but then the lazies set in. Once I start…it’s hard to get back. UGH! You did a fantastic job on your desk drawers.
Beverly says
I had been pretty slack in keeping things organized, but with this latest organization project, I’m hopeful that I’ll be diligent about putting things back where they belong! Thanks so much Michelle!