a shared family work space

Last week I shared that I have been doing some major cleaning, organizing and rearranging in our house. I moved the furniture around in our living room and created an ocean themed gallery wall. Next, I wanted to get organized with our shared work space. 

Honestly, it has taken me the last three years to get the hang of working from home with my husband Andy added to the mix. I spent years running my business by myself and now I am slowly bringing more people into the mix. Lately we have discovered a groove and implemented some systems that work for everyone. Andy has taken on a big chunk of the business side of everything, enabling me to focus on being creative! We have lots of space for creativity in our home, an office for all the boring business stuff but somehow we always end up spending the most time in our living room space. A while back I decided that it would be nice to have a shared work space that we all can utilize for different projects. 

I used the same furniture that we've had for the last few years as a foundation for our space. I've shared these things in the past but I will share again-

1. We've had 6 of these Baxton plastic accent chairs for the last couple of years and I love using them around the house. They are clean, modern and retro and are really comfortable!

2. These nickel plated Barometer work lamps from IKEA are perfect for our work space.

3. One of the best purchases we made about five years ago was a white Besta Burs desk from IKEA. It is big but long and skinny enough to work in different places. Over the years, I've used it as an entry way desk, a sofa table and a work desk. 

Andy installed two long white shelves above the desk and then I added baskets- lots and lots of baskets. 

Most people wouldn't believe the amount of random stuff we use on a daily basis- hard drives (where everything visual from the last 10 years of my business is stored), drawing/coloring supplies, cords and cables and photography equipment are just a few of things things that we use every day all day! The baskets are the perfect solution for all that stuff.

I added a couple of plants to the shelves.

I hung four clip boards above the desk to keep our tasks (business and personal) organized where we all can see and access information that we use every day-

We have a copy of my blog editorial calendar. I use a basic editorial calendar to keep all my blog posts organized for the month and having this information easily accessible for Andy is really important. One of the biggest lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur is that I can't keep all my ideas and plans in my head...I have to share them so everyone knows what is coming next! Now Andy can take a look at the month and know what is happening with my creative work load.

We have a business to do list that includes ideas for the future, goals, projects, items for the shop, information for online classes and anything that needs to stay on our radar. My brain works CRAZY fast and ideas/inspiration can strike at any time so I really like having my creative to-do list visible.

We have a monthly family calendar/schedule that helps keep all of us on track with our time. Again, it has taken a while to really find a groove with this co-parenting and business partner situation. We've learned through trial and error that as a family we really need a basic structure (with lots of flexibility) for our week. Our family schedule includes anything from child care, to activities, my work hours, social engagements, surf sessions, dates, free time and family adventures.

We also have a weekly schedule/lesson plan for Lucy. Before Lucy was born, we made the decision to homeschool (at least for the early years). We are about to officially begin school this fall so this shared space makes a great little headquarters for our lessons plans.

The only rule for this space is that once we are done working, it gets cleaned up! Something about a white desk with minimal clutter keeps everything looking fresh.

I am loving how organized and bright everything feels and I love that we have already put this shared work space to use!