Organize Office Supplies at Home

As a Wayfair Homemaker, Im happy to have this post sponsored by Wayfair. As always, all opinions are my own.

To create a productive and useful office space, its important to organize office supplies at home. Ive just reorganized my own home office and am excited to show you how simple it was to make a big improvement and create a useful space.

While organizing office supplies is a simple process, there are many factors to consider.

First general organizing tips for office supplies and then Ill walk you through the choices I made in organizing my own home office supplies closet.

How to Organize Your Home Office Supplies

1. Declutter Go through every single item and declutter ruthlessly.
2. Make every single item you keep prove its worth and value to be kept.
3. Group office supplies in categories that make sense for you and how you use the items.
   1. Group like items together.
   2. Group items together by function.
   3. Group items that are used together in the same category.
4. Place items where they will be used, if possible.
   1. Pens and pencils in the desk.
   2. Printer paper near the printer.
5. When that is not possible, create an office supplies storage closet or cabinet.
6. Measure the space carefully (and then measure again).
7. Carefully select furniture, storage bins and tools for your office supplies.
   1. Look for well-made bins that will hold up to heavy use.
   2. Look for versatile office organizing products that can still be useful as your needs change.
8. Place items into the bins and storage containers so that theyre easy to see and easy to access.
9. Place heavier items lower so if they fall, they wont hurt you.
10. Place frequently used items between shoulder and waist height, where they are easier to access.
11. Place lightweight items on top shelves.

Now let me show you how I organized my own home office supplies closet.

While my home office supplies closet was organized before, it was a bit messy and not as functional as I wanted. The closet it very narrow and awkward to access, so it was important to make the space as easy to access as possible.

Organize Office Supplies at Home

Declutter

I have a confession. I adore office supplies the way other people love shoes. In addition to my office supplies addiction, I have 3 children and had collected binders, paper, pens, etc. on sale for them for years.

Heres the the thing. Only one of my children is still at home. I no longer need the same stock of school supplies that I needed a few years ago.

I was ruthless in decluttering all the excess office and school supplies that I had collected. When youre decluttering, it helps to think about:

• If I let this go, who could put this item to use right now?
• Who would be happy to have this item rather than have it stored in a closet?
• What else can I do with the space this item is taking up?
• Does the decluttering 20-20 rule apply to this item?

I decluttered the contents of this box plus a bag of pencils and pens that I donated to teachers at my local school.

Sort Remaining Items

I sorted the remaining items in three ways:

1. I grouped like items together. For example:
   1. All pens together.
   2. All spiral notebooks together.
   3. All sticky notes together, by size.
   4. I did this sort with all the offices supplies I kept.
2. Then I sorted the items into groups of items I access most often.
   1. Items I use frequently were placed where they will be easiest to reach and access. This easiest-to-access area is most often shelves you can easily reach between your knees and shoulder height.
   2. I identified items that I access less often and could be placed in less convenient areas.
3. Finally, I identified heavy items that should be placed on the bottom shelf. In this situation, the item was printer paper. The reams of paper are heavy and I dont want them to fall on me. It make sense to place the reams on the bottom shelf.

Furniture

I knew that I wanted to find a bookshelf that would fit in the awkward closet space. I wanted to maximize the vertical space, so I carefully measured the area and then began looking for the tallest bookcase I could find that would fit in the space.

I was thrilled to find this 4 shelf bookcase from Wayfair that fit in the vertical space with only about 2 inches to spare.

Select Containers

Containers create boundaries for the items inside. They are also uniform in shape and size so they are easy to stack, if needed. Bins and containers also look more visually cohesive. There are many containers designed to organize specific types of office supplies.

Once I selected the bookcase, I then began to look for sturdy containers that would fit on the shelves. It was important to me that the products be:

• Sturdy and well-made
• Be versatile
• Be pretty and coordinate with other storage bins that I already have.

You can read more about the home office organizing products I chose and the many ways that I can reuse each of the containers in the future.

Containerize

Its key to use containers to keep small and loose office supplies organized and neat.

Place items inside the container so that theyre easy to access. You dont want a jumble of unidentifiable items. use smaller containers to separate and organize within the larger bin or box, if necessary.

Label

Labeling containers is fundamental to being able to find office supplies easily. Labels also allow other users to find what they are looking for quickly (and without making a mess of your neatly organized home office supplies)

I was even able to repurpose a name badge holder that I found while decluttering to make the label for the green storage bin.

You can use items you already have to make handwritten labels or use a label maker, as I did for a uniform look.

Place Items Where They Make Sense

Plan where you will place office supplies so that they make sense in the way you use them in your home. Also, consider the weight of the items.

Place items that you need to grab quickly, such as sticky note pads, in open bins so that they are easy to grab-and-go. Place items that could spill out and are less frequently used in a container with a lid.

Ive been using this newly rejuvenated office supplies closet for about a week now and its working beautifully for my family. All the planning, measuring and the right choice of products have paid off with my functional and pretty system to organize office supplies at home.

Be sure to save to Pinterest for later when you are organizing office supplies in your home office.

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