Inspiration: Jessilyn's Before and After Office Space

We love office transformations--especially when there's organization involved. Jessilyn's office overhaul is a great example of how to think vertically with a little help from an IKEA piece to organize her belongings. More pics after the jump!

Purchasing the Billy bookcase with doors, Jessilyn now has a proper place for all of her craft and art supplies that were taking over her desk space before. When you're organizing your work space, it's best to have close by only what you use on a daily basis. In the before image, Jessilyn stored all of her office supplies in her work zone (which can be a distraction when working). We love the new setup--especially the shiny black doors

A peek inside at everything organized.

Pots and rail from the ASKER line at IKEA help organize paint brushes and pens. Jessilyn mentions that if she needs an item from the top level, she just grabs the entire pot (which you can set down anywhere). Using the side of the bookcase for storage keeps items off the desk and out of the way.

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[Images from vol.25 the Blog]

Comments (9)

Nicely done!

posted by loveoldstuff on April 23rd 2009 at 12:12pm
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it still looks a bit cluttered to me. the thing with the armoire is you could close the doors to everything. the "after" organizes your arts stuff but your computer and accessories still make it look messy...

posted by mariss on April 23rd 2009 at 12:15pm
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It's looking much sleeker! Great going!

posted by h144 on April 23rd 2009 at 12:20pm
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Thanks for the comments! I am soo embarrased at how messy the before was!! I am going to blame it on being a new mommy for the second time. ;)

Mariss- I did like the advantage of closing the armoire. Who doesnt like to hide they're clutter? :) There was a couple of disadvantages and other things that came into play when deciding what to purchase.

1) I had a really small space (which also doubled as a walkway to our bathroom) to work with. All the desks and computer armoire's I looked at were too deep or too wide to also accommodate the billy bookcase. I knew I wanted to work around that since it is narrow and really makes the walkway more open feeling. No more squeezing between the kitchen table to get to the bathroom! :)

2) We are planning to move by the end of this year. Getting our house ready to go on the market as we speak, so I wanted to get away with something cheaper, so that when we build our house (and I get my own studio) I can justify going out and buying the new desk of my dreams. :)

If anyone is interested or curious about other items that were used here is a direct link to the actual post: http://vol25.typepad.com/vol25/2009/03/my-shiny-new-workspace.html

thanks Apartment Therapy for featuring my space. :)

posted by volume25 on April 23rd 2009 at 12:50pm
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This is a great improvement! I love the ASKER pots and rails. They corral a huge amount of supplies, and look great doing so—on a side note, please take the barcode stickers off of the bottom.

Congrats, this was a large task!

posted by julieleanne on April 23rd 2009 at 2:40pm
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I like how you attached the pots to the side of the cabinet and gained additional storage with easy access. Well done, even for a temporary arrangement.

I hope that you will get the studio you've always wanted.

posted by Aldyth on April 23rd 2009 at 3:16pm
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A thought: perhaps you could mount a bulletin board inside the cabinet doors so that when you're working it's visible but when you're not the space is less messy.

posted by AliceG on April 23rd 2009 at 3:37pm
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You must have felt SO good after you finished! :)
I agree with the other posters in that you could have taken this project further, but given your circumstances I think you did a really good job.

posted by Alexis9 on April 23rd 2009 at 4:25pm
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Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

julieleanne- Thanks!! I appreciate it. The bottom of the pots looks as though it has a barcode, but it actually the ikea logo and other info painted on. :(

AliceG- Thats a great idea! I like having the magnetic board in front of me, because it inspires me to create when I am not really planning to. BUT, when we put our house on the market... I am definitely going to take you up on that. I have at least 6 square pieces of cork, that would work perfectly inside the doors. Thanks for the inspiration!

posted by volume25 on April 23rd 2009 at 5:30pm
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