How I Organized My Home Office

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by your office space?  I did!  Piles of papers everywhere, lost reminders and missing bills.  I got sick of it and finally organized our home office.  It took some time and a lot of sorting but, it was so worth it. 

We used to have a computer desk with a hutch but, it just gave us a lot of places to pile stuff.  So, we now have a desk without a hutch.  Our new desk has a keyboard drawer, file drawer, a small drawer and a deep drawer.  We also have a matching file chest.  However, with all the paperwork we wished to keep and organize, all that space wouldn't be enough.  So, we pulled up a two-drawer black, metal file cabinet we had in the basement.  With these items I was able to give everything a place.

How I Did It

1. In the file chest, I filled hanging folders with all the paperwork we don't need access to regularly.  On top of it I have a magazine holder with all our current magazines.  (I recycled all our outdated and unwanted magazines. )
2. I put the black file cabinet in a corner of the room with the desk right next to it.  Since it's between the desk and the wall, it's not as noticeable.  But this also gives me a place for the printer to sit.
3. In the top drawer of the black file cabinet I have hanging folders for all our monthly bills: Loans, Auto Insurance, Credit Cards, Utilities, etc.  This way it's easy for me to file them away after I pay them.  I also keep the computer paper in this drawer.
4. The bottom drawer of the black cabinet is used for things we need and receive less often like Medical Bills, Community Information, Home Maintenance Contacts, etc.
5. On top of our desk is the computer monitor, a small desk lamp, the computer's mouse and a stacked file folder holder.  In the holder I have decorative file folders labeled "To Do", "File" and "Bills".  I check these folders each day. 
6. In the desk I keep files for each child including their school information, sports info, etc.  I also keep a couple of pens, my checkbook, stamps, etc.
7. Since I no longer have the hutch to hang things on, I purchased a wood framed cork board that I hung next to the desk.  On it I pin game schedules, school reminders, etc.

One of the most important steps I took was tossing out junk mail before it had the chance to land on a counter or desk.  Piles of papers and mail have always been the biggest source of clutter at our house.  But now everything we need to keep has a place to go.  So there is no excuse for overwhelming piles of paper work to be laying around our house.  Our office finally looks like it belongs to two adults instead of looking like it belongs in a dorm room.