I thought about just updating my last post with the new stuff like my desk...but I decided to keep that one the way it is for posterity and just make a new post with everything updated...and a little more detailed about the materials I use in case anyone is interested. :) I posted a video on my Instagram, so I'll just add everything in order of the video.
Here's what my office looks like now:
Right next to my office door is Johnny's old desk. I used to have just the top hutch sitting on the floor as a bookcase, but when I got my new desk, I moved the hutch back on top of Johnny's desk. Everything on the hutch is personal stuff...our cookbooks, my art and writing books, decorations from our wedding, etc. I have my paper cutter on the desk. I didn't have it when I took this photo, but I also have one of these LED light strips attached to the bottom of the first shelf on the hutch so I have more light when I'm using the paper cutter. Then I have some random stuff in the drawers on the left...tissue paper, corrugated cardboard sheets that I use to make sure rigid packages are more than .25" thick, etc. I've also been keeping the sticker sheets I've made in the right drawer for lack of a better place to put them right now. And under that drawer, I have two white plastic drawers...one to store legal-size paper and another that just holds mail and documents that I need to file or scan and shred. Next to the drawers are some plastic boxes that have cords and stuff in them. Those are really just there for lack of a better place to put them right now. And next to the desk is the top to my old art desk...which I haven't figured out what to do with yet, either. At some point I hope to clean out and reorganize the office closet...so they mind end up there.
Next to that desk is an armoire entertainment center that we got from Johnny's sister-in-law. On top are a whole lot of shipping boxes in different sizes (which I don't go through very fast). In the main cabinet, I have my cold roll laminator. I have it attached with command strips so it doesn't move around while I'm using it. You can see the LED light strip in this photo...it's definitely too dark in there without it. On the little shelf at the top of the cabinet holds the Oraguard 215 Matte and Glossy laminate that I use for my stickers and magnets. I have felt squeegees (which I run over the page after laminating) in a holder kind of like this one, attached with command strips. I also have a command strip hook to hang scissors. And you can't see it in this photo, but I use this Slice tool to cut a strip of laminate backing to stick the laminate to the page before running it through the cold roll laminator. Then I use the cabinet below for storage...mostly shipping supplies like rigid cardboard mailers, less rigid mailers, larger envelopes, Priority Mail envelopes, shipping boxes, some acrylic display trays that I rarely use, etc.
On the wall next to the armoire I have this hanging file organizer with some miscellaneous laminating sheets...mostly different styles of holographic laminate that I pretty much never use anymore. And in front of the armoire, I have a bunch of white plastic storage drawers. The ones I bought back in 2011 have been discontinued, but they're similar to these. I have a lot of miscellaneous stuff stored in them...tape, post-it notes, all the Happy Planner stickers I'd collected over the years, and stuff like that. I also store my 11x17 matte and glossy sticker paper and 12x16 magnets in the first large drawer. There are two drawers that I'm actually able to turn and face toward my desk which is really convenient. In the middle-size drawer, I have a few rigid mailers, small Priority Mail envelopes, and my little label maker. A small drawer on the top holds some measuring tapes and rulers, my digital caliper, and some other miscellaneous things. Oh and on top of those drawers, I have this dehumidifier that we previously had in the basement (it wasn't big enough for downstairs). Sticker paper has a habit of curling when it's humid and our house tends to have high humidity after we got our new HVAC system.
My printer stand is next to the plastic drawers and faces toward my desk. I needed one that is sturdy enough to hold my heavy Epson ET-16650 printer but is compact enough not to take up much space...and this one works perfectly. It has two shelves that I use to hold extra reams of paper and extra envelopes when I need to replenish the ones on my desk (I prefer to have them on the printer stand instead of the armoire cabinet because I go through them pretty quick and it's easier to see when I need to reorder when I can see them easily). I have a small paper shredder kind of like this one on the roll-out shelf and this small trashcan for the tiny strips I cut off of the laminate. There's a little cubby on the end of the printer stand that I don't really know what to do with...so I have extra bottles of printer ink in it for now. On top of my printer, I have my 12" sticker storage binder. For my die-cut stickers, I use these 9x9 pages. I have 2", 3", and 4" size options for reach design, so the 3 columns of 4"x4" pockets works great. I have another one with sheets that have (6) 4x6 pockets that I'd planned to keep my sticker sheets in, but the pockets are just a bit too tight to be useful.
Then there's my desk...which I've had since my mom got it for me for my birthday in 2004. The drawers on the left have small post-it notes and tabs in the top, miscellaneous stuff (like command strips, spare parts to furniture, index cards, etc) in the middle drawer, and then hanging file folders are in the bottom drawer. The cabinet on the bottom right of the desk has computer stuff in there...replacement screws and stuff for repairs, dvds and software, old hard drives, etc. On the shelf just above that I have a
drawer organizer like this one that has paperclips, binder clips, rubber bands, etc. The cabinet on the top left has miscellaneous art supplies. There's a shelf just below it...I usually just toss my packing slips there after I've printed on both sides. Previously I would use my phone, but I've found I make less mistakes when I'm working from paper. And it's easy to toss them up there when I'm in the middle of packaging. On the upper right shelf I have a washi tape organizer with my clipboard and miscellaneous things I've printed on top of it. Below that is my container that I put my oopsie stickers and magnets in. I like taking it to family gatherings and letting everyone go through it to see if there's anything they want. On both sides at the bottom of the hutch I have
these clear acrylic drawers. On the left side I have all my door sign sticker and magnets. The right side has some magnets (I don't keep many of them in stock) and some of my oopsie stickers that I was using for mystery grab bags (although I haven't been selling those for awhile). On top of the drawers, I keep my
postage meter for calculating postage. With the postage meter, I have both sizes of my envelopes with my packaging inside and stickers/label outside so that I can just add my stickers or magnets with the sample envelope to know how much postage it needs before actually packaging the order.
