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dumping ground help

6 years ago

HELP!!! This absolutely bugs me to no ends. This small area in my kitchen is a dumping ground for bills, coupons, you name it. I can’t figure out what to do to make it look good and not cluttered. I don’t really want something big and bulky but also something easily accessible where things won’t get lost. HELP!!

Comments (18)

  • 6 years ago

    Something wall-mounted?

  • 6 years ago

    That’s basically your office. Do you have another spot in the house where you could put a desk?

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    Have your bills sent electronically , sort mail and put the garbage in the garbage then have a spot for coupons like a tin box , put all the pencils etc in a drawer.Make it a habit to sort mail when it arrives.

  • 6 years ago

    It looks like nearly all of the clutter is flat paper - which could
    cover your entire house if you let it. There's a reason file cabinets store papers on their sides rather than flat. Turn all your stored paper on its side and organize
    it either in a vertical mail caddy or a wall-mounted caddy (as suggested
    above). Definitely ditch the desk calendar - it announces "put paper stuff here!"

    Bettter yet, get rid of anything that isn't absolutely essential. If you don't use as many coupons as you store, stop storing them (how many saved pennies is a clean perspective worth?). Same goes for takeout menus. Convert bills to autopay or a very small bill/mail caddy (again, vertical).

    If you are not the source of this clutter, put a large basket there, at least temporarily, to keep the rest of the household from dumping there.

  • 6 years ago

    Try this idea for a week: get three manilla folders with left, center, and right tabs. Label "Bills", "Coupons", and "Stuff To Do". Sort the papers into the folders and put them behind your brown desk organizer. When new papers come in, put them in the folders. You'll find out quickly if you need more categories of folders (such as "School Announcements"). If this system works for you, choose a desktop file folder holder that goes with your brown organizer.


    There are also pigeonhole sorters like old fashioned roll top desks have.

  • 6 years ago

    If it’s has to be in the kitchen, I suggest two things- a wooden letter holder ( the ones with several slots) hung on the wall there for import letters such as bills etc. that need immediate attention and assign a drawer for other misc . Letters and have dividers in it and label each slot- sort them out ( to throw or keep) at least twice a week.

  • 6 years ago

    Who is doing the “dumping“? A change of habit will be as important as the tools.

    I wouldn’t put an organizer for bills or statements and coupons if you actually pay the bills somewhere else. It isn’t easy, but when you come in the door, they should immediately go to where they are paid or filed.

    As for coupons, how many of them do you really use? I realized that we didn’t use most of the coupons that come in the mail, so we just put them right in a recycling bin, which is right by where we come in. We have tried to find better ways to keep the ones we do use, right now they are standing upright in a long, narrow basket.

    Can you get the, is it a Nest? off the counter? can you use the drawer? How about the end cabinets?

  • 6 years ago

    Search online (or pinterest. houzz) for "kitchen command center" to get some ideas. Some can be fairly elaborate while others are as simple as organizing and concealing stuff in an existing cabinet.

  • 6 years ago

    I sewed a stretchy sleeve for my Google mini and hung it on a wall hook. I also built a wall organizer to hold the cable modem and the TV box. I hate seeing wires everywhere so I try to secure the excess cord length and get the device off the horizontal surface. Many devices have a wall mount available or heavy duty velcro can hold electronic devices if they have a flat spot to use. Or, attach a holder to the underneath of the upper cabinet for the electronics.

  • 6 years ago

    Don’t know if it would work in your home, but we had a cabinet built with somewhat hidden drop zones on the side.

  • 6 years ago

    My coupons go in my purse. I clip a calendar to the side of my fridge that no one sees along with a grocery list and pen. I pay my bills in my office/guest room so they go directly there. I let a couple of chargers and Alexa live in a small section of my counter next to a basket that holds a few misc items like the fan remote and reading glasses but that’s it.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I have a rule - never set anything down where it doesn’t belong. For instance, when I come in the door I hang my purse in its place, put mail where it belongs (3rd and 4th class goes right to the trash, bills in their place in a cabinet just inside the door, and newspapers/magazines on the side tables in the living room) coat in the closet, etc etc.

    In other words, assign a place for everything and put everything in its place. Immediately. Never dump.

  • 6 years ago

    I'll go old school for you. Get a bulletin board. Hang the calendar on it (some of us need visual reminders instead of electronic). Hang any other papers you want to keep in front of you where you can see them, like invitations. What are you using those drawers for? Use one for menus and coupons, placed in labeled file folders. Use one for the tape and scissors, etc. Get a bigger organizer that you can put bills in, with a large top tray to put that device on. Perhaps re-utilize that corner lower cabinet for all of this -- get a cabinet organizer and bins. Look in kitchen stores, office supply stores, etc.

  • 6 years ago

    Get an accordion folder and put it in the drawer. They come in many different sizes.

  • 6 years ago

    Hang a few magazine files from your upper cabinets.

  • 6 years ago

    It looks like this is the most convenient place to sort the mail. But...try to stack it in one pile, rather than multi piles. As you sort, either address the issue, file it away or throw it away.

    No need to spread it out like it’s a desk.

    I do like Partim’s idea but it needs to be steamed lined.

    Side story: DH has his own decimated home office yet.......he wants to open mail on the kitchen table.


  • 6 years ago

    Google "piler or filer". Some people stack (pile) papers, some file them vertically. Pilers (myself included) can benefit from dedicated stackable trays or something similar.