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Organizing the Home Office

Mission: Organization : Episode MSO-607 -- More Projects »
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This roomy home office has been taken over by paperwork and art supplies.
Kathy and Dave Stracke recently got married and went from being single parents to being part of a family of seven. So needless to say space is not as plentiful as it used to be. Except in the home office, where they run a successful coupon mailer business.

Their space is a plentiful 16 feet by 14 feet, but as the business has grown so has the amount of paperwork. Kathy's art supplies and a homework area for the kids compound the problem.

The Strackes are overwhelmed and don't know where to begin, so they call on the help of professional organizer Liz Witts to help them make their workspace both homey and functional.

Witts lays out her organization plan, beginning with instructions for the Strackes to sort through all that paperwork and supplies, separating them into three categories: Keep, Long-Term Storage, and Trash. Once that's complete, she wants to paint the walls a soothing color and create new filing systems for each of the areas in the room. Here's how it all turned out:

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Before: One of the main problem areas is this cluttered shelf system. Unrelated items are piled together and are not sorted regularly.
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After: Organizer Liz Witts has implemented a color-coded file system with detailed labels on each box, for the myriad of items stored in this unit.
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Before: This space is supposed to be where the children do their homework, but it too has been taken over by supplies from the parents' coupon mailer business.
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After: The table has been cleared away and moved into the corner of the homework area next to the computer desk. And there's even extra room on the floor.
Organizer Liz Witts has successfully given the Strackes a home office system that can grow with their business. Not only do they have a real work area, but they also have a room that reflects the personality of the whole family and still leaves room to breathe.
Also in this Episode
Mission: Organization : Episode MSO-607
•Organizing the Home Office
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