The Devil is in the Details

I have been known in the past to get hyper-focused on small details. I love macro photography and have kicked myself for not capturing a full scene while traveling for context. Like the image above of this beautiful on-brand teal jellyfish. There were loads of them on the beach and I only took individual closeups that day.  With this awareness, I have to remind myself in my work to pull back and make sure the whole is working before I finalize the fun finishing touches.

For my recent office update, I kept avoiding the Kallax shelving unit. Sometimes the big open areas of these shelves make it challenging to store without feeling cluttered. This was much easier to get away with when I had the shelves going the long way along the ground because they weren’t in my sightline. Now they were right in my face and I needed them to be functional and beautiful.

What wasn’t working?
-precious items often got knocked over or covered up because the scale of the shelf is too big
-shelves were too deep for books
-divide shelves without creating dead space

Big picture:
I decided to dedicate the left side to business and the right side to personal. Rather than splitting up top and bottom sections, this keeps me focused on both areas of my life to keep balance on my mind.

Browse options:
I’m not even sure what led me to the Ikea website, but I was thrilled to find the perfect solutions for my needs. I purchased all three not knowing if I could or would use them all. I intuitively tried them out in several ways:

-I immediately loved the Shelf Divider, even though I was uncertain if I would use it vertically or horizontally, or on the left side or right side. I love the way it breaks up the heaviness of books and allows me to divide by topics. 

-The Shelf Insert ended up being ideal for my altar, holding all of my precious items vertically without being lost on a shelf. This easily pops out for access to storage behind it. 

-The “Storage with Compartments” shelf was the perfect way to elevate my essential oils with plenty of room behind them for my tarot and inspirational cards. It allowed space underneath for the basket I bought in Nicaragua from the Women’s Collective to hold other necessities.

I’ve always loved The Container Store’s Water Hyacinth Storage Cubes and they bring a beautiful organic quality to these otherwise basic linear shelves. I was happy to place these on the bottom as they act like glorified drawers and give a sense of grounding to the unit. Best to only store larger items in these bins otherwise they become a mess instantly. On the left side I’ve placed items to give to my nieces and friends. The right side has all of my Theta healing manuals so I can easily grab them either before or after I meditate.

Play around:
These shelves were on my mind for a few weeks before I started to arrange them. I kept refining and asking what was truly needed to serve my needs. When I was finally ready to take action, I had no agenda. I was ready to return any of the items that didn’t work and I wouldn’t have considered it a failure. It's important to remember that organizing is not a one and done solution. It is a continuous study of what’s working and what’s not, and always asking the question, “what would be better?”

Pick an area in your home and ask “What would be better?” Please share with us in the comments.