Brilliant Ways to Organize Your Office Supplies

by Donna @ An Organized Season

Is your home office a tidy space you enjoy working in, or is it cluttered? If you’re in the cluttered camp, we can help! Check out these brilliant ways to organize your office supplies!

Today we’re wrapping up our Winter Home Organization Challenge in the office!

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I spend a lot of time working in this room and honestly, it’s the hardest space for me to keep tidy!

I’ve made some changes that I hope will help me do a better job of controlling the clutter this year!

Come on in and take a look at my office!

Ways to Organize Office Supplies

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Take inventory of the supplies you use in your office and break them down into zones!

Here are my zones:

Office supply zone-a place to store extra pens/pencils, scissors, tape, stapler, staples, rubber bands, and any other office supplies you use.
Printing Zone- printer, copy paper, cardstock, photo paper, ink supplies.
Desk/work zone- Your desk, lamp, computer, pens/pencils, and any items you need close at hand to do your job.
Mail/bill zone-Organizer for incoming mail, calculator, stamps, envelopes, return address labels, and any items needed to pay bills.
Paper/filing zone-Your file cabinet. If you don’t have one, consider using filing tubs, magazine holders, or binders.
Craft zone -If you craft, scrapbook, or sew, set up an area in the office for all of your supplies.
Storage zone-bookshelf or closet where you can store books, magazine holders, bins, and large office items.
Wrapping zone- Wrapping paper, ribbon, tape, scissors, boxes, gift bags, greeting cards, and tags.

Let me show you how I organize each of these zones!

Brilliant Ways to Organize Office Supplies

Use drawer dividers

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The easiest way to organize drawers is to use dividers to separate office supplies!

These plastic dividers come in different sizes which makes it easy to fit them into different size drawers.

Get creative with storage solutions

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I use Crystal Light containers to separate items in this unusually shaped drawer!

You’ll be surprised at what you can use to contain items if you just put your mind to it!!

Use stackable trays

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Use all the vertical space you can in a cabinet!

Stackable trays are perfect to store paper, labels, notebooks, and laminate sheets.

Notice the way I have stored envelopes beside the trays.

Prioritize Organizing the Desktop

Invest in a desktop organizer

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A desktop organizer is a great investment to hold office supplies you use every day!

Organize unsightly cords

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Last year I organized and labeled all the cords in my office! It worked great!

Set up a print station

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Keep all of your printing supplies in the same place.

We keep computer paper, cardstock, and photo paper next to the printer!

There is room behind the photo paper to store ink cartridges!

Address incoming and outgoing mail

Add a mail station to your office wall.

Use wall space to set up a station for the mail, so it doesn’t land on the kitchen counter or table!

How to Deal with Paper in the Office

Here are a few suggestions for how to deal with paper in your home. If you want more details on this subject check out this post on how to get rid of paper clutter now!

Invest in pretty stackable trays

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Organize paper in stackable trays. Make a “to pay,” “to file,” and a “to act on” tray.

Color code your filing system

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File paperwork in color-coded files.

Use binders to manage daily life

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Organize important paperwork in binders!

Create Storage for Crafts

If you store craft supplies in your office check out this post on my essential craft supplies and how I organize them!

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After I wrote that post, I decided to makeover the cabinet holding my craft supplies! The cabinet the TV is sitting on used to be brown! DIY coming soon!!

Make Use of Vertical Space for Storage

The best way to use vertical space in an office is to add shelves!

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Here is a list of the storage containers I use to organize items on my shelf!

Photo boxes
Magazine holders
Fabric cubes
Lazy Susan
Decorative storage box

Use the 6/P Strategy to Organize Office Supplies

Need some help organizing your office?

Use our simple six-step strategy to get the job done!

We also developed printable sheets to help you even more!

The sheets are free and you can gain access to them by signing up for our email list here!

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PREPARE

Get the office ready to organize by grabbing four containers. I like to use the following: a trash bag, a cardboard box, and two laundry hampers.

PURGE

Remove everything in the space except the furniture and sort all items into one of these categories:

Trash-throw all unnecessary items in the trash bag
Donate-put items you would like to donate into the cardboard box
Relocate-any items that don’t belong in the office should go into laundry hamper #1
Replace- items that need to stay in the office should be placed in laundry hamper #2

POLISH

Now that the clutter is gone it’s time to clean the office! Remember to start at the highest point in the room and work your way down!

PERSONALIZE

To complete this step, ask yourself the following questions:

How does this space need to function for my personal needs?
What is causing clutter in this space?
Which items are necessary for the room to work productively?
What items do I need to make or purchase to contain items in this space?
How can I beautify the space, so I enjoy spending time there?

PLACE

Now it’s time to place items back into the office in an organized manner.

Discard the trash bag you filled up!
If you have items to donate, don’t wait around, take them to the donation center soon!
If you have items that belong in another room, deliver them now.
Replace the items you removed from the room and put them back in an organized manner!

PUT BACK

To keep your office organized, you must return things where they belong! By developing this habit, your office will stay clutter-free and you’ll be more productive than ever!