New Year - New desk organization!

OK, I'm fibbing a little bit, but I reorganized my desk in mid-December.  You might remember back to my last big organization, where my desk ended up looking like this:

This worked really well... for a while.  The rotating organizers hold a lot of stuff, but almost too much stuff.  The black one in particular would become unbalanced pretty easily, and started to get really tippy.  It also felt a bit like too much empty space - they need a lot of space in order to spin freely.  So, my desk more typically looked like this:

When I really clean, I like to empty my whole desk and start fresh - it was also time for a good scrub to get some ink stains off of the table.

My new organization system centered around putting everything at the back of the table, and minimizing the amount of stuff on the sides.  When I craft, I can use the sides for scraps and things in progress rather than storage.  That's the idea, anyway!  :)

The back right corner is the least accessible, so I put things there that I don't use everyday, but don't want to hunt for.  The center compartments are for the things I use all of the time.  When I was done, I put all of the "bits" on the table.  Can't work until it's clean!

So, here I am with the desk mostly done.  There are still a few more things on the side than I like, but it's a work in progress.  I've done a few projects so far, and it's working well.

Here's a close up of the stacking organizer in the middle.  I used landscape paper trays, topped by an organizer. The organizer is amazing!  There are three small compartments in the front that can be removed or shifted around, and the middle compartment has dividers that I can make larger or smaller - perfect for pencils and paintbrushes.  The bottom left letter tray has two organizers trays - two fit nicely side by side and are perfectly sized to hold my Club Scrap ink pads.  I got all of these products from the Container Store.  I was a bit wary because they were plastic - sometimes it feels "cheap." These were, however, some of the nicest quality pieces I've seen in a long time.

I've discovered my method of filing anything from my e-mail to my papers is to have a "catch all" box, and that's missing right now.  I think I want to see if I can stack the letter trays three high so I can add a catch all area.  Since these are re-stackable, I'll try it out before I commit to buying more. I'm also thinking of making some paper boxes that can slide in and out to hold those little items.  I don't want a drawer unit because I want to be able to take the entire tray out.

Interested in more organizational ideas?  Check out my older posts!

How do you organize your desk?  I've found that no matter how much space I have, it seems like I'm always working in a 6x6 area - my resolution this year is to keep it clean and organized so I can be creative!  Do you have any crafty resolutions this year?

Happy New Year!