magazine monday: real simple’s keeping it real (neat)

You all know I love my door desk.  It’s been featured on several blogs since I opened the & [unlimited] studio back in March, which has brought visitors from all over the world (yes, the world!) to my site.  It’s unique.  It’s historic.  It’s sustainable.  It’s the happiest workspace I could ever imagine for myself!  But . . .  even with all its fame, charm and character, it is lacking one teensy, tiny thing- storage!

Organization is key in any office space, especially one where your workspace overlaps with your client meeting space, like mine does.  Over the weekend I was reading this month’s Real Simple and came across one of their features, Keeping it Real (Neat).  While the organization tactics I’ve used at the studio are nothing amazing and inspiring like those featured in the magazine (on page 140), it has been somewhat of a challenge to find the right (and stylish!) ways to keep my office supplies neatly organized.  Naturally, I thought that sharing some of these storage solutions would make a fantastic installment for this week’s Magazine Monday with Meredith.

My zinc-topped table, usually home to cookies from Scratch and sample albums during client meetings, is the secret home to my paper samples from various vendors with whom I work.

I fell in love with these Pottery Barn Emery desk accessories months before I opened the studio.  The bigger book boxes house my notecards and business stationary, while the smaller book box holds my business cards (I have some for both my dog clients and my wedding/portrait clients).  The green lacquer box is my desk’s catch-all for bills, magazines, mail, etc.

My other storage options include a wooden wine case for all of my smaller desk accessories like paperclips, tape, scissors, stapler, sticky notes, etc; a wooden rice bucket from Portland Architectural Salvage; and a filing cabinet-slash-printer stand.

In the back of the studio next to my shooting space, I have magazine files, lighting supplies & equipment and lots of dog treats for when I’m shooting.

No post about the & [unlimited] studio is really complete without a picture (or three!) of my wonderful assistant, Orvis, who comes to work with me everyday… even if he’d rather be out playing in the snow.