There's also a set of the acrylic drawers in the middle section of my desk where I keep some extra postage stamps and
different labels for my label maker. I have
this monitor stand which I use for a little more vertical organization. I actually removed the drawers and they fit perfectly underneath. I use it to store my order packaging supplies...the
glassine envelopes, the
cardstock cards I print and include with my orders, etc. I have two sets of plastic drawers on top of the monitor stand kind of like
this 5-drawer one and
this 3-drawer one. I keep pens and pencils in them...I have lots of different kinds. My favorite pens include Inkjoy
gel pens and
ballpoint pens (including the
mini ones),
RSVP,
iBayam,
Tombow, FriXion
Markers and
Pens, and several different kinds of
Sakura Gelly Roll pens. And I prefer to use
Bic pencils. I also have the envelopes that I package most of my Etsy orders in. I use
these A9 envelopes for half-letter size and
these A6 envelopes for quarter-letter size (or similar depending on what's available and the price). Oh and I have an
Amazon Echo Dot that I listen to music on while I'm packaging orders. We actually have the old 3rd generation model that they don't sell anymore...we got it for free several years ago as a bundle with the Ring cameras we bought.
I have these
hanging organizers attached to each side of the open middle space to hold my packaging stickers, sheets of stamps, and other little miscellaneous things that I use while packaging orders. I also have a
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite with
this case hanging on the wall with
this wall mount. There's another
LED light strip because it can get dark at my desk at night...which is usually when I package orders. Oh and on the very top shelf of my desk, I have
white plastic storage drawers. It's where I keep a lot of different papers. I have my three different packaging stickers (
round,
2.5x1.563, and
2.625x1),
shipping labels,
regular cardstock,
thick cardstock, and
glossy cardstock. And then the rest of the papers are different kinds and brands of sticker paper (
holographic,
transparent, etc).
Next to my desk, I have my
light grip and
strong grip cutting mats hanging on the wall. I use white curtains on the window so it still lets natural light in when I'm taking photographs. And I have this awesome set of
folding shelf brackets that I put a piece of plywood on and then it's covered with a piece of
12x18 cardstock that I printed, laminated with matte laminate, and attached to the shelf. Then I have my
ring light to provide a little extra light when I'm taking product photos on the shelf. I love that I can store the shelf down against the wall so it doesn't take up any room (like the first picture in the post), and then just lift it up when I'm taking photos. Plus it makes use of that short wall under the window that I wouldn't be using for anything else.
And now to my new desk which is making a HUGE difference in my office. I bought
this one because it checked off all my boxes. I wanted one that was just the right size to fit my large
Siser Romeo 24" cutter and my new
Epson Workforce Pro WF-4833 printer (which is also greatly improving my workflow) printer without much extra space. The size couldn't be more perfect. And I also wanted one that had an upper shelf that went all the way across the desk but didn't have a support bar in the middle (so it wouldn't get in the way of the cutting mat on the Romeo). It also had to be high enough so that I could put my
Cricut Maker 4 on the shelf without the Romeo being in the way of the cutting mat for the Cricut. And as a bonus, the height is perfect enough that the cutting mat for the Cricut actually rests on the Romeo to help prevent the mat from bending...so I don't have to use my
mat extender anymore. The desk also has a very large fabric drawer with a shelf above it. I keep my
bubble mailers in the drawer and store my old
lightbox and
thermal laminator on the shelf. I have room underneath the desk to store my
old laptop desk that I can pull out to stabilize my 12x24" cutting mats for the Romeo so they don't bend (curved mats tend to cause random cuts as it moves across the sheet because the page hits the blade when it isn't flat). Next to it I have two
10 gallon trash cans (one for trash and one for recycle). This desk also has a fabric cubby on the end that I don't really know what to do with...right now it just has an extra maintenance box for my ET-16650 printer and extra print cartridges for my WF-4833 printer.
Next to that desk I have a tall set of plastic storage drawers that Johnny has had for, like, 20 years. They're kind of like
this set (with 4 short drawers and 3 taller drawers) but it doesn't have the organizer on top. I store my
thin paper that I use for packing slips and regular printing,
thicker paper that I use when I'm printing planner paper because it doesn't bleed, my
adhesive magnetic sheets, two drawers that have scrap paper/laminate and magnetic sheets that I use for smaller stickers and magnets, and then a drawer for random papers. On top of the drawers, I have
these four storage bins. I bought them to store the sticker vinyl that I use most often because I was hoping they would help with curling. They're okay, but I was hoping they'd be airtight.
Behind those plastic drawers I have a wooden shelf that I got at a garage sale, like, 15 years ago. It's about the size of this
bookshelf. It fits perfectly in the small space that is behind the closet door when opened. I have a lot of my grandma's hardback books that I got after she died and some non-fiction books. On top I have a couple little stuffed animals that I've collected (like a tiger from the community college I went to, a stuffed Eeyore that I got a long time ago. etc). And then the closet is stuffed full of stuff we've been storing for the last almost 10 years...which I hope to clean out sometime in the near future.
And...I think that's about it! :) Here's the video I took:
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