As promised, here’s a clear, organized rundown of how we arranged the six new shelves and eight new drawers in our office, plus the drawers in my floating desk and the filing/printer cabinet across the room. In short: what went where and why it works.
We gained a lot of usable storage—both open and closed—so let’s start at the left and look at the new desk and bookcase wall. The added shelving makes it easy to display favorite items while keeping everyday supplies accessible.
To show the progress, we put together a couple of animated GIFs of the bookcases filling up. One shows the left bookcase by John’s desk coming together, and the other shows the right one filling up quickly—both are fun visual summaries of the setup process.
Between the two open shelving sections we fit eight magazine storage boxes (Target). These now hold press clippings and magazine features that mention our site or columns we’ve written. Instead of scattering them across the dining room buffet, they’re now organized by year with labeled tabs—much faster to find what we need.
We also freed up kitchen cabinet space by moving books onto the shelves and added a few decorative boxes (the blue ones date back to college, and a cream box came from HomeGoods last year). Those boxes hold office supplies we don’t want crowding desk surfaces.
Some product samples and copies of our book (both English and a Korean edition) live on the shelves, which is handy for displaying our work and grabbing things for meetings. Having these items visible makes the room feel purposeful and personal.
We kept a pretty stack of notebooks and post-its on display for quick access, and created an “inbox” for magazine tear sheets that used to pile up on the kitchen table or couch. I file them in binders with clear sleeves when I have time, but the drop zone keeps things tidy in the meantime. One of our octopus hooks even doubles as a paperweight.
Some decorative pieces are actually functional: a spiky yellow vase from HomeGoods hides chargers, headphones, and camera cords; a zebra dish holds magnets for our magnetic frame wall; and a pink vase stores dry-erase markers. My yellow horse head bookends add a playful splash of color while doing the real work of keeping books upright.
We also included a handful of items that are purely decorative because they make us smile: a wonky painting of our first house, a painting of our second house by a friend, and a small replica of our fireplace. These pieces make the office feel lived-in and meaningful without sacrificing function.
A little bee painting and a catalog tear-out that reads “Squeeze the day” add a bit of cheer. Our family yearbooks and a cup of colored Young House Love pencils (a sweet book tour gift) create a bright, personal vignette that’s enjoyable to see every day.
While we sorted shelves and drawers, our daughter happily played at her small desk, making bead necklaces and keeping busy. It was a nice reminder that a functional workspace can coexist with family life.
To the right of John’s desk we left two drawers empty for future needs, filled one with paint decks, and dedicated another to magazines and catalogs we reference frequently—items we can’t quite part with.
The drawers on the left side of John’s desk hold more office-focused items: two drawers store design prototypes in development, the top open drawer contains tax materials and receipts, and the bottom open drawer houses backup external hard drives, old notebooks with useful information, and a bag of instruction manuals and warranties.
Our printer/file cabinet is also organized for work: paper and the camera case live in the top left compartment, the wireless printer sits on the top right, and the lower drawer stores files. It’s an Ikea Effectiv cabinet that has served us well for document storage.
My floating desk by the window, which we found for free, offers four more drawers and a large worktop I’m keeping mostly clear. The top right drawer holds scissors, a stapler, and everyday tools. The middle right drawer stores stationery and thank-you cards. I left a skinny middle drawer and the bottom right drawer empty for expansion, and the left-side cabinet is empty as well—more room to grow feels great.
So that’s how we organized the office—where everything ended up and why. It took a while to find homes for small things like staplers and receipts, but now that everything has a place it feels oddly satisfying. I’m enjoying the order while it lasts, even though I know things will multiply over time. For now, I’ll soak up the calm.
Psst—Teddy’s eight-week photo is up; we couldn’t resist that Spoonflower fabric.