We continue my detailed organization and decor tour of each space in my mid-century modern bohemian tiny southern California studio apartment by going into every nook and cranny of my office. You can find the full video tour here! The first organized space I shared was my ultimate cleaning closet. In my office, I organize office supplies, my daughter’s art supplies, my labeling supplies, craft supplies, sewing supplies, my paper filing system, and a few pieces of filming equipment. If you struggle with figuring out how to organize lots of different categories of items in a small space, you are in the right place! I share thirteen organizing tips in this blog and the video. Click here for access to my freebie library which includes all kinds of free resources so that you can easily get your spaces and your finances in order!
Office Decor
Let’s start with the decor as I have kept it super simple, then we will get into the nooks and crannies of the credenza and hutch and my desk.
Check out my full studio tour here! These mid-century modern pieces of furniture were both purchased second hand through Offerup from two different homes. The rolling chair was purchased from Ross along with the faux snake plant in a basket on the desk which brings in a bohemian accent. The beautiful brass lamp is from Target. The potted fiddle leaf fig tree, in the corner, is from Hobby Lobby. Don’t forget to work the sales like I mentioned here.
On the top shelf of the hutch, I simply arranged my books in rainbow order with the white books laying flat and working as a book end. Then, the rest of the books are arranged in rainbow order ending with browns, greys, and blacks. The desktop paper sorter and the rest of my paperwork management system organizers, including the outgoing mail bin next to the door, can be found here.
The beautiful painting was created by my very talented daughter. She painted it several years ago, so she was rather young at the time. In front of the Cricut machine is a brass card holder that is supposed to be installed on the wall, however, since moving in, I just left it there and like the way it looks!
Finally, to round out the decor in this makeshift office/entryway, here is a lovely basket I purchased through Offerup. Organizing tip #1: this basket contains footwear for when we run out to grab the mail or throw out the garbage.
Now, let me show you how I organized everything into these lovely pieces of furniture!
Credenza & Hutch Organization
Having lots of categories of items to organize in a small space can seem daunting. But even in the awkward nooks of this credenza and hutch everything has a place. Let me take you through each nook by category and show you how easy everything is to find.
Art Supply Organization
Hold on. Let me do a quick disclaimer. I am not artistic whatsoever. My daughter did not get her artistic talents from me. So, as I explain what art supplies I have organized for her, I am likely naming the items incorrectly. I like classicly good banter so feel free to comment your corrections below.
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In the two white boxes on the hutch, we contain some of my daughter’s art supplies. In the box on the right, you will notice at the top that there are four divided sections. Organizing tip #2: subdividing small items makes them easier to find and access. These are made from cardstock folded into little drawer dividers which I actually re-purposed from a large box of tea bags. I love when organizing solutions are free! And, at the bottom, you will notice a single divided section which was created by another piece of cardstock taken from a box of tea bags. I simply folded the ends to fit within the width of the box and glued and taped the ends in place. Organizing tip #3: always keep an eye out for free organizing solutions. Anything resembling a drawer divider, box, or bin can be re-purposed into the perfect organizing solution.
Now, for what is contained in the four divided sections, starting from left to right, the first two sections contain tubes of water color and acrylic color in various shades. The divided section next to that contains a set of various blades. And, the last divided section contains crayons, oil pastels, charcoal sticks, pencil sharpeners, and erasers. The slot next to the last divided section perfectly contains a set of watercolor pencils. In the area below the divided section, you will find a tube of white acrylic paint, a large Sharpie paint pen, and some foam paint brushes. In the very bottom divided section, you will find various colored pencils.
In the left box, under the scissors, masking tape, and paint palette, are various paint brush sets, a set of brush markers, a set of colored pencils, a watercolor set, acrylic matt medium, and containers of loose glitter. Organizing tip #4: it made sense to micro-organize the box to the right of this box because it contains a lot of smaller items while this one contains all larger items that are still easy to find even while stacked on top of each other.
