Some projects come together like magic and ultimately make me look like an organization super star, but truth be told – I’ve just been doing this job long enough to have a few tricks up my sleeve…and I’m the proud owner of several hundred measuring tapes. If I can tell my fellow DIY’ers out there anything of substance, owning a measuring tape is your must-have gamechanger. It’s one of my number one tools on the job with me. Even when I’m not working I promise you this – ask to see what’s in my purse and you’ll find a measuring tape. How’s that for glamour?

A few months ago I organized a beautiful home office and discovered those colorful Poppin drawer organizers fit like a glove in the Pottery Barn Bedford desk…

The organizers come in a variety of sizes so you can customize to your desire / contents. The fact these fit so well completely blew my mind. Those who have tried and failed to locate pre-made drawer organizers that actually fit and don’t slide around will understand this. This is true in the kitchen drawers I work in as well.

After this discovery, I couldn’t wait to spy another sad, disheveled Bedford desk. Last week I did! And in perfect time because Poppin is currently 20% off for POP Members at Container Store.

This time the home office I was working in had a black Bedford desk. She mentioned the drawers made it difficult to see into the back because it’s so dark. I was hoping to go with a bold fun color, but in the end we opted for white to not only give the drawers a chic finish but the white color really did a great job of brightening the inside of the drawers…making it easier to see everything.

Like a glove. Literally.

Any pen-lovers out there?…

We spent a lot of time testing hundreds of pens, markers and highlighters. These are what remained…

My personal philosophy in my business is that product isn’t always required. But when we absolutely need to use something, I do my best to work with the sale season. And I ask if they can wait just a bit longer until a sale comes around (they really are easy to figure out when you frequently shop at a specific store). Container Store has sales each and every week. You never have to pay full price for something if you wait for their annual specials to come around. When I organized the white Bedford collection desk, Poppin was on sale during the office sale. This time Poppin is on sale for period of time for POP Members (it’s their store loyalty program and if you aren’t a member, I highly recommend joining – it’s basically free money and you receive free gifts all the time).

In my recent reader survey, a couple responders mentioned they would like to see more organization products beyond Container Store. I agree and am more than happy to share finds from stores such as Target and The Dollar Store. I use a mix of inexpensive products as well as a few upscale items. It depends on my clients budget and taste…and what they specially tell me they want. I’m heading down to LA tomorrow morning for an awesome serious “pinch me” 2-day project and in the process of looking for products to organize jewelry I discovered some beautiful finds from Anthropologie. Surprisingly inexpensive too! I can’t wait to share it all here! But for those who mentioned Container Store can be out of your budget, keep in mind the annual sales and flash sales…they are a great option if you absolutely need something. And the Target dollar section has amazing finds! I’ve shared a number of projects here using organizers located in the “one spot”.

The 3 Poppin products used in this home office are the small and medium accessory trays and the this & that trays. I believe the sale ends on June 30.

Today I’m prepping a family for a move and then heading to LA tomorrow morning. I wasn’t expecting my summer to be this busy and was looking forward to a slower pace to blog a whole bunch more. Be sure to follow on Instagram to see what I’m up to in the day-to-day / moment. Back soon!