ORGANIZING ALL THE OTHER PAPER

So the last post talked about organizing our filing systems but what about all those random papers that enter our lives everyday like mail, magazines, take out menus, papers FOR your kid’s schools (think - permission slips or health related documents) or FROM your kid’s schools (think - report cards or art). All. The. Stuff. This is the same stuff that clutters your office workspace or sometimes (ok most of the time for a lot of us) just every flat surface in your house. So what should you do with it?

If you have wall space I think the best solution is something like this:

This is from IKEA (ikea.com) and is called “kvissle,” and offers a desk top solution as well. Sure it says it’s for magazines, but it would be great as a paper storage zone. Also on their website Ikea shows it set inside a drawer to help organize papers there as well, so if you have drawer space that’s an option you could use too. Either way imagine assigning each slot to something like: to do (like pay bills or deal with a return), outgoing (like something you need to mail or bring back to your kid’s school), to file or to organize (you could put your child’s art here as a reminder you want to hang it, frame it or store it), take out menus (am I the only one who still loves the paper option?), or magazines or other things you need or want to read. 

You could also assign a slot for each person in your family. That way everyone knows exactly where their important papers are. No matter how you use it this is a great way to organize any papers you have, and with IKEA’s prices you can afford to buy multiples!

It would be great in an office as I’ve mentioned here, but it would be equally great on the wall in a pantry or tucked in a kitchen drawer for the user’s manuals for all your appliances, or a spot to stash recipes you want to try. Plus you can add alligator clips to the front of the pockets for things you need to remember like that permission slip for your kid’s field trip, or the recipes you plan to try this week.

Ok I know I veered off topic for a second.  If you have a desk available there are many great desktop options as well. As I mentioned above IKEA sells a matching desktop option to the white one shown, but I also found this really cute one from Target (target.com) - I searched “hanging file holder with folders.”

Or I also love this acrylic version from Russell + Hazel (russellandhazel.com) - with this acrylic option you can add color with fun folders and change them out whenever you need a new pop.

These offer the same functionality as the wall mounted option. You can either organize by topic or by person. Personally I think a clean desktop is key (especially since you will have other things on your desk) so if you have the wall space I’d go with the wall organizer, but you may prefer the look and feel of having something on your desk.

Either way creating a landing space in your home for papers is such a great way to take something off all those flat surfaces which will make your home feel instantly more organized. 

You could even just have a space for incoming. You could take all the mail and throw it right into that space and then deal with it later when you’re ready. Even doing this will make your house look a whole lot cleaner. Just remember to keep it sort of see through like this one I found on Kirkland’s website (kirklands.com). I also found an acrylic one on Target as well.

My final note is that your habits are key here so this may require working on building a new habit. For example, an old co-worker from my days at the Container Store once said that as she came home she would walk through her house distributing everything to its place. Her mail had a home, her magazines had a home, etc. Now your habit could be dropping all your mail in one spot as I mentioned above, but you will want to make sure that you set a time to deal with it. 

We can organize all we want, but if we don’t create habits that help us keep this organized it will inevitably turn back into clutter. So as you look at this project, think about finding a solution that you can actually accomplish. Don’t overdo it! Sometimes it takes a couple tries to find your best solution. As always I’m here if you need any help so hit me up anytime!

XOXO, Kylie