Do You Have an Office Supplies Closet?

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

12 Dec 2007 04:56 AM

Having an office supplies closet, pantry or set of shelves at home can help you stay organized and prevent all of that last minute running around.

Back in our old home, we had a pantry down in our basement that was kept stocked with office supplies. There was everything in there from printer paper and ink cartridges, to reporter notebooks and expense ledgers, to extra boxes of crayons and craft supplies for the kids. Keeping that pantry well stocked really helped keep the household running. If my son needs something for school or I need something for work, we could reach into the closet and take what we needed without any hesitation.

Since the time we have moved, we haven't had an office supplies closet set up. This is because the storage pantry we were using had to be repurposed as a temporary linen closet, since the number of closets in our new home is much smaller. Instead, we use the supplies we have, reaching off of shelves and in boxes, not knowing what we have or what needs to be replaced. Here are some recent examples of the chaos.

My son broke his school scissors, so instead of reaching in to the office supply pantry, we had to run out at night to purchase a new pair.

Our ink cartridge ran out, right as we were printing a newsletter and had to stop work until we could run out and replace it.

While doing some straightening up, I discovered that we have 12 boxes of tape and no tape dispenser.

I vow that I'm going to set aside some shelves in the basement and organize the supplies. As I go along, I'll note items that we need. I'll have the list handy when sales take place, so we can stock up to save money.

So for now, I'm pouring through boxes to try and group like items, so I can designate spaces for them. I've also gathered two grocery bags full of stranded supplies that might find better homes elsewhere.

How do you organize your office supplies?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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Mary Ann Romans (26886) 01 Apr 2008 04:18 AM

Hmm, I don't know about boring. You can make some neat things out of paperclips.

Nicole Humphrey (15757) 01 Apr 2008 07:04 AM

Not boring at all. Mary Ann that was so obviously spam. LOL Office supplies are so not boring but hopefully the comment is gone. They just wanted to advertise their blog. hehe

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 01 Apr 2008 08:05 AM

Thanks Nicole!