While my usual niche is families / moms / kids, lately I’ve enjoyed spreading my wings – gaining experience in new areas. Recently I’ve worked with a few lovely seniors and a couple weeks ago really branched out organizing the office of a hair salon owner. If you get your hair done at a salon, you know these tend to be busy places. There’s a ton of energy, a lot of conversation, cute stylish stylists and assistants running around mixing color or washing hair or cleaning a station. I’m so used to working in the intimate, quieter setting of a home that this was actually a welcomed change for me. Honestly, I enjoyed it! Yes – surprised myself too!

Also helped that the owner is a total and absolute doll! She’s fun to work with and was a go-getter during the purge process. Day 1 was a 6-hour purge. Yes. Six. Hours. In her small office. But if you own a hair salon, you understand all the “stuff” that comes into your space – then appears to breed. Displays, product, paperwork and more. My truck was completely packed at the end of purge day. She felt great just walking into a lighter space and her stylists thought the job was done then and there. It wasn’t – we still needed to contain everything. But wow, what a difference can be made by simply removing excess.

Ok, enough of my chatter. Let’s get to what you’re here for – the pictures and products! To let you know, I’ll be doing my best to link directly to products I’ve used in the event you want to purchase. However, if I can’t locate it, I’ll always share a similar product that works just as well. So be sure to look for the links below the images.

The back wall of the office is a wall of shelving…

To the right and behind the door is another wall of shelves…

These shelves aren’t sturdy, as you can see. They’re bowing and the back corner comes together at an odd angle. Still – a great amount of space to work with. Her desk is directly across from the wall of shelves, and to the left as you walk in the door…

We both felt the desk was bulky for the small space, but decided to wait until the job was complete before making a decision. I had a feeling once the space was organized, she may want to keep it. The door is a space she wanted to utilize as well. She’s not in the salon every day and should a stylist need to leave her a note or if she wants to leave a message for her crew, having a message board on the door would be helpful. Her office is located on the other side of the break room, which made the door a perfect spot for a message board anyway.

With the purge complete, I figured out what her goals were:

• containment for gift certificates, client tickets and overflow office supplies
• an organized desk – inside and out
• a hanging file system for vacation requests and other important papers
• a spot for her tools and products – since she only does hair a couple days a week, she doesn’t have a station of her own. She needed a mobile station to tuck away in her office.
• the ability to find everything quickly whether it be light bulbs or tools or a product guide
• less stuff – more room to walk / work

No surprise I kept it simple. Whatever needed containment was clear so she could see through it, without the need for a label. This is especially important when putting bins up high..

( clear bins )

Overflow office supplies are upright in magazine files. Gift certificates, envelopes, business and referral cards are in shoebox / sweater drawers…

 ( magazine files / shoe drawers / sweater drawers )

A few shelves of product – some shelves are just for her, others are for her staff. And she located her dream portable station, which tucks away nicely in this corner when she isn’t working…

( portable styling station )

For her main desk drawer – Poppin to the rescue. Which is currently on sale at The Container Store…

( this and that tray / drawer organizer )

Her organized filing cabinet for those must-have papers and contracts…

( hanging files )

To add the wall hanging file, I nudged her large bulletin board over a few inches…

Now there’s a space for those vacation requests and other important, need-in-a-pinch documents…

If you don’t have a lot of desktop space, adding a cake stand gives you vertical space and brings in a little glamour…

( hanging wall file / black file folders / pail / space bar / cake stand )

Her new message board for the door…

( white board )

Her office was a tight space to work in and photograph, but this before and after was impressive! And very fun to do…

Here’s a little inspiration board of products I love and were used in this space…

Happy organizing everyone!