A year ago I realized that as a legit homebased shopowner and blogger, I needed two things:

1. A dedicated creative work space that wasn’t in my kitchen.

2. A dedicated shipping/packaging/storage space that wasn’t my kitchen.

Simply put, I like working from home. It’s low-stress and I’ve been doing it long enough that I have it down to an exact science. Plus there’s that whole not-paying-rent thing that saves me a huge amount of money every month. Win win! Except! The shipping/packaging/storage room was an absolute pit of despair. Formerly known as Spare Bedroom #2, this room has been the final frontier of organization. Designing the creative work space was easy peasy. But the shipping room? That’s another story all together. When Nancy first came to work for me, I cringed the minute she stepped foot into the room. I felt like maybe she was going to walk out and say she couldn’t work under conditions such as these. And I would not have blamed her. So, the last week before New Year’s (i.e., The Time In Which To Spend Your Money On Business Expenses So The Man Doesn’t Get It) I placed a ginormous order with IKEA and vowed that this was the year I was going to get organized. REALLY organized.

Click through to see the makeover!

I actually sigh with happiness when I walk in here now. Actual room to store paper! Places to sit and wrap orders!  No more sitting on the floor to ship packages!  You can actually see the floor now, which is ahmazing.  It’s amazing what about $400 at IKEA will buy you – and it was worth every penny to get us organized. In the shipping room, we store all of our lucite trays as well as paper goods, hair ties, pencils, notepads, and any extra inventory we might have. We print a few things in-house as well. Plus there’s all the storage of photography equipment, shipping boxes, tape, PSS printed materials, bubble wrap, tissue paper, stickers, business cards … the list goes on and on.

I picked up another set of Expedit shelves, as well as the add-on desk, which has been a total godsend when it comes to workspace. The Pluggis bins are perfect little storage boxes inside of the shelves.

There really are no before photos because it was so heinous, I couldn’t bring myself to photograph it. Just imagine a brokedown desk, and furniture EVERYWHERE. Oh, also about 2 dozen pillow, Jude’s crib, spare rolls of fabric, crafts, and tons of wrapping paper.

At some point I’d like to retire the hand-me-down nursery dresser shown below (it weighs more than an elephant – that sucker is SOLID) and replace it with something a little more my style. But for now, it works. FYI – if you want a dresser that weighs more than a whale, IT’S YOURS. All you have to do is come get it down the stairs yourself.  I picked up peg board from Home Depot (cheap stuff – I want more of it!) to hang some of our most-used supplies for easy access. Plus it’s just so fun to rearrange.

Another Ikea slam dunk is the new Fjalkinge shelf unit. Solid white and absolutely gorgeous, with totally rearrangeable shelves.  I’m really impressed with these. The cubes on the bottom store our shipping boxes, envelopes, and any bulk stationery supplies and are from Michael’s . I’ve amassed them over time whenever they go on 50% off sale (frequently, by the way).

And for a whopping $35, I picked up another one of these desks (remember my hack here?) and it’s perfect for photo styling and shooting products. Underneath is the Alex drawer unit that stores all our oversized paper, tray inserts, tissue paper, and reams of printer paper.

And there you have it! It feels so good to be cleaned up! Are there things I’d still change? Yes – I still want to paint at some point because my eyes hurt every time I look at the awful beige walls (maybe this summer in the slow season), as well as add some window treatments and a pretty light fixture. But for now, I’m a happy camper.

Are you getting organized? I feel like I’m on a roll over here!