Which Came First, the Chicken Coops or the Cabinets?

Even though she consults with such blue-chip corporations as Xerox Corp. and Smith Barney Inc., organization consultant Susan Rich’s home office in Playa Del Rey is far from formal. Pine chicken coops and a plywood plank are the rustic foundation of furniture at her home business called Get Organized, Get Rich. Rough edges are by no means the rule. She softens the room with nostalgic knickknacks that have practical applications. Her father’s old jewelry box, for instance, holds paper clips and rubber bands.

“I’m someone who likes to do things a little bit odd,” Rich said, referring to her penchant for reuse. “I think, ‘I’ve used it here, but I guess I could also use it there.’ ”

Rich originally used her six coops, which she bought new 20 years ago, as a place to store albums and books. She even covered one with glass and turned it into a cocktail table.

But when she got more formal living room furniture six years ago, the coops had to go. Reluctant to discard them entirely, she turned the chicken houses into office furniture, adding shelves and bolting four against a wall as a bookshelf with a latching front. Two others, which hold extra letterhead and bulky items, are under her desk and beside her couch. An 8-foot plywood board mounted on brackets serves as the desk.

Owing to her profession as an organizer, the top of her work space is clear, housing only a few active files. The rest of her papers are stored in a big metal tub that she found on the street.

Rich’s fondness for reusing things also extends to her work. Often when she cleans and organizes the desks of stockbrokers at large financial firms, she uncovers equipment not in use that can be transferred to other employees.

But, she says, productivity isn’t all about saving money and being utilitarian. It’s also important to surround yourself with things that make you happy and comfortable, she says.

So she decorated her walls with paintings done by her father and a framed needlepoint done by her grandmother and hung all of the badges from her speaking engagements on one wall to remind herself of where she has been.

“It’s a friendly, familiar place. I could work here hour after hour and not feel cut off or disconnected,” Rich said.