a mini-makeover for the office

Yesterday, I spent part of the day decluttering my office and rearranging it a bit.  It used to look like this:

Actually, yesterday when I started it looked nothing like this.  This picture was taken right after I moved things around last time.  Yesterday, it was a giant cluttered mess. 

This little corner of the room I had set up as a homework station.  Ava always did her homework at the kitchen table and it was usually loud and crazy with me getting dinner ready and the rest of the kids running around her.  I thought she could use a quiet place of her own.  However, it never looked like this again.  It was strewn with broken crayons and pieces of scrap paper.

Also, I had this "gallery" wall, I made in less than 5 minutes one day. 

It looked cute for a little while, but it didn't hold enough artwork and it started to look really sloppy (like I had put it up in less than 5 minutes!).

So Jay helped me make a giant bulletin board a couple months ago.  I bought 4 sheets of that white foam board they sell in the poster board aisle, some cork tiles, and some fabric.  I glued the cork squares to the foam board, covered with fabric and then nailed it to the wall.  Jay bought some trim and put around it, so it ended up looking like this:

Then, since the wall where the "gallery" had been was naked, I decided I was going to actually hang up all the school portraits, class photos, team sports pictures, etc. that I had purchased throughout the year.  I figure that I'll leave the frames up and then next year as I get new ones, I'll just switch them out.  

So, this brings me to yesterday.  I decided to move the desk back against the wall.  I also decluttered the shelves a bit and broke out the label-maker.  Here's what I ended up with:

I also moved the homework desk underneath the cork board.

With school starting next month, I wanted to get this area of the house in order.  It makes me feel so much more organized if I have one central place with all the kids' school info.  I keep my Erin Condren planner on the desk with everyone's activities, doctors' appointments, birthdays, etc.  Then I carry a pocket size planner and my iPhone with all the same info.  Then I have the giant wall calendar that I just bought from Paper Source.  This way, the kids can walk in and see what's going on for the month.  I have the giant chalkboard calendar in the kitchen that I use for activities, appointments, birthdays, holidays, etc..  But I thought this calendar in the office, could also be used for when Ava's book report is due or when Emerson has to bring in her favorite book to school.

Anyway, hope this all helps me in my mission to stay organized once another little Sprinkel baby gets thrown into the mix!