Home Office (Almost Finished) Make-Over

before:

in progress, almost done:

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Many clients just need me to help them to a certain point of a project which they can then finish on their own. This client needed help with the larger issues of setting up his home office; where things should go and how, what order to tackle things, hanging his posters, etc. I helped him go thru some things then he finished the smaller things like organizing his books and papers on his own.

I took one of the two low bookshelves that were lined up to the right and stacked it on top of the one of the left. Having the two next to each other made getting in the closet tight but he really needed the storage so we needed to keep it somehow. We were hoping to clear out the closet to make room for two of the three file cabinets but a pipe only gave us room to fit the one, so we stacked the other two in the back.

There's still a large lucite poster to be hung next to the Escher that you can see the top of behind the bookcase, we didn't have the proper hardware to hang it.

What I Did Today: Organized + Styled a Bookshelf

before:

after:

All the books were taken off the shelves and gathered from other areas of the apartment. We categorized and cleaned them along with the the shelves. Books she needed the easiest access are on the lower shelf. The last thing we did was add the decorative pieces and photos.

We moved the lighting around as well. The things on the top of the black surface (another bookcase) are there temporarily, once cleared it will only have the small light, clock, and large basket. Also, she already had these shelves but was concerned about it's stability so I suggested she add more hanging standards and brackets to make them more sturdy.

Hidden Potential in a Tiny Kitchen Corner

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This corner of a client's tiny kitchen had huge storage potential. After taking measurements I made my suggestions (I hand draw everything, I'm not so keen on computer sketches).

The basic idea was to put a tall skinny cabinet in the corner then add shelves (attached to the corner unit) in front of the window for prep surface with room below for recycling + garbage. The window is never opened but suggested the shelves be on a hinge so they can be lifted for access to the window in case of emergency.

They ended up going with a modified version of option #1, just adding the tall open shelf unit. They figured they'd start with the shelf unit and add to it later if needed.

Room for Debate: Why We Collect Stuff

Check out this discussion over at the New York Times. They're short articles, I especially liked April Benson's "Collecting as Pleasure and Pain".

Less Stuff, More Happiness

Couldn't have said it better myself....