Small Spaces - Organization Ideas needed

[penguins_dont_fly]

It has been over a year since my Business partner and I went our separate ways.

With the split, I lost my dedicated 500 square foot space and have moved all operations into my home (which is not large at all).

My office space (pictures, research and listing) feels claustrophobic to me and I find myself not even wanting to go in there ... which results in me not listing anything or only listing one or two items before "escaping".

I have good inventory storage space and a good shipping workstation separate from the office, so I'm (mostly) OK there ... it's just the all-important "desk time" that's killing me.

I've been watching "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" on Netflix (you should ... really ... she's wonderful).

Her basic principles work for the rest of my house and personal items ... but I can't seem to make them work in the office ... mostly because everything in there is necessary, even if it doesn't "spark joy". And at this point, it is the opposite of joy.

I need some ideas, gurus, videos ... something. Anybody got any?

[mcdougle4248]

Your laundry room looks like your best option.  It looks bright and cheery.  Maybe you could minimize the amount of packing materials to get only what you need, for a short period of time, on the shelves above the washer and dryer.  I would be inclined to purchase a new desk that would fit where the rolling cart is now without blocking the window. The overstock of packing materials could be stored where your desk was in the "spare" room.

[penguins_dont_fly]

@muttlymob

My Las Vegas Apt was 1200 sq ft (1 bedroom) … bringing "only the essentials" here to Florida when we got married was a task in itself 🙂 I don't think any other 40+ bachelor would have been so easy-going about a woman taking up his space … he really has been good … he got rid of the boat engine that was in the center of the kitchen and built that table himself LOL … and I have been good about trying not to just take over his house 😉

Is there any chance at all of moving into a larger place?  Short of one or both of you giving up a lot of your treasures, the compromise on existing space is there to stay.

We are here until he retires.  The inside space may be small, but the rent is low … and the outdoor/extra space that we take up here is probably not going to be found elsewhere without a premium price.  We have 2 boats (one 20 foot and one 14 foot) a quad bike, 2 sheds, my inventory outbuilding and a greenhouse 🙂 The back faces an empty corner plot that is wooded and blocks most road noise and light … it's peaceful.  We are less than a block from the Bayou and a 2 minute trailer trek to the boat launch … less than 20 minutes in the boat to deep water on the Gulf.

We talked about buying a house before and right after we got married, but then I lost my corporate job so that went out the window.  He does not want a mortgage this close to retirement (9 years or less if he can swing it).

And to everyone …. The poles and gear are not just a "collection" …. we both fish as often as we can.  We are out on the boat almost every weekend, when the weather cooperates. Winter doesn't last long around here 🙂 Different tackle for different types of fishing and fish 🙂

[lintbrush*]

Can you fit in your greenhouse over the winter-ish months?? lol

A folding TV table, chair, and one box of inventory at a time 

[muttlymob]

---

@penguins_dont_fly wrote:

he got rid of the boat engine that was in the center of the kitchen and built that table himself LOL

---

He's a Keeper!

[penguins_dont_fly]

---

@luckythewinner wrote:

---

@penguins_dont_fly wrote:

There is NO OTHER place to work in my 600 square foot apartment. I do not have a dining table (we have a High-top Bistro Table in the kitchen). I have no "extra" space in any other room.

I must make this space work … somehow.

---

I wasn't suggesting you had to permanently move your eBay business somewhere else.

What I meant was that if you find that office so claustrophobic that you cannot work there, then continue to store your lightbox and inventory and laptop there - just don't WORK there.

When it is time to LIST, move your lightbox and laptop somewhere else, list the items, and then return the lightbox and laptop to the office.

Or  keep your lightbox in there and use the office for taking photos, and then move your laptop to the kitchen or living room and do your listing there.

---

There is nowhere else to set up the laptop and lightbox … is what I was saying. The lightbox needs a 3x3 flat clear surface and the laptop needs someplace that I can sit in an upright comfortable position to work in … very close to the light box.... in a place that has a power source … those requirements do not exist anywhere else in this apartment.

[penguins_dont_fly]

---

@lintbrush* wrote:

Can you fit in your greenhouse over the winter-ish months?? lol

A folding TV table, chair, and one box of inventory at a time 

---

I have  taken the camera and lightbox outside in warmer weather when the sun was shining … but the greenhouse doesn't have any room in it during the winter … it's full of my tropicals, leaf-to-leaf packed in as close as they can get 🙂

[loveyourimagination49]

Is it feasible to add another shed to the property or buy one of those tiny houses?

[penguins_dont_fly]

---

@loveyourimagination49 wrote:
Is it feasible to add another shed to the property or buy one of those tiny houses?

---

The problem with that is power … outlets for equipment, lights and heat/air.

[loveyourimagination49]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j-7PVokX9kk

How to solar power a tiny house ^^^

[readabouthorses]

@penguins_dont_fly

I can't imagine trying to live in that small space with another person, even in Florida where you can get outside a lot. I live in a 3 bedroom over 2,000 house with a 2 car garage and a sunporch and sometimes I feel like my space is cramped.

Here is a big hug through cyberspace to you and your hubby!

[mg152]

It’s hard, I know. We have 2000 sq ft well, actually more than that and I struggle to find space. We have 2 grown sons and all their “stuff”, hubbys “stuff” and I actually have the least “stuff”. I’m working out if our spare room too. I’m not home so I can’t take a pic and I can’t post pics here anymore anyway. It’s a struggle for sure.

[mg152]

I bought a brand new shed to store my eBay items. It was no sooner delivered and my guys filled it up so my stuff is in totes in the Florida room. My house is a mess too. The guys won’t get rid of anything. I feel your pain. More sq footage doesn’t mean more space. I know you enjoy the outdoors together but if it were me those fishing poles would have to go.

[dbmm-media]

donate everything to a charity, take the tax write-off 

[sharingtheland]

---

@penguins_dont_fly wrote:

---

@loveyourimagination49 wrote:
Is it feasible to add another shed to the property or buy one of those tiny houses?

---

The problem with that is power … outlets for equipment, lights and heat/air.

---

Did anyone else suggest small generator?  I've looked into it - we have bizarre power outages here - but to get one big enough for the whole house is $$$$.

Can you get your shipping supplies into the inventory storage place?  Something that makes great cubbies is an Ikea Billy or something like that is another idea.  I've got one full of shipping supplies - it was originally an upright bookcase but I turned it on its side on the floor (have an extra room to do that).  Maybe an upright one is a good idea - Billys are only 12" deep - and maybe having a "slot" for everything - well, some things - will make it seem less claustrophobic, iykwim.

I'll trade husbands - anyone with a fishing pole is my friend; mine keeps worthless scraps of paper.  Every worthless scrap of paper.  And other **** stuff.   We will downsize someday - soon - snow on the ground here! - and I keep telling him this furniture and his **** what all isn't going to fit in whatever we find halfway affordable in his desired area in Florida.

Now to read what everyone else has written and I"m probably too late with my excellent hah advice.

[adkhighker]

Well, unless you're casting out the window into your private bass pond, find a new place for all those rods and use all that wall space for shelves instead. You could probably fit half the stuff in your office on a series of shelves along that wall. 

For any items that you haven't touched or used in over a week, you could put all of those into those clear plastic bins that you can stack on top of each other, labeling each one with exactly what items are inside each one. Then when you need something from a bin, you'll know right where to reach. If possible, you could move the bins out of sight somewhere else, which would open up even more space in your office.

If worse comes to worse, and you just want a cure for your claustrophobia, just come and step into my cram-packed office, and after that, your office will seem like an expansive open-air palace compared to mine! 🙂