I got a bug on Saturday and dragged husband and v1.6 shopping! We got new curtains for the dining room and the bedroom (I woke up WAYYYYY too early on Saturday from the blinding sun that we, here in
It had gotten to the point, for me, that I hated even approaching the dreaded desk! I couldn't stand our filing cabinet or the mail sorter/wooden slot thingy/catch-all! I don't know about you, but organizing for me is all about visual stimulation. I loathed the filing cabinet so I stopped filing things. I despised the mail sorter so I stopped using that. In turn, this transformed one of our counters in the kitchen into a mail sorting area. This didn't work - it's right in front of the microwave!
So after moving countless papers on Friday while making dinner I said to myself, 'self, it's time we put a stop to this!' Really though, I had been working up to this for weeks. Planning in my head, writing things down, and combing Pinterest.
So I'm going to share with you how I transformed my computer desk area to a command center/mail station.
It took almost the entire day on Sunday to get this done, but I had a TON of stuff to sort through! Take a look at the two drawers in my old filing cabinet...
Here's the top drawer
Here's the bottom drawer
Can you say HOT MESS?! UGH! This project has been at the back of my mind for quite some time now. We've had this filing cabinet for over 5 years and I really haven't liked it since we got it.
Here's the whole area...
We visited Target and Office Max on Saturday and I found everything I needed. First, I'd like to give credit to a couple blogs that I took inspiration from. A Bowl Full of Lemons is an amazing site with so many organizing projects! Also, The Organised Housewife has some awesome stuff too!! I definitely recommend visiting those two sites if you're looking for organizational ideas!
My first steps were to empty out the old filing cabinet and sort through ALL the papers! That was the worst part and took the longest! I had a huge bag of recycling and a large pile to be burned. It cut down on so much though. I suppose that was probably half the problem with the old filing cabinet though. I didn't want to clean it out, but there's nothing like 'new' organizing stuff and the promise of a new system to get me moving.
I found a great mesh sorter at Target for $15. I am calling this my command center. I have hanging files for 'Incoming Mail', 'To Be Filed', 'Meal Plans', and 'School Papers'. Also in this command center I have my address book, a clipboard, 2 spiral notebooks for blogging and writing, and also a calendar to plan out meals.
The filing cabinet came from Office Max for $40. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but close enough. I also picked up plastic hanging files (these are sooooooo much better than the green paper-ish kind - they last much longer) and color coordinated file folders at Target as well.
The color coordination really helps me to stay on track and it actually helps me want to sit at the desk and file or do paperwork! I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I'm happy to say that there is NO mail or papers on my counter right now! Granted, it's only been 2 days so far, but hey...I'll take it.
Inside of the new filing cabinet
Here's the finished product
In addition to creating this command center and reorganizing our filing cabinet, I also created 2 binders. The green and gray colored one is our home management binder. I got it on clearance at Target for $3 and it came with nice tabs! I put a tab in there for bills and budget, current policies (this can be medical, auto, home, etc.), medical contact information and allergy information as well as a cleaning schedule.
The small white binder is for v1.6! It contains all of his school information, class information and report cards.
One thing I did realize while doing the research for this project is that there is no one solution that is going to work for everyone. For instance - I only have 1 child. Having 3 calendars with different activity information, school information, etc is not beneficial to me as he's only 1 kid! Someone with a family of 4...well that would probably work much better for them. Keep that in mind when tackling your own organization projects! What works for your neighbor might not work for you! Don't get discouraged though, just keep trying until you find a system you love and that works for you and your family!
Hopefully you enjoyed this post today! As always, let me leave you with a funny - I think this is how my husband feels sometimes when I'm constantly bombarding him with information, projects, crafts, etc. Especially when I get going on something - I'm usually plotting and planning in Excel, Word or on paper! Always charts, lists and notes with me!
Ciao for now bellas!
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