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Four Days & Four Drawers Mini Organizing Challenge: Home Office Drawer

Well, our sweet little P's head back to school today.  It is always a bittersweet day because I dwell on the things we didn't check off of our summer list and instantly miss their daily sounds and shenanigans.  However, as sad as I am to see them off on their buses, I am also a little relieved to head back to a normal schedule and routine.  Just like milk, it does our family good!

I actually planned on doing a big "Hooray, Back to School!" week series, but honestly it arrived so quickly that I was still packing up backpacks late last night.  So, as we begin using a few of our newer school zones, as well as work with our now High School aged son to figure out a whole new organized school year plan (still not quite sure what I think of that), I will be sure to share what we find to work best over the next few weeks.

But you know what is funny?  With all of the school related things on my brain, Courtney's organized nightstand inspired me at a different level.  At this time of the year when everything is transitioning, I like to find quick and simple hits that make a big difference in our day-to-day routine.  After thinking through her project, I found myself dumping out a few drawers that frustrate me and leave me wanting to start from scratch.  What I love about tackling a single drawer, is that it typically doesn't take that long do, you can shop your home for dividers, you feel extremely motivated and accomplished after completing a quick project, and you say goodbye to rummaging and digging on a daily basis.


I am challenging myself to clean out a single drawer each day, for the remainder of the week.  Four drawers in four days should be easy right?  Today's drawer really wasn't all that challenging and was really quite enjoyable, which is how I always personally recommend diving in.  Just enough to get your feet wet and amp up for the next challenge.  Not all of our drawers are going to be as simple as adding a few new dividers.  I have a feeling a couple will require a tool or two.

So stay tuned as we take on a different drawer each day.  And of course, no iHeart Organizing challenge would be complete without inviting YOU to join in and do it with me.  Organizing is always more fun when you do it with friends.  Friday, when I reveal my final drawer, you all will have the opportunity to link up any drawers you tackled this week as well.  They can be anything from a clothing drawer to a junk drawer to a utensil drawer; no drawer is off limits.  Drawers can also be shared with me under the #4drawers4days hashtag on Instagram!  Let's do this!


As I mentioned, my first drawer was just enough to get me motivated, and it worked!  It is a drawer I use daily and one that impacts my desire to "Work Happy".  It is my home office drawer.... yikes!


When I first organized this drawer, I used a combination of old box lids and DIY dividers, and it worked OK for awhile.  But over time they started sliding around, needs changed, and eventually a disaster evolved.

This time, as I emptied the drawer, I made a long list of my favorite daily office supplies and assigned each a specific location:

• Label Maker (drawer)
• External Hard Drive w/Cord (drawer)
• Phone Battery Cell w/Cord (drawer)
• Pens (drawer)
• Paperclips (drawer)
• Twine (drawer)
• Address Stamp (drawer)
• Business Checkbook (drawer)
• Extra Planner Accessories (drawer)
• Ear Buds (drawer)
• Tape Measure (drawer)
• Flash Drive (drawer)
• Pins (drawer)
• Paper Flags (drawer)
• Notepad (drawer)
• Notebook (desk)
• Stapler (desk)/Staples (drawer)
• Tape (desk)
• Pantone Color Deck (drawer)
• Business Cards (drawer)
• Blank Note Cards (drawer)
• Envelopes (drawer)
• Eraser (drawer)
• Stylus Pens (drawer)
• Ruler (desk)
• Scissors (desk)
• Glasses (desk)
• Hand Cream (desk)

Can you believe the majority of those items were living in that single small filing cabinet drawer just below my work space?  I couldn't either.  All of those items needed more division and organization.  But first, a little pretty gift wrap.


To remedy the amount of specific organizers/dividers I needed for all of my supplies being tossed (very neatly) into a single drawer, I decided to add a second "drawer" or layer within the drawer.  It couldn't have worked out any better!


Because my supplies are naturally quite colorful, it is hard to gauge how freaking fantastic this single drawer is, and how happy it really does make me.

The front of the bottom row was a simple combination of single acrylic dividers used to hold pens, twine, Pantone deck, and all stationery items (checkbook, envelopes, notepads, blank note cards, planner stickers, etc...).


While the back of the drawer fit all of my small electronics.  The cords were also wrapped with some new cord organizers which I am totally gaga over.


The best part of the entire project was making the most of the entire drawer.  This drawer is touched multiple times per day, so finding a way to maximize the space and keep it orderly at the same time was a little challenging.  Until the sliding, expandable drawer organizer came into my life!


Again, the color and acrylic combination make it hard for the sliding organizer to stand out, so I thought I would create a little slow-mo gif.


I am easily amused, but it is probably a good trait that I appreciate simple pleasures in life.

The expandable organizer fit the glides of my file cabinet drawer perfectly, has a variety of small compartments for all of the itty bitty supplies and is versatile enough to last many years to come.  It was almost as if the file cabinet and organizer were a match made in office organization heaven.


And my first of four very colorful and organized drawer before and after.


I have confidence that the new setup will help me become uber productive each day.  Like with incredible Superwoman powers and stuff.  OK, so maybe I am a little too excited about the small successes.