Living in the center of Tornado Alley, Meghan McGee’s home office in Moore, OK, looked like it was hit by an F5 every day. Creative director at JaxTyler Design (asi/315988), McGee and her family sacrificed quite a lot in order for her to pursue a career in the promotional products industry. Her parents dipped into their retirement savings to launch her business. Her husband not only took on the burden of being the main earner in the family, but also allowed the business to take over their master bedroom.

“Honestly, my brain is a scattered mess, and you can see my office is a result of it,” McGee says. “I have so many ideas and good intentions, and so much passion and love for what I do, but I need a grown-up office. I need to be able to work without constantly moving things around, which, in turn, means losing them. I’m just a small-town girl with big-city dreams of making a difference.”

McGee’s dream came true after winning Counselor’s Home Office Makeover Contest which was held this summer. As a result, Counselor contacted Oklahoma City-based Pretty Neat: An Organizational Solution. With a budget of $5,000, company owner Audra George and her team had one month to transform McGee’s cluttered room into a clean, organized and functional office space.

The Pretty Neat team and McGee are pleased after a hard day’s work.

George and her team visited McGee in mid- August to see the room for the first time. McGee’s workspace consisted of big, bulky foldout tables that are taken with her when she travels, leaving everything else moved to the floor. The team measured the dimensions of the room and closet, and made a list of things that McGee wanted: new flooring, freshly painted walls, a built-in desk, adjustable seating, book shelves, increased closet space, room for a dog bed, extra storage and an office command center with a dry-erase board. “Meghan was trying to accomplish a lot with little space and organization,” George says. “She had no system for invoices and keeping track of things, so she just wants the ability to find what she needs.”

George went to The Container Store to discuss custom shelving and closet plans, and then McGee went the next week to see everything selected and make any changes she wanted. Later that week, George’s team cleaned out the entire office, demolishing the closet, tearing up the carpet and taking out the chair rail. They also set up a temporary workspace in another room so McGee could continue with her business during the process. In addition to the makeover, McGee and her mother decided to repaint the room and replace the flooring themselves.

“My family is my biggest support system,” McGee says. “My mom sits with me at all of our vendor events because I’ve convinced her that we are ‘festival people.’ My husband works hard to take care of us while I work from home. He also puts up with my shenanigans and my work everywhere in every room of our house. And my son is the reason for everything I do. As much as I think I’m his biggest cheerleader, he is mine. He never misses a chance to tell me how proud he is of me or how beautiful something I made is. I’m truly blessed beyond measure to have won this amazing opportunity and even more blessed to share it with the most important people in my life.”

McGee was able to customize the rendering of her new closet to match her vision.

After the Elfa shelving was installed, McGee met with George to request some changes. George was able to modify the original design to make it even more specific to McGee’s needs. George’s team revamped the closet to include shelf space and provided individual storage for vinyl, rhinestones and other materials McGee uses for decorating clients’ orders. All of McGee’s supplies are organized and compartmentalized, and a file cabinet has been created to keep all of her clients’ information together rather than in stacks on her desk.

McGee and her mother replaced the flooring themselves.

“I want to redo my office just like this,” George says. “Instead of spending so much time digging for inventory, now she can get her precious time back. This will create much more efficiency and eliminate stress in her life. It’s really rewarding to see all the planning and hard work come together.”

As anyone who works from home can attest, McGee didn’t realize how much inventory, samples, catalogs and show pieces she had collected over the years. “Audra was so nice and helpful,” she says. “When I couldn’t see her vision in the blueprints, she invited me to the store and set up an appointment so I could look at and touch everything that would be in my new office. It’s better than I could’ve imagined. With the help of my mom, Audra and her team, I now have a wonderful space that I’m proud of.”

For anyone who works from home, George recommends they spend five to 10 minutes each day straightening up their work space. “If you do little bits and pieces at a time, baby steps add up to really big things,” she says.