Even more art supplies are contained in the right-side cabinet of the credenza. On the top, shallow shelf, it perfectly contains my daughter’s art markers, colored pencils, paints, and paint pallete with removable lid. On the bottom shelf, it perfectly contains her drawing pads, watercolor pads, sketch pads, sketch books, construction paper, journals, a case of various grey-toned markers. Hidden behind are some Pop Funko tchotkes that she had outgrown displaying in her room but has not been able to part with quite yet. Organizing tip #5: designate a half-way home for items you are indecisive about parting with (i.e. a basket in your closet labeled donations). After six months or a year, whatever makes sense to you, set a reminder in your phone to determine how you will decide if you will keep the item. For example, you can set the reminder to ask yourself, “Will I want to decorate with this item?” or “Would I buy this clothing again if I saw it in the store?”
Here is a clearer picture of what is stored on the top shelf of the right-side cabinet. Starting from the left, is a Caliart art marker set. To the right of that is a Castle Art Supplies premium colored pencils set. Next to that is an Arteza paint set. And, below all, is a paint pallete box.
And, here is a clearer picture of what is on the bottom shelf of the right-side cabinet of the credenza. At the far left are some sketchbooks. To the right of those are some mixed media sketchbooks and toned tan sketchbooks. To the right of those are some drawing pads, watercolor pads, contruction paper, and sketch pads.
Finally, on the wall opposite of my credenza and hutch, you can find my daughter’s art easel on my favorite broom hook on the wall. Organizing tip #6: for any large items that are awkward to store, a broom hook can be an excellent solution if any part of the item can fit within its mechanism.
So, if you haven’t noticed already, I simply organize my daughter’s art supplies by placing them where they fit by size. Organizing tip #7: organizing items by size can be the perfect solution for even the least organized person. To make the smaller items easy to find, I subdivided them in the photo box on the hutch. Whenever my daughter is looking for any art supplies, she simply looks for where it logically fits!
Sewing Supply Organization
Now, I didn’t show this in my office organization and decor video but I share a glimpse of this cabinet in my full studio tour here. I store my sewing machine, foldable ironing board, and iron in the cabinet under my bird cage. What isn’t in my full studio tour is this pretty brass lamp over my bird cage which actually contains a special light for birds and reptiles. I share more about this space where I share my bathroom/laundry room organization and decor tour.
In the bottom drawer of my credenza, I store my sewing supplies. On the left, top is the presser foot for my sewing machine which sits on top of the best sewing book and the best home decorating sewing book. Just below that are a few bottles of fabric fusion glue and the cup to refill my iron. At the top, right is my tackle box of sewing supplies including this must-have rotary cutter. Below that is a case of needles and fabric scissors. Beneath the books and tackle box is a cutting mat which is shown in my video tour. I couldn’t find the exact one a have but here is a better cutting mat. Organizing tip #8: use tackle boxes when you have a lot of small items to organize.
Labeling Supply Organization
I basically only use the Cricut machine on the top, left of the credenza to make vinyl labels, and I love it. I store the vinyl in my desk which I share in a following section. This is one of the original versions of the Cricut so it requires the use of cartridges which I have stored in the cabinet just below. They fit perfectly on that upper, shallow shelf.
Organizing tip #9: on the lower shelf of the cabinet, I store organizing products. I have a playlist of different organizing products here. I mention in that series and in my book that you should set aside organizing products you aren’t currently using as our organization systems can require changes with lifestyle changes. It’s very helpful to have these on hand when our systems need changing.
On the top, right of the credenza, I store some notebooks and a cardstock storage box. Just underneath the cardstock storage box, I store a Cricut cutting mat. It’s just a tiny bit too big to fit inside the cardstock storage box.
Inside the cardstock storage box I store laminating pouches along with photo paper and high resolution printing paper. I also store my daughter’s report covers. And, of course, I store cardstock in this box as well. Organizing tip #10: I like to use cardstock to back printed labels when an organizer has a slot to slide in a label. I store my laminating machine in the same drawer as my sewing supplies. It fits perfectly without encumbering the opening and closing of the drawer as shown in the video tour. The links to the laminating machine and pouches are not exact to the models I have on hand as I snatched these up when Aldi had these on sale. However, the links I provided are for models of comparable price and quality.
