Need opinions!

[filiadeluna]

I do not currently have a desk.  I run a small business (I'm a birth doula), so I really need to get one to organize my stuff better.  We have limited space, but also a very limited budget.  My mom has offered to give me either her big desk that is wide and flat w/a few shelves on the side, or her secretary style desk (similar to a roll-top desk).  Ideally I want a desk with a big hutch on top so I can organize all of my binders, folders, handouts, other paperwork, etc, and have it up high so my toddler can't easily access the stuff, and it saves floor space.  The door to the office/spare room won't stay shut or locked, so it's not an option to just keep her out all of the time, though if I had to I could put up another baby gate there.  But the nice desks with hutches are like $200+.  I could possibly find one on Craigslist for cheaper.  Either way, I have to spend about $50 in gas plus pay a friend to drive his truck up to my mom's house an hour away to pick up either of those "free" desks if I want them instead.  If I did that, I would still need to get some other form of storage for my business stuff.  Suggestions?!   My biggest concern is money, but I need to have a way to organize stuff effectively and save floor space as well.

[mkksmom]

Don't know if you have a spare closet, but this is cool. http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/08/august-featured-space-bedroom_30.html

[clutterwarrior]

Originally Posted by mkksmom 

Don't know if you have a spare closet, but this is cool. http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/08/august-featured-space-bedroom_30.html

I love that closet office idea.

[filiadeluna]

Thanks, ladies!  I've seen that before - pretty cool!  Only issue is that the smallest bedroom, which is the "office", has the largest closet in the house...   it is a walk-in, BUT, it's very deep and not very wide.  So that would be pretty awkward.  The room is about 9x10 I believe, but it's an odd shape, and has two windows, so there is limited usable wall and floor space.  I swear some building designers must be high when they decide where to put things.    The closet is really badly needed, anyway, since our other closets are smaller.  I guess I'm just trying to save floor space so it doesn't look overcrowded/junkie.

[nd_deadhead]

What else do you have in the room, that takes up some of your floor space? I understand it's a small room - my son's bedroom is 9x11.

I like to build shelves, so that would be my preference.

If you can find some used 2-drawer file cabinets, you can get a countertop at a home improvement store for cheap (we just bought one for our church kitchen for $10 - it had a small chip in one corner). If you only need one file cabinet, you can just screw a support (like a 2x4) to the wall to support one side of the counter. I'm picturing the desk in a corner, with shelves above the desk (next to one of the windows) for your binders - the loose papers and files go in the files drawers.

[filiadeluna]

We don't have anything in there right now.  Nothing at all, because I just shampooed the carpets and we are repainting the walls.  What *needs* to go BACK in there is the tall bookshelf (full of books - the kiddos' books and my doula lending library books), the two drawer lateral wood file cabinet (though I don't really *need* one that big anymore - one drawer is empty, but new file cabinets are pricey), my printer, and my laptop.  I need some kind of shelving space for all of my business stuff that is currently in the bottom shelf of my china cabinet in the living room.  The paperwork I can organize into file folders, but the 3-ring binders I need to have somewhere that they can be out w/easy access.  I don't really want to just shove them into the top of the file cabinet, b/c then I will be tempted to bury them with other random papers.

Originally Posted by nd_deadhead 

What else do you have in the room, that takes up some of your floor space? I understand it's a small room - my son's bedroom is 9x11.

I like to build shelves, so that would be my preference.

If you can find some used 2-drawer file cabinets, you can get a countertop at a home improvement store for cheap (we just bought one for our church kitchen for $10 - it had a small chip in one corner). If you only need one file cabinet, you can just screw a support (like a 2x4) to the wall to support one side of the counter. I'm picturing the desk in a corner, with shelves above the desk (next to one of the windows) for your binders - the loose papers and files go in the files drawers.

[LVNTEXAS]

How about a simple piece of plywood with shorter filing cabinets underneath? You can paint it, cover it, put plexiglass on it, whatever floats your boat and you can cut it down to the size you want. Or an older hallow core door works great too. : )