Cohka’s Place

Setting up a Home Office on a Shoestring Budget

Working from home is becoming a more popular option with many in today’s workforce. Whether you telecommute or have abandoned the rat race in favor of setting up your own home business, or just simply need a place to land to take care of the bill paying and the home organization chores, a home office has become a necessary space in many homes. Whether you set up a corner office in your kitchen, designate a guest room to double as your office, or set up a location in your basement, it’s crucial that your home office include all the elements that contribute to your productivity, efficiency and overall success.
But setting up a home office doesn’t have to break your bank account. Very few of us can afford the luxury of having a professional organizer devise an office system for us. Don’t despair; there are many creative ways to devise your space .
Maybe you are able to have a separate room for your office. If so, that’s great. You’ll have lots of elbow room. But if you don’t, there’s lots of ways to utilize the space you can carve out for one. Whatever space you choose, make sure it’s a space that can be dedicated to your office, and doesn’t double as an arts and crafts table for your kids or a workbench for your spouse’s do-it-yourself projects on the weekends.
Take a look at your space and see what you can do easily and inexpensively to spruce it up and make it conducive to working from home. Sometimes just a fresh coat of paint, some strategically hung pictures or some simple stencil work can brighten up an otherwise dreary corner.
Next, look around your house to see what furnishings you already have. If there’s a small unused table that could double as a desk, use it. You’ve probably got a comfortable chair in your dining room that could work fine as an office chair. Look around your home for some useable pieces that can be brought together successfully to create a comfortable and relaxing home office environment.
You may also already have book shelves, bins, baskets, boxes and a filing cabinet that could also be incorporated into your office. If you don’t already have office supplies available, visit your favorite office supply or discount store and stock up on a few needed items and get your space organized and ready to roll.

Think Green when you Clean

We all want to do our part in ensuring our environment stays as safe and healthy as possible for our children and future generations to come. Many people don’t stop to think how their household cleaners can affect the environment, and how toxic they can make the immediate environment of your home. With some careful forethought, planning and effort, your home can be cleaned safely and effectively, sparing the environment, your home, family and pets from toxic chemicals and fumes.

Most people firmly believe that surfaces in their homes must be disinfected on a continual basis to prevent illness and the spread of disease. But the truth is most areas of your home don’t need to be disinfected to prevent the spread of germs. This includes your bathroom. Mild detergents, hot water, and some elbow grease can generally do the trick.

The exception to this rule is the kitchen. Anything involved in food preparation should be completely scrubbed down and disinfected with each use. This includes food preparation surfaces, utensils, cleaning clothes, and sponges.

When shopping for cleaning products, pay special attention to those with the words poison or danger on the label. These words indicate the highest level of hazard, under federal law. Products labeled with the words caution or warning can present a moderate hazard and should be regarded with care. Always read labels and follow the directions.
Never mix cleaning products, such as those containing chlorine with those containing ammonia.

Consider using products such as vinegar, baking soda, and mild detergent when cleaning your home. If you have questions about how to properly dispose of toxic household cleaning chemicals, contact your local health department or county sanitation office for advice and assistance. Most areas provide a household hazardous waste collection site for residents to properly dispose of such items.

Fun Ways to Display your Favorite Photos
Photos of family, friends and favorite places add a touch of personality, style, flair, and jazz to any room. Sometimes however it’s difficult to think of inventive and creative ways to display your treasured pictures.
First you need to take a good look at the photos you want to display. One of your favorite photos might be a large group picture, but it may not actually display well when hanging on a wall. Save that one for the scrapbook and look for pictures that have vibrant images that convey a message or a thought.
Older photographs can be brought to live with the advances in photographic reproduction technology. If you have a favorite old photo that’s fading, or has been damaged or crinkled through the years, take it to a photo shop to have it restored and reprinted. You might even be able to do this yourself at home with photo imaging software. You might want to consider added a special effect, enlarging or cropping the photo differently to add a new perspective to a familiar photo.
Mixing frames of different styles and sizes can be fun, but takes some planning and forethought. Lay the framed photos on a tabletop or the floor and rearrange until you find a workable arrangement, then employ a friend or family member’s help when measuring and preparing to mount on the wall. Have your level ready to be sure that a picture that looks straight actually is straight.
Photos don’t have to be limited to the walls. Tabletops, desktops, bookshelves, and your family entertainment wall unit are all great places to add a picture frame. Even a dressing screen can make a clever and unique backdrop.
You can even decoupage photos onto a table lamp base or mirror frame for an added jazzy effect. And by using fabric transfer sheets, you can even transfer a favorite photo onto a pillowcase or wall hanging. Photo collages of friends or family members make great placemats. Simple arrange and laminate. This is also a great way to hang a collage on the wall or corkboard above your desk or in your office. Individual laminated photos can be affixed to magnets to put on the refrigerator and other metal surfaces in your home.

