How I Organized My Jumbled Home Office

I work from home five days a week, and I share my office with my nine-year-old daughter/artist-in-residence, Elizabeth. The problem? The space had become a repository for surplus office equipment as well as piles of magazines and boxes of products I needed to test for work. (I'm the editor-in-chief of Châtelaine, the French edition of Chatelaine.)

I wanted to create a home office where it would be fun and practical for Elizabeth and I to work side by side—without having to walk around a bunch of boxes. Enter organization pro Megan Golightly of Calgary's Go Simplified, who has helped organize countless spaces, including those of Jillian Harris and Jann Arden.

My home office—and its haphazardly organized walk-in closet—before professional organizer Megan Golightly intervened.

The action plan

1. In order to get rid of the boxes in my workspace, Golightly told me that I needed to declutter the room’s walk-in closet. There was just no getting around it!

2. Work-related items that require immediate attention would go into a rolling cart, and only a few carefully selected items would have a permanent spot on my desk: a cordless lamp  (to reduce cord clutter), a small box for trinkets and a pen holder. 

3. On Elizabeth’s side of the room, a colourful pegboard—which we DIY’ed with spray paint—and some inexpensive desk organizers and drawer inserts would keep markers, paint, crayons and brushes tidy.

The time commitment 

I spent about 10 hours decluttering my closet—and got rid of eight boxes of stuff. Organizing the room itself took another week; assembling a pair of new desks (from IKEA) and the rolling cart (from Staples) were the most time-consuming tasks.

My newly streamlined workspace. (Photo: Annie Fafard. Styling: Cecile Vinez. MITTZON Desk, BRÖNDEN Rug, PLOGFÅRA Storage Box, STENERIK Laptop Support, all ikea.com. Chair, homesense.ca. Maison Simons wireless lamp, pencil holder, stone tray, all simons.ca. Stationery, buknola.com. Simply 3-Tier Rolling Cart, staples.ca. Woven throw, bouclair.com. )

The biggest takeaway

Golightly—who, helpfully, has a degree in psychology—told me that decluttering is 90 percent psychological, and that if it was easy, I would have done it already. This reduced my clutter guilt and gave me the motivation to get started.

How the organized space makes me feel

It’s easier for me to concentrate, and Elizabeth feels more motivated to do her homework in the office as opposed to the kitchen. The minute she saw her new desk, she sat down and started colouring! 

The feedback

“It looks great!,” Golightly says, before reminding me of her “one-thing-in, one-thing-out,” rule. From this point forward, for every new item I bring into the office, I need to get rid of another to keep clutter at bay.

My daughter loves her new workspace, which is far better organized than her previous one. (Photo: Annie Fafard. Styling: Cecile Vinez. LAGKAPTEN/ALEX Desk, ikea.com.  Chair, desk pad, pencil holder, plants, frames, all homesense.ca. Jewellery box, bouclair.com. Lamp, zonemaison.com. Candle and stationery, buknola.com. Type A pegboard kit, canadiantire.ca. )

On a decluttering kick? Check out how two of our editors organized their disaster drawers.