Supposedly, we live in the era of the paperless office. Sadly, most of us still have to deal with a huge amount of paperwork. Keeping your mountain of documents organized can be difficult. Here are a few practical but attractive document storage solutions that will look great in your home office, and make it easy for you to stay organized.
1. Decorative Filing Cabinets
Filing cabinets don’t have to be boring, industrial-looking items. Make a filing cabinet that fits the style of your home with this simple decoupage project. Simply take a standard filing cabinet and remove the drawers and handles. Measure and cut some fabric to fit, paint down the decoupage, and carefully lay the fabric over it.
2. Home Made Magazine Holders
For a simpler craft project, make magazine holders and other document storing boxes out of old cereal boxes. Simply cut the boxes down to the appropriate size and wrap them with stylish wallpaper off-cuts or wrapping paper. You can make the designs as simple or fancy as you like.
3. Acrylic File Colators
This stylish acrylic file colator offers a minimalistic approach to document organization. It comes with five dividers, and you can easily add standard dividers to it if necessary. The transparent acrylic base is easy to clean, and if you’re feeling particularly creative you could customise it with a simple painted motif.
4. Seagrass File Boxes
If you’re not artistically inclined, and would prefer to simply purchase your document storage solutions, check out this gorgeous Seagrass two-tone collapsible filing basket. This basket is ideal for storing letter-sized documents, and will compliment any room, whether the decor is rustic or modern. This box folds flat for easy storage when it is not in use.
5. Desk Jars for Receipts
Save yourself the stress of having to hunt for receipts for your expense reports by placing a large candy jar (or a large earthenware jug) on the table in your porch or cloak room. When you get home, empty the receipts out of your pockets into the jar. When the time comes to file your expenses, all of your receipts for the last month will be in one handy place.
For long-term storage, purchase a moleskin notebook and glue your receipts into the pages in chronological order. This will keep them flat and dry, and make it easy to flick through them if you need to look something up.
6. Door Hangers for Short Term Storage
Store documents that you know you’re going to need soon, such as maps, bills, vouchers or coupons in a clean-and-simple Over the Door storage system. Once a month, clear out the paperwork that is stored in the pockets. File any bills that have been paid, throw away unused/expired coupons and replace public transport timetables with up-to-date versions. Doing this will take only a few minutes, and will ensure that you always have all of the documents you need at your fingertips.
