Organizing Our Home: The Mail/Filing Center

I hate mail clutter, it drives me crazy and yet it is always there! But I am determined to stop it and here is our solution. A small 'Mail Center'. Our home is a split entry, so you open the front door and you are on a small (really small) landing and you can either go upstairs or downstairs. There really isn't any room for anything right there, so I had to move my solution to either the kitchen at the top of the stairs or the living room. The kitchen has been the drop zone for everything and it drives me crazy, so I am trying the living room, on top of the blue dresser I painted. 

I simply found a small filing box at Walmart, hanging folders and manila file folders. Labeled them and stuck them in. Unfortunately, the green of the hanging folders is really ugly and this is my living room, so I grabbed a piece of my favorite scrapbook paper and made a little slip-cover for the first file. I didn't even have to cut the paper, because the file was exactly 12 inches across and I just folded it to match the length. I can swap it out anytime I want a change, but it is much cuter than the army-greenish hanging folder.

The basket next to the file I have had for a long time and it has floated around the house trying to find a home.  It is divided into sections and works perfectly for holding some supplies needed at a Mail Center/Living Room. I put my can of febreeze spray in one spot, the address book, thank you cards and envelopes, sticky notes, 3x5 cards and my piano lesson calendar. This is also where I keep our bill paying envelope. 

It is simply a zipper pouch, I found this one on clearance for 10 cents at Walmart. Inside is everything I need to pay bills; check books, stamps, pens, and the chart where I keep track of our expenses and paid bills. It is so nice to slip the bills into the TO BE PAID folder and then on Friday, grab the folder and this pocket and I am all set... no searching for the check book or rummaging for a pen that works.

Now, you probably noticed that I DO NOT keep pens in the little basket out in the open. This is why.... He is 2 and likes to write "lists" and his "name" on everything, including his face, the walls, the couch, the windows, the tablecloth.... Hope you have a wonderful and safe weekend!