Summer is almost over, and now here at reSPACEd we are preparing for the time when school starts and people start spending A LOT more time at home. We are still doing a lot of Covid-related organizing projects, which are interesting challenges for us organizers.
Last week, I helped a teenage girl get her bedroom decluttered and set up for distance learning. We needed to clear out a lot of the extraneous stuff and furniture so we could make room for a desk, desk chair and school supplies storage. I recommended the desk pictured in the image below (pic credit to Ikea) because it will be long enough for her to spread out, and roomy enough that she can work on her laptop on one end while creating hands-on school projects for art and science class on the other end. The drawers below provide ample storage for school and art supplies.
One thing we have found this summer is that Ikea home office furniture has often been out of stock because so many people are working and attending school from home. Because of this, we have started encouraging clients to search Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for the Ikea desks that they need. Both of those sites have a search function, so it’s really easy to type in “Ikea desk” and see if someone is selling what you want.
Another interesting Covid-related project we tackled was creating a home schedule for a family with two young kids. The parents needed to figure out how to juggle household chores, errands, homeschool, nap time (for the youngest child) and job searching (they lost their jobs due to the pandemic), so together we brainstormed a workable daily and weekly schedule for their family. They have reported back that so far, it’s been working great, so I’m optimistic that things will flow much more smoothly for their family this fall.
Many home offices have gotten the reSPACEd touch over the last few months. We’ve helped create space for stand-up desks, sourced desks that are more ergonomically comfortable for people who have never worked from home before, and set up simple filing and paper management systems.
Interestingly, we’ve done many more unpack jobs this summer than we ever have, in homes both large and small. We are getting extremely fast at opening up, unpacking and putting away the contents of moving boxes! These are the only kind of jobs where I work with another organizer (we each unpack a different room), so it’s been really fun to collaborate with Jen and Aimee.
Meanwhile, in my spare time I have been renovating my own home office and getting ready to turn it into my son’s distance learning room this fall. This has involved removing most of my reSPACEd belongings (I don’t have that much, so it’s not a big issue) plus decluttering it of the other odds and ends that have accumulated. We gave it a fresh coat of white paint, added an AC unit and updated the window treatments so it will be more Zoom-friendly in there. Even professional organizers have to declutter every once in a while!
We are staying busy, but we still have room in our schedule to take on other organizing and unpacking jobs. If you live in the Portland Metro area and want to work with a compassionate and non-judgmental professional organizer, reach out to us! We are always happy to lend a hand.
Like this post? Then like our Facebook page or follow us on Instagram or Pinterest. In need of professional organizing services in the Portland, Beaverton or Lake Oswego area for your home or office? Contact us for a low-cost assessment and get an estimate on your project here.
