Welcome to the JuggleMum Blog Office

Welcome to the JuggleMum Blog Office. Every business needs an office and after overhauling my business this year, I decided to do the same for my workspace!

I’ve been self employed for a decade now and have always worked from a desk in a corner of my home which I earmarked as ‘my space’. It was an area that evolved as I grew into the space – a shelf erected here, a new cabinet there. But eventually it became cluttered and not fit for purpose. It was also a little tired looking.

In June I changed all that when I had a massive clear out and re-decorated! I chose a beautiful classic but modern wallpaper from Graham & Brown called Planking Ash as the starting point for the makeover then I picked a complementary paint colour. This lovely light grey on the walls is called Taylor’s Grey by Graham & Brown then I used a white B&Q paint on the ceiling and a white gloss on the skirting boards to bring together a very calm and professional feel to the room.

I already had the blonde wood Ikea desk and my leather chair from before but I re-positioned it in the new look office so that I had more space around me. Whilst I was packing up the old office to re-decorate, I took the opportunity to clear out unnecessary items and consolidate my stationery – it seems I had little stashes all over the place but now it is all organised in my filing cabinet. I have also created an area to house all my camera equipment – I have 2 tripods, some studio lighting, a camera, camcorder and various external hard drives so I like that the new area has them under lock and key!

A few months ago when I was working on my Father’s Day Gift Ideas post, I included an Ampersand from Graham & Brown and kept it as a fun accessory in the office! I was also offered some Frame Again pictures to review so these are now erected above my desk as a focal point. I like to be able to look up and see my hubby and kids when I’m working as they are the main reason I am working from home in the first place!

Here is a ‘Before’ and ‘After’ video tour of my office:

What you can’t see in the video is the little secret area I have under my desk so here’s a photo!

Out of sight, I’m keeping all the products that I’ve been sent for review on the blog so they are safe until I’m ready to use them. They are at the back in a plastic storage container with another container of scrap paper in front of them so no-one in the family can see my goodies and be tempted to use them before I get chance to write about them!

Also under my desk is the best shredder I’ve ever had in my life! The Powershred 73ci from Fellowes. This bad boy not only cross shreds all my paperwork so I can dispose of confidential documents safely, it will also shred CDs and credit cards! How fab is that?! I have it powered on all the time as I’m finding that I’m using it frequently and it just pops into standby mode when it’s not in use. It also has a brilliant safety feature where it detects if your fingers are on the shred opening and stops operation so there’s no chance of getting caught up in the blades.

Fellowes have a range of products especially for home workers, you can see more here. Next to the shredder is my filing cabinet with all my stationery and this was an item I had before and have re-used. So the elements of my new office and stockist details are:

Planking Ash wallpaper from Graham & Brown, £20 per roll **Currently on sale at £18 per roll!**
Taylor’s Grey paint by Graham & Brown, £30 per tin **Currently on sale at £27 per tin**
Ampersand from Graham & Brown, £45
Frame Again frames, £19.99 each **Currently on sale for £9.99 each**
Fellowes Shredder: Powershred 73ci
Fellowes Literature Organiser

I listed the Fellowes Literature Organiser last as I wanted to show you a little more about how I organise my workload and I swear by this system. For years I’ve had a basic concertina file on my desk with the days of the month numbered from 1-31 and what I do to maintain a clutter free desk is to decide what date I will tackle the job and place it in the relevant numbered section. Then on that date, I get out all the paperwork and do whatever needs doing on that day. It keeps me productive and my desk clutter free! Now I have this literature organiser, I have super sized my organisation! This literature organiser has replaced my old concertina file and I have numbered each of the slots with the days of the month. As there are 24 openings and up to 31 days, I have doubled up on some of the days so that each day of the month has a relevant slot!

Having all my work neatly filed in this unit and therefore out of sight allows me to be more productive than if I were weighed down with the visual image of a pile of paper on my desk. As they say: Out of sight is out of mind and as we only have any control over ‘today’ anyway, I don’t concern myself with whatever is to do tomorrow. I have faith that it will take care of itself.

So there you have it – my fresh new space to run my fresh new blog from. JuggleMum is 6 years old now here is the story of how it evolved but with my new look office and new look blog, the direction I’m facing is forward… Full steam ahead!