BEFORE LAUNCH OF SHOP
From top left: Hard at work painting, installing, packing and sorting, all with the help of my family and little elfs.

BELOW: AFTER
A sigh of relief, all sorted and ready to open.

Organising a child's desk

If at all possible, a school-going child should have a desk in their bedroom so that they have a clearly zoned area for schoolwork. BUT, this desk should be as organised as you would want your office desk to be, because ultimately, a disorganised desk could lead to untidy and disorganised schoolwork.

To achieve an organised desk, try following these easy steps:

• Ask your child how they like to use their desk. Where do they like their pens and art supplies to be?

• Consider the placement of items for the desk in relation to whether your child is right or left-handed.

• Do they have lots of paper to store?

• Do you keep art supplies 'stock' in your child's room?

• Can the desk be used to store toys as well, without them interfering with the function of the space?

• Consider which organisational products are available that could help organise the space. Remember to measure the space you have available BEFORE purchasing as you may find that certain items are too large or small for the space.

• Think out of the box - can you use space under the desk if it doesn't have drawers? Can you place shelves on the wall for books to get them off the desk? Can you use notice boards to give a 'zone' for school notices and your child's artwork?
  

• Once you have everything you need, divide the items for the desk into zones, e.g. stationery, paper, books, toys, CDs etc.

• Place these in the zones you have identified and pack away into the products that are going to keep it all tidy.

• LABEL the folders, trays and whatever else you have bought so that YOUR CHILD knows what goes where and therefore can tidy up after themselves!

Above: My daughter's desk with her scrapbooking stick-ons, paper and tags neatly sorted into a paper 'unit' (left) and a letter tray for her to keep all her papers from school (middle).

Bottom: A trolley holds many of her art supplies, papers and toys. These are easy to move around and labeled so she can put things back herself.

Far bottom: I made notice boards for all her posters and pictures. Since I made these, I was able to decide the size and cover them with material that matched her room. It is less expensive too!