In the top drawer of the credenza, on the far left, I store the cord for the Cricut machine as well as the cords for my printer. Organizing tip #11: I use this style of cord ties to keep cords nicely contained. In the section to the right, I store the cord to my microphone as well as the tripod and remote to the ring light which is stored on the middle shelf of the hutch behind my microphone. Also, within that section is a mobile phone tripod with flexible feet. In the larger section on the right side of the drawer, I contain my Brother P-touch label maker and it’s cord which I purchased separately. Organizing tip #12: I recommend purchasing a cord for a device whenever you can as this saves you from having to purchase batteries. You won’t have to constantly replace and store the batteries. Next to my label maker, I store my favorite label cartridges of black ink on clear tape. Organizing tip #13: for me, this version of label tape is the most versatile as the clear tape looks most aesthetically-pleasing (as opposed to white tape on non-white surfaces). Underneath the label maker cord, I have some number labels which I use for pricing categories of items for garage sales. Finally, in the tiny drawer organizer above the label maker cartridges, I store various chalk labels as well as letter labels.
Paper Supply Organization
In the middle drawer of the credenza, I store our paper supplies including printer paper, filler paper, graph paper, and a report cover with sheet protectors included. And, underneath that, I store sheet protectors. On top of these paper supplies, I store contact paper, as seen in the video tour. They are stored here simply because this is the best place that they fit.
That covers what is stored in my credenza and hutch. Now, let me show you how I organize my desk.
Desk Organization
Don’t be deceived, this desk does not have seven drawers. It actually has five. When we get to my paper filing system, things will be clear.
Craft Supply Organization
I don’t have too many craft supplies but here is how I store them along with a few utilities. I love these Dollar Tree drawer organizers. They aren’t the highest quality but they do the job. In the upper drawer organizer, I contain my glue gun, packing tape, floral tape, floral wire cutters, small scissors, and my daughter’s calligraphy pens. And, in the other drawer organizer, I contain all things glue including the best hot glue gun sticks, Mod Podge, glue sticks, E6000, wood glue, and super glue.
In the same drawer, I stack two divided Dollar Tree containers with lids. The lower container holds my daughter’s calligraphy ink and pen attachments, along some small 3M hooks and my daughter’s erasers. The upper container holds AAA batteries for our Firestick remote, mini elastic hair ties which I use for various reasons (i.e. tying my daughter’s paint brushes together), and cable organizers which I demonstrate how to use here.
Office Supply Organization
Most of our office supplies are pretty much contained in this drawer. On the left side of the drawer, I use two of these Dollar Tree containers. And, next to those I use a narrow version and a small square version of this larger Dollar Tree drawer organizer. I can’t find these online but you might be able to find them in store.
The far left drawer organizer contains tape, binder clips, and paper clips. The drawer organizer next to that contains staples, a stapler and staple remover (I believe we got ours from Walmart but this link is a comparable set), and standard size sticky notes along with small sticky notes and pencil lead. The small square drawer organizer contains Velcro dots along with month labels for my whiteboard calendar which I showed you here. And, the narrow drawer organizer contains writing utensils. Next to that is my favorite ruler (because of it’s non-slip backing). Finally, next to that, I store my push pins, a notepad, and scissors.
More Labeling Supplies
Yes! I have more labeling supplies. What can I say? I’m an organizer. On top of everything in the drawer, I store my vinyl which I use to make labels with the Cricut machine. Underneath that, I store an Edmark ruler and a paper cutter from Daiso. Next to the paper cutter is another Daiso product which is a sliding blade. I use all these items for measuring and cutting labels. The rest of the drawer contains a few more office supplies including a three-hole punch, more sticky notes, and index cards.
Paper Filing System
Last but not least, my tiny studio office also contains my paper filing system among everything we just covered. I show you how I turned these desk drawers into hanging file drawers here.
I cover my entire, super efficient paperwork management system in detail here.
If you have lots of categories of items to organize too, grab your free organizing resources here. Be sure to subscribe here as I share the organization and decor of my bathroom/laundry room next.
Happy Organizing!
Author of “How to Organize Any Space in 7 Simplified Steps“