Storage and Organization Products that Will not Break the Bank

We’ve all set a New Year’s resolution to be better organized. On second glance though, it can be a daunting task when you try to factor in all the necessary tools you’ll need to purchase in order to gain control over the clutter in your home. However, you don’t have to break the bank in order to organize your life and tame the clutter beast. If you look around your house, you may even find some ingenious storage and organization tools right under your nose.

You need to assess your organizational needs before you go shopping. If your office area is creating chaos in your life, consider investing in a filing cabinet or portable file boxes and a box of hanging file folders and develop a workable filing system for yourself. You can probably even find unused coffee cups for pen and pencil storage, and small baskets or boxes that would neatly tuck inside a desk drawer and hold paperclips, pushpins or rubber bands in your home. If your closet is giving you fits, a second closet rod or shoe or sweater organizer can easily be added to consolidate clothing items and put them within easy reach. Your favorite discount or home store has a large selection of storage bins, drawers, baskets, boxes, and bags available at affordable prices. And though they aren’t necessary when you begin your organization product, having durable products that are up to the task of being sorted through, moved and repurposed are smart investments.

But probably the best organizational tool you can invest in is a calendar. It can be in planner form, or a desk or wall calendar, as long as it’s easily accessible and has plenty of room for you to schedule your organizational projects and household tasks. Make a commitment to maintaining your organized areas on a regular basis, and you’ll probably free up time to tackle others around your house or office.

Turn your Junk Drawer into your Neat Drawer
We’re probably all guilty of having at least one junk drawer somewhere in our house. This is the drawer that started out as a helpful drawer that kept all the handy items in one place like tape, tacks, buttons, safety pins, and so forth in one central location, but turned into the drawer where other things manage to accumulate when people don’t know where they go or don’t feel like taking the time to put them away properly. Get this drawer (or drawers) back into useful mode again by using a few simple steps to bring things back under control.
First of all, in order to clean it out, you’ve got to empty it out. Remove everything. Place a piece of paper or tea towel down to protect your countertop or table surface, and literally dump the drawer on top if possible. Otherwise make sure all items are placed on this protected surface.
Once it’s out of the drawer, it needs to be sorted. Group all similar items together, and if you can’t determine what something is or if it’s needed after consulting with others in your family, get rid of it. If there are things in this drawer belong in another location, be sure they are put away promptly. Clean the drawer completely and wipe dry. Afterwards, lay a fresh drawer liner or contact paper inside.
The next trick is devising a simple, workable organized system that everyone in the family can use. Ice cube trays, egg cartons, small boxes or even 35-mm film containers work well to store small things in. If you cannot see into it to determine its contents, make sure it’s clearly labeled. Small plastic sandwich bags are ideal for organizing and storing rubber bands, thread, and string. If you store glues or other adhesives in this drawer, make sure they have lids that are secured. It might also be a good idea to get into the habit of storing them inside a plastic storage bag in order to avoid a mess down the road should the lid become unsecured in the shuffle or is not properly tightened after use.
Most importantly, encourage your family to keep the drawer organized and neat. If it’s properly maintained, there should be no need to shuffle through the drawer looking for things, creating an even bigger mess to clean out yet again in a few months.

Organize Your Holiday and Bring Joy to Your World

The holiday season can be a stressful and chaotic time. Between attending holiday parties, shopping, meal planning, baking, gift wrapping, and entertaining, there never seems to be enough time. But if you organize, schedule and plan properly, you might find you even have a little extra time to relax and recharge.

The should first sit down with your family at a meeting and find out what activities and parties they are involved in during the season. If there are rehearsals for the church pageant, choir practice, or volunteer work activities, make sure you incorporate them all into your family schedule. Be sure to factor in time off that you’ve taken during the holiday season so that if they need an extra set of hands to help out at the church’s bake sale, you’ll know at a glance whether or not you can help out.

That being said, the next step is to ensure you’re not spreading yourself or your family too thin. Don’t commit to more parties than you can attend, or be coaxed into hosting your own holiday event if you simply don’t have the time. Once you’ve established your schedule with your family, do not make any changes, additions, or revisions to it without consulting them first. If you’re stretched too thin, chances are they will be as well since you’ll be unavailable to them.

Successful holiday shopping involves careful and methodical planning. A concise and specific list can save you both time and money. Remember too, the season is about togetherness and the spirit of the season, and not about how much you maxed out your credit cards by. Stick to your list and you’ll stick within your budget guidelines as well.

Keep your holiday decorating simple and minimal. Ornate displays can quickly consume your valuable time. If you do choose to decorate big this season, make sure you’ve planned for it in advance and completed it before things kick into high gear such as parties, caroling and shopping.

Santa’s got his list of who’s naughty and who’s nice. Organize and plan wisely so that you won’t become stressed and end up on the wrong side of Santa’s list this year.