Martha Stewart bans personal photos and clutter among office staff

In an effort to ensure that her office is clutter-free, Martha Stewart has banned employees at her publishing division from having personal photos and any kind of clutter on their desks. Their cubicles must be clean at the end of the day with no photos or extra junk lying around. She also has rules about the type of office supplies they use. The National Enquirer ran this story in their latest issue, and it seems to be based on a Gawker report from late January along with Martha’s response on her blog, which kind of acknowledges that it’s true that she doesn’t permit clutter. She does say that it’s not true that people are only allowed to use certain kind of pens. She doesn’t like blue pens at all and it’s about to have them in the office supply closet, but if employees want to bring them in they’re not banned or anything.

Kevin Sharkey and Martha have decided that their new design scheme will be marred by any of the following: ink colors other than red or black, desks that are not completely clear at the end of the day, except for one metal basket of approved office supplies, and anything that could be construed as being personal, such as photos or coffee mugs (I guess drinking fluids slows down the proletariat). Perhaps they are figuring the last part makes it that much easier to lay people off quickly, because they won’t have to waste everyone’s time by clearing out their desks.

[From Gawker]

And here’s Martha’s response, in which she hilariously plugs her office supply line:

I just want to say that this Gawker.com article is a misrepresentation of what actually was discussed within our offices. The list of pens is an assortment of what our company will provide our employees with at our expense. We never stated that other pens were not allowed to be used. In these tough economic times, harmony is essential within the working environment. I must also inform you that we use a great assortment of writing implements from the Martha Stewart crafts line available at Michael’s Crafts and Walmart.

[From Martha Stewart’s blog]

I love Martha Stewart and while she’s probably a pain in the ass to work for at least she seems to have a sense of humor about it. It’s Martha Stewart, of course she wants her office to look impeccable as that’s what she promotes on her show and in her magazine. This woman has taught me so many tricks for organizing my house and making guests feel welcome, and I feel like she has a right to demand that her employees keep their desks clean. That way, Martha can go around and put ribbons around their computer monitors once they’ve left for the night.

Thanks to Gawker for these pictures.

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