A home office transformation case study
WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT:
In the "before" pictures, you are looking at frustration, exhaustion, and overwhelm. The office clutter wasn't piling up for lack of trying. It had just gotten to a point where even if he did want to clean up (and he did!), there was no were to put anything away. He is a work-at-home consultant and writer. With the piles rising and visual noise screaming, he was finding it near impossible to focus and write.
You're also looking at a lot of books. He made it clear that very few of those would go. I can work with that, as long as something goes!
You can see that his desktop was covered in paper. When we started to sort it, much of it was quite old and could easily be trashed. I was expecting him to eventually need space on his desktop to store a lot of active paper. Luckily, this wasn't the case. Turns out he's not nearly as paper-heavy as he thought.
WHAT WE DID:
Like with so much of my work, we sorted papers one by one. No pile was safe. We attacked paper on the floor, desk, under the desk, on shelves, in cabinets, and in drawers. This client likes to work with a tight plan though. Before sorting (my favorite part), we planned to remove one unused small desk (not pictured) and add a new bookshelf (not pictured). His desk, even if clear, was still too small. He needed space to spread out and think. I was able to execute an idea I've always wanted to see done - place a wooden countertop on top of 2 file drawers for an expansive desk! Those two cabinets were the missing link, allowing him to keep most relevant paper nearby, but not in plain sight. He already had an Elfa rolling file cart, but it too was dusty and buried under a pile of paper. I encouraged him to keep it. We fully gutted its contents. Now it holds his most active paper.
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
"The very notion that my office would have be used for a before/after mere months ago would have been laughable. We were determined do something about clutter because it was interfering with work and play, but, when we tried to control it, the experience was like a cross between "Back to the Future" and "Groundhog Day." Kacy works with what you've got to get where you need to go. She doesn't come in your house with "Ok, this is so terrible, just burn everything down and spend $10,000 buying new stuff to start all over again."
Forget the cliche about the forest and trees, Kacy can see around corners. My office is now a civilized work space, my writing workshop, my sanctuary, my study, my safe room, my hang out. Nothing like this is perfect and shouldn't be, because humans, but it's close.
After working with Kacy, I started to think maybe she had a component in her brain that gave her superpowers for visualizing how a landfill can be turned into a thing of meticulous organization. She even helped beyond the office. In one instance, she converted a drawer next to our stove that was surely the Devil's hiding place for his spare parts into a sensible, welcoming, user-friendly kitchen drawer. I just looked at it in amazement for a moment and felt like Kacy had just solved the climate crisis.
Kacy can see the future of your home or office. She is also very practical and solution-oriented. Worth every penny. Without exaggeration, she has helped us tremendously."
- Charles Cinque Fulwood, Washington, DC
PRODUCTS USED:
72" butcher block countertop - Lowes
2 black Bisley file cabinets - The Container Store
Elfa file cart - The Container Store (was already in use)
1 Hemnes bookcase - Ikea (not pictured)
HOW LONG IT TOOK:
About 10 hours of in-person time with me. About 3 days without me: 1 day for assembling and setting up furniture (desk, file cabinets, book shelves), 1 day for going through and reorganizing files and papers, 1 day for reorganizing and shelving books. He says, "Once you created the plan and had specific solutions for errant problems, it was clear skies. And a soft landing."
