I just love transforming my home one little step at a time. It's quite refreshing and not overwhelming at all. I was reading chapter 9 on PAPER in my organizing book. Paper is a huge issue at our house. It collects on my kitchen counter and my office desk. I've gotten a lot better at it over the years but still not where I want to be. I remember seeing a picture from before we had kids and my kitchen table was covered in piles! We even ate at the table surrounded by the piles. At that home I had no counter top space so everything collected on the table. During that time we were both in college and working so we were hardly home. It's a different story now that I'm home the majority of the time.

My counter top most of the time

So, if you have a problem with paper, here are some great tips:

Only handle it once (I've heard this lots of times from lots of places); don't pile it for later

* sort mail as it comes in and other important papers (I included a picture of my new system)So far, it's 2 days later and still looks like this!

* File bills, important papers, etc immediately. We use a large filing cabinet as well as one in my desk drawer. You can also use a small accordion file if you don't have much paper to work with.
* purchase a business card holder from an office supply store to keep business cards in. I always have business cards laying around so I am currently using a holder to keep them all in.
* Set up a Family Calendar Station where you have a master calendar for everyone to see along with any other important info. I've wanted to get a wipe board in my kitchen and set up something like this. It's not happened yet. As the boys get older it will be more important for us to have something like this. In the meantime I just tell my husband his schedule and it works for us. :)

Something else I tackled since it was close by was my husband's junk drawer. He wasn't too thrilled with it but we compromised and moved it. I told him he could keep as much junk as he wanted as long as I didn't have to see it. He now has a junk drawer somewhere else that won't bother me.

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AFTER