My Command Central Station

Today I thought I would share how I organise our incoming/outgoing paperwork and general 'bits and pieces' in our living area.  This system has changed over the years, and since I have not been working and spending less and less time in the study for anything other than 'creative' work, having this all in the living area just makes sense for us.

It is also right beside where our Calendar hangs, and where my Recipes stand, so it makes for a complete little organisation station in our kitchen/living area.

Ok, let's move along the buffet from left to right.  Firstly I have a coaster - this is for my water glass during the day.  It reminds me to drink my water regularly.  To the right of the coaster, I have a photo/memo stand.  On this stand I can display invitations, cards, important notes, letters to post, a new favourite photo, etc.  I am not a big fan of having things on the fridge, so this allows me to display an important piece of paper, without creating a whole lot of visual clutter.

Next is my Weekly To Do Folder.  I posted a while ago about how I plan my To Do list for the week ahead.  This has evolved during my time off, and I have changed from a binder to a folder, which is much more portable, and I find it easier to write on, and neater too.  I have a blog post coming on this soon...

Next are my Home Organisation folder systems.  I store these is this gorgeous vase that I was given for Christmas.  I had been searching for the perfect sized bucket to hold my folders for ages, and one day I realised that this vase was perfect!  I love that I can see into it, so it is easy to grab the smaller items out, and I can enjoy the pretty prints on the folders too :)

Here is everything that is in the vase:

- file folders, accordion file, mini clipboard, post-it notes, Cath Kidston sticker book and pencil case.

The 6 file folders store information in each of these categories:
Finance, Events, To Action, Business, Calendar/Templates, Medical

I have written a separate post on these file folders, which you can read about here.

This accordion file is where I store information on our current Home Projects.  I always find I collect papers, notes, quotes, manuals, measurements, sketches, etc on a project or a purchase of something we are investing a fair bit of money in, and I like having all that information stored centrally so that we can easily lay our hands on them.

Our current home projects are: Camera, Blinds, Dam Fence, Roof.  This obviously changes all of the time, so I write the labels on post-it notes, which are easy to change around each time we start/finish something.

The small clipboard is such a cute size!  It is perfect for lists - don't you just LOVE lists??

And at the back of the vase, I also have a pencil case, with the basic stationery that I use when I do my 'desk jobs'.  In here I have pens, a highlighter, a calculator, a notepad and post-it notes.  This saves me going into the study to collect the stationery when I sit down to work through the folders each week.  I just pick up the entire vase (tub of folders), and everything I need is ready to go.  This really makes working through the folders that one little bit easier.  I keep the pencil case right at the back, and this helps everything in front to stand up nice and tall.

Moving along the buffet, next I have a pen cup, obviously to ensure that we always have something to write with.  Then I have my Digital Photo Frame.  I like to change the photos in here seasonally, at the moment I have photos in there from our holiday to Western Australia last year :)

And finally I have my little phone charger station.  It holds two phones or cameras.  I usually put my phone here during the day, so that I know where it is, even if it isn't charging.  The dock has a little slot at the back, which holds my favourite notepad - I often write myself a Daily To Do list using this notepad, if I have a busy day ahead or lots I want to get through.  Obviously the digital frame and charging station are located at this end, as this is where the power point is.

And that is about it.  This system has been working for me for the past 4 months now, and it seems to be keeping things organised and easy to access.  Obviously, the file folders are a system within themselves, which need to be regularly opened, actioned and then filed, in order to maintain the system.  As I mentioned above, I will post more about these soon :)


Read about how I organise my File Folders here.