Mail Central

This was my project for the weekend. I'm not sure what decorator style it is...none! But, it is in a corner...convenient to where I open mail that comes in; prepare mail to go out; and plan the meals and the grocery shopping. It finally dawned on me that I had to run from room to room - or around the table - to get all the things I needed for any one simple task. So now it's all central! 

Oh, and the shredder? I used to dump the shreddings all into a big garbage bag and, accidentally, onto the floor as well. And then I would need to pull out the vacuum cleaner. Do you see a motivation problem here? So this weekend I figured out that a plastic grocery bag will fit into the shredder nicely.

So I located a stash of them next to the mail station. 

Blue pens (my favorite), black pens, red pens, short pens. I finally gave away all the short pink, green, and purple pens that I used to get in a package whenever I bought short blue pens...before I found the short ones that are in the drawer. (I used to work a job where I needed to put a pen in my pocket.) 

My hubby fixed the battery operated pencil sharpener (I can certainly change a battery, but I couldn't get the silly thing open). And of course, a pen and pencil drawer wouldn't be complete without an eraser (hiding near the pencil sharpener) and white-out. Does anyone still use white-out? I still do, just now and then. 

Long ago, I labeled these drawers with verbs. The drawers were useful, already, before this weekend, but they just had become such a mumbo-jumbo that they were neither efficient nor fun. So, anyway, this drawer is labeled: "Calculate and Label". I decided that not only return-address labels but also stamps could fit into the category of "label"...because I needed the stamps handy, and it works for me. What works for you?

This drawer is labeled "Cut and fasten"...stapler, rubber bands, paper clips, scotch tape, even magnets.

But wait! What do I cut with?

It looked so much better before I added the scissors! Well, these scissors are literally falling apart; so, I think I am going to get smaller ones that fit better in the box with the hole-punches (yes, I really would measure the scissors at the store). And I think I will look for scissors with either black handles or white handles. 

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I'm hoping I can now get on top of my mail. How about you? Is there something you've arranged or re-arranged to make your life a little more efficient? Has it worked for you? 

P.S. The only thing I bought (at this time) for this project were the little white organizing bins, which were at Target, all in a package together, near the silverware trays. I had two

 leftover, which I used elsewhere in the house.

P.S. #2. And here's the Cut and Fasten Drawer with the new working black and white scissors.