Order!! Order!!!

Imagine me banging a gavel and screaming that at the top of my lungs.  This is what I want to do every time I see the mail/coupon/magazine/crap mess on our desk or our dining table.

A couple of months ago I tried to tackle this pesky little problem called the "paper problem"...







...yeah I reeeeeeally under estimated how much paper stuff we accumulate.  This little wall center couldn't handle it!  Today it was looking more like this...

Kinda sad, I know.  These poor envelopes were so over used, see how tired they are?

They didn't really help the the paper problem either, see?  Our sweet little desk, overrun with junk...

And our dining room table, also piled with junk junk junk!  What do to?  How do I get this under control?  Yes I can throw a lot of it away, but there are so many things we need to keep like coupons and bills and magazines I want to read, etc.

We have this blank wall behind the basement door before you go down the steps.  I think it's the perfect place for a mail station.  There is a lot of space for mail slots (seen above, given to me by mom - thanks mom!) and for the cute calendar Dave got me as a stocking stuffer for Christmas, and other things.  So I thought I would give it a try!

Here it is, all nailed up and organized!  I added some family pics to give the mail station a sweet little touch...

This may be a better pic!

This calendar is really cute!  I also put our mail station sign up there for now but I think I'll DIY a fancier one some day!  Time to look on Pinterest...

These labels are from the Martha collection over at Staples!  Love them!

Here is a little magazine bin to put all those pesky unread ones in, I'll get to them soon I promise.  13 days until my summer left!!!

This little project only took me about 30 minutes, and cost me 0 dollars because I add everything, or was given everything - but the effects are priceless because this is definitely keep the JUNK OFF MY TABLE!!  The slots are open and easy enough so that we can grab the mail from the mailbox, and not take up a lot of time or energy sorting it into the bins.  Hmmm...maybe I should put a trash can here too;)

One day I may like to put a little bench with bins underneath it here too.  Even though the area is on the landing of the basement steps, it could be a good place to leave shoes and coats and umbrellas since we do not really have a good spot for all that here on the main floor.  Plus I love that it's tucked out of the way.  When guests come over (not that any of our guests ever mind, lol!) we can close the door if it's too messy.

The real test will be if we go through the stuff enough to get rid of things we don't need anymore.  We didn't do that much when the mail station was just those little blue folders, but I swear I'll try harder this time;)  Plus these bins have much more space to hold things, and they are way more durable - so I think they will hold up better than the last try.  Live and learn!!

Who else is doing little projects around the house this weekend?  This will be one of the only projects I'll get done on my 3 day holiday weekend!  I plan to spend LOTS of time in a pool somewhere!  Tomorrow we are having a huge family pool  party up at my bros new house - it'll be the first of many!!  Yipee!!

Happy Memorial Day!!