Home Office Stations

We've talked about setting up a home office, homework tables, and backpack stations. This time we will discuss all the different "stations" in a home office, or really any central area in your home.

For my family, we have seven major stations to help us function: Chores, Work, Homework, Backpack, Behavior, Schedules, and Files. I'll break down each one for you.



The Chore Station:

 We keep the chore charts hanging in the office. There are numerous chore systems you can use, we have simple dry erase chore charts for the kids. Each kid has their own color chart, and matching dry erase marker attached with velcro. Notice how the little one loves to graffiti the wall around her chart.
The kids know when homework time is over, they must start on chores. They see exactly what they need to do, and they know they can't start playing until all the chores are checked off. We spend less time telling them what to do, and more time working together to keep the house in shape.

 The Work Station:

 The main function of the home office is to get work done. You just need a space that suits your needs and works for you. Mine is fairly simple- computer, desk, writing tools, and printer. You may need more or less space depending on what kind of work you do. Crafters may need more table space and writers may need less distraction. Keeping the desktop free of clutter helps to minimize distractions and maximize efficiency. I also love that I can close the doors to my desk and hide everything. It makes everything look so much neater when visitors come by.

 Inside the doors of my desk I keep my to-do lists and vision statements. They are all laminated so I can use a dry erase marker and change it daily.

 I have my bookshelf right next to my desk so I can quickly grab a notebook and get to work. Because I like my shelf set up a certain way, and the kids have difficulty putting things back, I have a "book return" box on the bottom. When they finish a book, they can just put it in the box and I will put it up for them.

 The Homework Station:
My post on the Homework Station was more detailed, but essentially, you need a quiet place for the kids to do their homework.

Closet Organization Part 1

We all have at least one closet that plagues us. You open the door and stuff just starts falling out, nothing is organized, and you can never find what you need. I decided to tackle the closets in my home....one at a time. Really, they all needed a makeover.


First on the list was the entryway closet. It is used daily, and is supposed to only have shoes, coats, backpacks- all the things we need walking out the door. It worked great for a few weeks, but then it just became a pile of stuff in the floor. It would take ten minutes of sorting to find matching shoes, and the coats all had shoe prints on them. I started with this one because it was an easy fix, and didn't require any money.

This was the before:

You can see the piles of stuff on the floor, and the mismatched and assorted clothing, though no coats, hanging up. 

First step: pull everything out of the closet. I didn't take pictures along the way, though I should have. I had a mountain of shoes on the floor, a basket for all the coats and assorted clothing, and of course a trash bag handy. 

Second step: sort it all out. Sorting didn't take very long, and I enlisted the help of the kids. I had them line up all the shoes along the wall, and find the matches. Whatever didn't match went into a separate basket to be dealt with later. Since I knew there were shoes in every other room of the house, it was just easiest to house all the singles together until I got to the other closets. 

Third step: figure out a system that would work. We've always had a shoe rack by the door way, but when we moved here, it didn't fit in the narrow hall closet. With three kids and mountains of shoes, there's no shortage of shoe storage around the house. I decided to pull one them out of the master bedroom, since it fit perfectly. My back-up plan was to have hubby build a simple shelf, but this worked out perfectly. I labeled each shelf with a child's name, and they only have three spaces. Sneakers, sandals, wild card. 

Final step: Put it all back together. This wasn't so bad, and once I got the shelf in there, everything had a place. The shoes went into the shoe rack, there was a space just big enough for backpacks, and rain boots got stacked on top of the shoe rack. I hung up all the jackets and coats and put hats and gloves in the pockets of the heavy coats.

The end result:

I once again have a closet floor! Now everyone has easy access to the most-used shoes, and everything is ready to walk out the door!