Following on from Aisling’s thread about being organised, I feel we really need to find some decent storage solutions. We tend to find weekends are spent sorting or tidying or re-organising the mountains of stuff we have in the house - but our main problem is that we can’t tidy things away if they don’t have a place to go in!!

Poor DH. I’ve had him measuring and moving furniture and pulling things out of the shed and putting other stuff in most of the day. He’s just taken the children to the park to play football/basketball but now at least we have a computer table with shelves on to store our box loads of papers, stationary, paperclips etc etc which “go” near the computer!

But…we need things like box files or similar.

For all you creative-minded mamas - how can we create storage solutions out of what we have rather than going out and buying a pile of box files and other such storage boxes?

We have wood in the shed - but it’s not nice finished wood - it’s thick outdoor unfinished wood - not even sure you can turn that into a shelf as it’s so thick.

Our main “clutter” is papers. We have a filing cabinet for important papers but we have the pile of “things to sort asap” papers which are things like bills, school letters (which we have millions of as they obviously don’t believe in saving paper!!), magazines etc. Things that normally get put in a pile on the table - and then moved to the kitchen side, then back to the table…for ages until they are dealt with.  Ideally I need a box file to put those in while they are waiting to be sorted…but we don’t have one.

Could I make some? Only have left over cereal boxes but they’re a bit smaller than we’d need I think (until we finish the shredded wheat)...which is an idea - I’ll take the packets out…but what about other storage for other things?

Toy boxes, magazine racks etc? Tell me how to create those without buying them? We have lots of draw string bags in the children’s bedroom…wonder if I can find a space in the utility for a row of hooks to separate the craft things.

Hmmmm….just writing this down is getting my brain in to gear.
If you think of anything else…let me know! x x x x x

Looking forward to reading other people’s replies as we have the same problems as you have. Will have a think.

School letters- it it possible that instead of trying to store them you try to deal with them on the day they arrive? I have 2 at school so the letters mount up too- if there is a reply slip I fill it in immediately and it goes back the next day. If it is a notice about a forthcoming trip/event I put it on the fridge door and I strictly remove them once the event has passed. I try to do the same for all incoming letters/bills etc too so I do not need an ‘in tray’, only long term filing cabinet storage for things that need keeping. Maybe a notice board or fridge door could be your place for ‘in progress’ letters and it stops things being left and forgotten at the bottom of a pile.

Other storage- maybe grocery boxes covered with nice paper or fabric (wall paper/gift wrap?) or painted and labelled for toys? Our Tescos usually have loads of wine boxes available all the same size so they would look neat in a row.

Magazines- again, I am ruthless. I read them and then they are out- either passed to a friend, recycled or Freecycled if there is a pile of them. I tear out or scan any useful articles for future reference. Books too- read and then they are out, unless something I know I will need to refer back to. I find storage is only a problem if you have a lot of stuff to store- can you face solving the stuff rather than the storage?? or are you already down to the really ‘wanted/needed’ stuff?

Freecycle- maybe storage stuff coming up there, or place a ‘wanted’ for anything particular.

I think ruthlessness and immed dealing with things is the key (I am trying this at the mo-trying not to have to handle something twice, eg pick it up and deal with it, not put it down for later-can’t say its easy though!)  I have also got a new calendar with a pocket for each month to put papers in and that is also helping, can’t fit much in but one or two letters etc

Thanks for your replies. We are huge hoarders so being ruthless doesn’t come naturally. However, we have got rid of a lot recently in terms of “things”. I guess our worst offenders are paper items as I said. I do try and sort things as they come in but I normally get given school letters as I’m cooking dinner so I just pop it on the side to read and deal with later. I do return slips asap but it’s the weekly newsletters that get left as I need to write down any diary dates on the calendar (DD does several after school clubs so she often has tournament dates to note).

Grocery boxes sound a fab idea…never seen any at our local asda or tesco but I can ask next time I’m in there. We have often got some from Lidl so I can get some more from there - had forgotten about them.

Magazines… I NEVER manage to read a magazine in one go. It will take several weeks of dipping in and out of it until I’ve managed to read it. It’s only really The Green Parent that I get so it’s not a huge pile - it’s just it’s floating around while I’m dipping in and out of it. DH gets photography magazines too so they are often floating - but I’ve now got my magazine file (cereal box) which I will decorate tomorrow and have that for our mags!

Never used Freecycle so not sure about that - but I will ask around to see if I can get boxes elsewhere.

Thank you again for your replies and suggestions. x

Our school has gone digital for newsletters- emailed to us each week as a pdf (and paper versions available to those without internet at home and paper version up on school notice board). Maybe ask your school to consider it? It really helps cut the paper. They use ‘Parent Mail’ system which emails the newsletters and many other notices out automatically to everyone.

School letters - asked to be emailed.  They are all typed on a computer.  Other schools do it, so there is no problem with legalities.  If they have a problems, start asking around the playground to see if anyone else wants it digitally.  You could start a campaign!

We are going to buy a load of box files.  We don’t have the floor space for a filing cabinet, so we are going to do high shelves and use box files. 

We go to our local tip sometimes to see what they have for sale.  You get to bargain with the guys who run the place, but it is a fun way of shopping for pre-loved stuff.  You should see the rocking horse my friend got for her kids.  A £400 traditional rocking horse for £20.  Needed a new main and tail (which she can do).

We are de-cluttering too.  I have a large magnetic whiteboard on our kitchen/diner. It was £30 from ebay, came with some magnets and magnetic pens.  It is great.  The pens can’t be used anywhere else and they are higher than the kids can reach.  The magnets hold ‘to do’ bits on the board so I have to look at them.

Keep going.  You’ll find a great solution for your house

I too would go with resolving from now on to deal with things straight away and not handle papers twice.

However, even if you do this, it still leaves you probably with a mountain of ‘historical’ papers - which you will still need to tackle. You will then have stopped this at source.

My suggestion and what I am doing myself is to spend sessions sorting these QUICKLY under different headings. Making a title page - (bank, school, e.t.c whatever) and then simply putting an elastic band around them until you can sit down and sort them through properly/and or bin them.

Whilst this sounds like shifting things from one place to another, it is fairly quick and then opens up the possiblity of prioritising what needs dealing with FIRST. For example you might be able to leave school certificates for a while, but there may be letters from the bank that you still need to action/spend some time with.

This approach is similar to that of decluttering a room with the help of several boxes i.e charity shop, rubbish/recycling, keep (memories) e.t.c.

When it comes down to it though, I find decluttering of historical papers HARD. The only way I can seem to do it is if I put the radio on - or watch a comedy on the computer and do a bit at a time because it is really BORING. When it IS done though and you have more space as well as more head space it is such a great feeling so take heart and press on!

best
w.w.

In addition to all of the above - yes, yes yes! I will tackle the playroom today and be ruthless! - for storage solutions, you can also use shoe boxes and decorate them. If you ask at the shop, they usually have a couple. The boots ones are big enough for paper work. Freecycle is great for boxes - there is a lively trade at ours. Also filing cabinets and shelves get offered regularly. You’re doing someone a favour by taking it off their hands, and you have storage.

Love, SunshineXX