So for the last 11 years, I've been a remote employee. We are moving shortly and I will be working in office starting next month. My husband gets up before me (he currently commutes an hr each way to his job) and makes the coffee and leaves me a decorated post-it note every morning with a message. I have these saved all over my desk, computer screens, walls, etc. Because it is my office in my house - well, I can do stuff like this :) I hate to throw them all out with the move :( I also hate to just pile them up and put them in a drawer (to only later be thrown out I'm sure). I would like to do something with says the 50 or 100 "best" of the notes in such a way that I can put it in my new office without looking tacky.
Thoughts or ideas?
Just to add - I will be the only one in this office initially and have been with this same employer for 11 years and am also the most senior employee, other than the original owner. It will be an actual office with walls and windows, not a cubicle. Although we can't have anything that would be offensive, we are encouraged to personalize our space as my boss feels that clients should know that we are people with families, and hobbies, and lives - just like them (I work for a law office owned by millennials). I've been to all the other offices and everyone has personalized items in their offices - drawings by their kids, pictures of them on vacation, artwork, and even their own furniture if they like something specific and the boss OK's it.
I would frame 10-20 of my favorites (same frame. ) and store the rest in photo albums. You could switch them out as you feel necessary
I would size up the work situation first. You don't want to put a whole bunch of stuff up that makes it look like you are concentrating on your personal life - letting them know that you had these all over your home work space, which they may feel was distracting. Establish yourself as a dedicated coworker first.
I think you could consider a tiny frame for the best note. You could rotate the note each week as a way of providing inspiration for you.
I would consider creating a collage for one wall of your new home. You could also photograph them and create a Power Point presentation that serves as a digital file. This might be nice for your kids at some point too. It not only lets them know how much Mom and Dad love each other as a couple, but it also shows them the little, daily things that sustain a marriage over the decades.
I'm with B. I wouldn't really put them up if I were you. Notes are really personal.
If you want them though - I'm thinking a collage on a mouse pad. People wouldn't be able to read them as they'd be inverted and have the mouse on them. You'd see them and be reminded of hubby during the day. I don't know if that's tacky or not. Depends on your office. It's legal isn't it? That might be tacky. Could you do it so they're all black and white?
Other option is a collage mug all in black and white. Keep it in your office.
*I agree don't take it on on first day. You can do it anyways - as you say it's getting cluttered, and keep in your home office if no one else has this kind of stuff/not office culture.
ETA:
Ok saw your edit. So I think there are people who do this sort of thing (maybe on Etsy) although you certainly don't have to get this fancy. You can just take them and arrange them somehow to frame them. Etsy can do them up by theme - and then they do a word that goes with the theme - I've seen them done with "Love" and then the messages done and combined in such a way to fill in, so that Love is spelled out.
Or do up a calendar for your office wall, and just organize the top 50-100 notes/memos in such a way you like with some family photos (?) and hang that?
If they encourage personalization, I say go for it :)
Your husband sounds very sweet by the way.
It would be good to keep them in a scrap book or note book.
I'd wait awhile before considering how to decorate your work space at you new job.
See what others have done first before you decide.
While it's been awhile since I've worked in an office - the cubicles were becoming less and less personalized - they wanted anyone to be able to work from anywhere - anyone could use any workstation - so people just were not decorating much anymore.
(Remember on the old Drew Carey show? Mimi use to have a collection of troll dolls on her desk? - You just don't see stuff like that anymore.)
It's less stuff to carry out when ever an office move happens.
Given enough time stuff just accumulates anyway.
Take it slow - you'll have a settling in period as you get use to your new work setting/office culture.
Put them in a frame as a collage. I think it would be cool to have them in my office to remind me how much I’m loved and valued. If you don’t hang them in the office, you can certainly hang them up somewhere in your new home.
I'm thinking of three paths you could take.....
With photos of the notes you could make:
A mug
A tote bag
A desk or monthly calendar
A keepsake book
A mouse pad
And on and on
You decoupage an item:
A wide wooden frame
A storage box
An old globe or wall map
An accent table
A vase
And on and on (Just make sure your decoupage medium doesn't ruin the ink. Test first!!)
With the actual notes you could do many things:
A scrapbook
A photo album
Frame some in multiple pretty frames and arrange them on your wall
Place them under glass on your desk
I just thought of other ideas.....you could photocopy them and slide the copies in the plastic cover on a binder as binder covers.
You could scan or take photos and use them as a screen saver.
Or put them into a digital frame.
Have fun! Your husband is so sweet!!!
i wouldn't do anything right away.
how about taking a photo of a group of your favorites and framing it?
but see first how things feel in your new workspace.
khairete
S.
Since your husband wrote messages on post-it notes, as opposed to carving them into wood or another more permanent surface, why not just take the messages themselves - the words - and create a collage just using the words? Use a variety of fonts and colors that look coordinated. Make it into a screensaver, or print and frame it.
After all, the post-it notes are just paper, and they're not intended to last forever, but the words are what matter, and you can make sure that they are written down, saved on a flash drive, printed and framed, or otherwise saved for a long long time.
Lay out a rectangle of them... of say 10x14. Take a photo. Do this for all of them. Throw them all away. Use the photos as rotating screen savers on your computer.
Does your husband plan to *stop* doing the daily notes now? If not, maybe just keep a tiny frame on your office desk for "note of the day" and keep a collage of past favorites at home? You might have thirty years or more of notes yet to come!
For an actual office I would probably put just 4 post it notes in a frame and put that on my desk. While the office seems to be pretty open to people showing their personal lives I always kept my work area pretty much just full of work things with just a picture of my kids.
I'd probably get a nice box and collect the post it notes in the box at home.
Good luck working in an actual office. I've been telecommuting full time for 18 yrs and I dread ever having to step foot in an actual office because they would probably not let me bring the cat, dog, and I'd have to wear actual shoes.
I would take pictures of them and then use them as my screen savers or as a rotating background so that when I sat down at my computer, I saw a different note each time.
I don't like to get too personal at work and I have learned through the years that you can't hold onto every piece of paper that you, for one reason or another might have an emotional attachment to (like children's refrigerator drawings and 1st grade art projects). Get a small, pretty frame for your desk or wall. Stick the newest note on the frame each week or day. Just stick it on the glass. Throw the last one out when you get a new one. We have enough stuff to keep up with. Be in the moment with the newest note. Lovely husband you have there.
