penguins_dont_fly is a Volunteer Community Mentor
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?
@mg152 wrote:
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.
How is that fair? He gets no stuff in his own house?
And we both use the fishing poles, as I said.
Hey guys … I appreciate all of the suggestions about not using this space for my business … but the original question was how to make this space workable.
My inventory is not an issue here. I have space for that … my husband hasn't filled up my space … I no longer have a separate "office" since my business partner and I split.... I am using my husband's space (or what was his exclusively until I lost my office space). The desk and computer are the ones he uses when he is home …(although the custom Dell Desktop with dual monitors was originally mine, we tossed his old POS) … this is his "man cave" … and it is also our "household office" … I'm just trying to make it workable for both of us.
I can't just go out and put up a new real, building with heat, power and light on my landlord's property and I don't have any other usable space in the apartment.
So … does anybody have any organizing tips for small spaces?
What I've got so far:
Switch the lightbox/filing cabinet and Desk so that I can see out the window.
Brighten it up.
Declutter the desk
"Touch once" paperwork management
Put up shelves.
Anything else?
This tall desk unit can go, he and I have talked about it already.
@adkhighker wrote: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! 🙂
Where would you suggest the poles go? Or the boat electronics and other boating equipment that can't be stored in a shed, in the damp Florida weather, unsecured? We are talking tens of thousands of dollars worth of stuff, not your nephew's zebco fishing pole.
And where, exactly would I store those stackable bins?
penguin, believe me, I know and feel your pain.
Okay, that corner between desk/window with what looks like a trunk and duffle bag - try a Billy or less expensive alternative (although Ikea stuff like that is inexpensive and well made for its inexpensive cost - we've put heavy, heavy things on ours).
Below is just one example - Ikea has all shapes and sizes. This is 31" x 12" x 79" tall and is $59. And other shelving/bookcases that are deeper.
My desperation solution to a laundry room with no place for brooms, etc., especially when straddling giant litter box to get to washer/dryer. Two 15" wide Billys. The one with the door (which makes it pricier) is the broom/Bona mop closet. Yes, the cat has his own shelf(s). We bolted these to the wall. It helps that the Hoarder Husband can also handle a drill. You should have seen us two old people wrasslin' the washer/dryer out of there because we also installed a new tile floor.
Please ignore unfinished wallpaper project. We'll get to it ...
@sharingtheland wrote:
penguin, believe me, I know and feel your pain.
Okay, that corner between desk/window with what looks like a trunk and duffle bag - try a Billy or less expensive alternative (although Ikea stuff like that is inexpensive and well made for its inexpensive cost - we've put heavy, heavy things on ours).
Below is just one example - Ikea has all shapes and sizes. This is 31" x 12" x 79" tall and is $59. And other shelving/bookcases that are deeper.
What is in that corner, you ask?
2 Electric Guitars in cases, 2 Small portable amps and a portable sound board … did I forget to mention that hubby is also a "heavy metal rock god" (his words LOL).
That stuff has been "negotiated" to be gone soon, along with the golf clubs … getting him to actually follow through on that is another story 🙂 The Tower Speakers have gone already … they were where the lightbox is now 🙂
Good Idea about the shelving, Thanks 🙂
Hey Penguins! Just found your thread and of course I have a few comments! 
First I could not tolerate those fishing rods being over head. They would not only feel like bars on a cage, they would do funky things to the light in the room and possibly create shadows that emphasize the cage like feeling? There has to be some sort of carousel or more compact way of storing rods than what you have. If the reels aren't stored on the rods, then the current configuration is wasted space - too much space between rods that could hold more rods and reduce their overall footprint. When space is an issue might make sense to ditch the storage methods the mansion owners use! Now I know SO would never go for it but I bet you could get 20+ rods stored in a 5-gal bucket in the corner like the shocks of corn.
Now as far as mood goes or the desire to be in a place, I read somewhere (wouldn't know it otherwise) that as people age they need more light. IF you get enough natural light in there great, but it looks like you have blinds over the windows. If privacy is an issue, one could switch to half curtains on the bottom half or two-thirds of the window. That way natural light comes in all of the time and on can at least "see out" part of the way, all of the time. Otherwise make sure the light is more like "sunlight." For that I use LEDs that have 5000 degrees K as their "temperature". So light and enough of it in the right kind can be a huge factor. (I enjoy my eBay room the most when I leave the lights on, on my light box at night)
I am no fan of the desk unit as it sits. It is just too visually cluttered and claustrophobic even to look at. The whole thing has the feel of something hovering over you! I see you have a keyboard and two monitors in the main section and then what looks to be a laptop off to the side. That looks unworkable unless you move the laptop somewhere where one can get their legs under a surface. How many of the papers/files aren't used daily could go in a filing cabinet?
I looks like there are two windows in this space? So yeah, getting a direct view out the window without having to swivel should help. If it were me, I would ditch the desk unit and get a corner desk like this one:
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49006406/
I have that in my office with a couple of sides to it I can sit there and see out both windows to the left & right with plenty of counter space to lay papers and work on while typing. So you could set up the computer in the corner or right side and then have space for the laptop on the left (or right) Then if you don't mind being chummy, two could work at the desk at the same time! If you don't have funds for that fancy Ikea unit, the guy who built that table could make something, OR you could even do the same with one side grade A/B ply wood, a few cuts and a couple of two drawer file cabinets (where the papers above get stowed!)
The table for my light box is a hollow core standard door on top of 2- two drawer files! So another idea for a desk/storage on the cheap!
My work space for my eBay room is a butcher block on two saw horses, right in front of the window! So one can create a desk in many ways, often more cheaply than pre-made furniture.
Then when it comes to shelves - I have one that "floats" on the wall and is much less visually cluttered. So a row of those around the back edge of the corner unit gives you storage that feels less cluttered.
And finally that executive style chair! Yeah, I get where it came from - I use to have one (but I wore it out!). But it is big black & bulky and thus visually it takes up space. I never realized the effect of that chair until I got a new modern one (used). Should be able to find a place that sells used office furniture [maybe even eBay?] and get some thing that is more modern and open feeling to it while not sacrificing comfort.
How's that? Enough ideas? Are you sorry you asked?
@penguins_dont_fly wrote:
@sharingtheland wrote:
penguin, believe me, I know and feel your pain.
Okay, that corner between desk/window with what looks like a trunk and duffle bag - try a Billy or less expensive alternative (although Ikea stuff like that is inexpensive and well made for its inexpensive cost - we've put heavy, heavy things on ours).
Below is just one example - Ikea has all shapes and sizes. This is 31" x 12" x 79" tall and is $59. And other shelving/bookcases that are deeper.
What is in that corner, you ask?
2 Electric Guitars in cases, 2 Small portable amps and a portable sound board … did I forget to mention that hubby is also a "heavy metal rock god" (his words LOL).
That stuff has been "negotiated" to be gone soon, along with the golf clubs … getting him to actually follow through on that is another story 🙂 The Tower Speakers have gone already … they were where the lightbox is now 🙂
Good Idea about the shelving, Thanks 🙂
Could the guitars fit under the bed or is that space already occupied? Other things could go in the shelf unit that sharingtheland suggested. In fat I have a shelf like that in which I store most of my listed inventory. The fishing poles could be wrapped and placed on top of that shelf unit, OR the 5-gal pail on the side (both sides?) with poles leaning against it!
Oh and that ceiling light fixture needs to be upgrades or get some brighter full spectrum (500K) LEDs in there. That will certainly help the "feel" of the room, when well lit!
I can't help with what to do with the delusion of rock grandeur however! 
