Office Upgrade: Getting Organized with GoodWill

My Budget Office Upgrade

January is Get Organized month. Since I’ve begun gaining traction on my freelance work, I realized I needed to get it together and invest some time and money into an office upgrade.  With the help of Goodwill and a few new tools, I have created some new systems for myself and gotten rid of things that were getting in the way of staying organized. This matters because I now have to track a lot more when filing taxes and I have more assignments to organize. When I first moved into my apartment, I created this office. It’s gotten a big upgrade!

For those of you who follow me on Insta Stories, you know I have begun a new partnership with Goodwill. Every month I’ll be bringing you inspiration, tips, and event announcements. I’ll also be taking over Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia’s Instagram one week each month! I’ll share my finds from around Virginia.  Keep Let’s get thrifty in 2017!

My Office Upgrade Project

Gold is a favorite color. My office is in my closet. So there are already lots of colors. I wanted to strip some of the colors of my old office and stick to white and gold. With the exception of my new chair, I think this color scheme is much more inspiring. To keep things simple, I looked at everything in the store with potential to be transformed. A handy bottle of gold and pink spray paint went a long way to make my office upgrade come to life.

A Desk Top File Holder

I keep my bills, parking tickets, random notes, and other action items in a pile on my desk to tackle when I have free time. It was taking up space and was such an eye sore, so I found this simple brown file holder. I spray painted in gold and sealed it with a matte finish. I found tons of file holders in Goodwill and you could do so many things with them! How about white on white?

A Mirror

I use mirrors as decorating heavy lifters all the time. I place them throughout my apartment to reflect light and make the spaces feel larger. This little number is perfect for making my work area feel bigger and brighter. You can’t tell, but I have a skylight in my office/room. There aren’t any other windows. So, this helps take advantage of that natural light coming in from above. Goodwill is FULL of mirrors. With a little painter’s tape, you could do anything.

A New Planner

I didn’t find this at Goodwill, but it was recommended by a Goodwill team member. It is going to essential to my success this year! It has allowed me to consolidate a lot of planning and information into one place, including budgeting, monthly goal tracking, and expansive to-do lists. Get it here.

Sticky Notes

Though I’m trying to consolidate my planning  into one place, sometimes a few sticky notes can go a long way. I found this cute set with a pencil at Goodwill.

A New File Cabinet

I had an old wooden file cabinet that I broke. I originally found it at Goodwill about two years ago. I broke it last winter and couldn’t fix it despite a few attempts. I let my filing go and that is just the worst! I stumbled upon this one at Target. The hardware was packaged separately, so I could spray paint the handles gold before I screwed them on. Super easy upgrade and it matched with my color scheme! Goodwill also had lots of folder dividers, files, hanging files, and labels.

My Blush Office Throne

I almost left this chair the way I found it (hot pink with silver legs). It was already pretty Sweet Sauce ready.  But I figured if it was $6, I could stand to take  a risk and make it exactly what I wanted. What do you think?!

Hanging Lantern

I used to have a desk top lamp.  It was really cute, but it still took up valuable desk space and always made my work area feel cluttered. I invested in a hanging lantern. The best place to buy them has always been World Market.

Out with the Old

Part of staying organized is keeping the things you don’t need out of your way. When you only have what you need, then you can more quickly get your work done and be more present.  I also wrote an article on the GoodWill website about what to get rid of this January. I interviewed local organizing expert Erin Podbielniak, President of Neat Niche,

Read this post about what to donate this month.

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What are your Goodwill hacks?

Any thrifting questions I can answer for you this year?