If you love stationery, you probably have a house full of it. Pens and pencils, notebooks and sketchpads, sharpeners, rulers, staplers and yes, even fountain pens. Stationery is so easy to buy, fans can quickly gather a large collection.
There are several ways you can organise your stationery collection and enjoy it for its own sake, as well as finding what you need quickly. Any of these storage ideas might suit your needs or inspire a few of your own.
Sorting by Category or Use
You could put all pens together, collect up your pencils or pile your various notebooks into a heap then organise them by size or type of paper (lined, dotted, graph, plain etc.).
Other categories include children’s stationery items. If you have kids, chances are they also have a good collection of crayons and colouring books. Finding storage methods for those to keep them separate from your own is a good idea.
You could also categorise stationery by professional or creative use. The notebooks or memo pads used for work probably won’t inspire you as much as the pretty notebooks or colourful pens used for drawing or journaling. Especially if you enjoy bullet journaling and like creating elaborate page spreads.
Figure out all the different uses you put your stationery too, and divide it up into categories that make sense. After that, finding practical ways to keep the collections together becomes a bit easier.
Archival stationery is a special category you might want to consider secure self storage for. These things including journals, diaries or memoirs from previous years, photo albums, or scrapbooks as well as collected memorabilia. Storage facilities include locker-sized self storage units that are ideal for stationery fans or students with precious term papers they need to keep safe.
Furnishings for Stationery Storage
A rolling chest on castors with shallow drawers is ideal for both adults and kids. It’s easy to move and holds all kinds of stationery so you can wheel it to wherever you (or the kids) are working. Divide all your different supplies between the drawers so they don’t get muddled, and you can get straight on with being creative without any fuss or delay.
Other basic ideas include pen pots or baskets you can stand notebooks up in. If you have a desk, consider installing a shelf up above, then using this to house all your pots and baskets. Choose fabric or wicker baskets rather than utilitarian plastic tubs and they will look as appealing as their contents.
Having other simple storage furniture, such as end tables with drawers, or coffee tables with lift tops or shelves underneath are also useful for items you might want to grab quickly during the day or evening when inspiration strikes.
Creative and Fun Storage Ideas
Taking something designed for a certain purpose and putting it to use for something else is a great way to stamp your personality on your surroundings. With stationery items mostly being quite small, there are lots of ways to keep them neat and tidy.
- Shower caddies make marvellous stationery storers. Hang one or two from the wall in your den or by your desk and you have compartments for books, shelves for post-it notes or tubs of paper clips, and hooks below to hold rolls of decorative paper or on which to hang scissors or a pot for pens.
- Pop a cutlery divider into your desk drawer to hold all your office supplies and pens.
- Fix a pegboard to the wall. On this, you can hang clipboards to hold inspiring artwork and quotes, or paper, envelopes and cards.
Long Term Storage
If you’re going to store paper long term, remember that it tends to discolour and go brittle over time. As well as sunlight, the main culprit for this is the acid in ordinary boxes and paper. When you’re putting paper items away at home or in a self storage room, make sure you use archival quality boxes and storage containers. These are acid and lignin free, so your journals or artwork won’t get ruined.
If your stationery collection is getting out of hand, there’s no need to part with all the lovely items you’ve gathered. With some organised storage, you can keep everything neat and have plenty of room for more!
Do you use any of these storage ideas for your stationery? I’d love to hear in the comments.
Guest post: Big Yellow Self Storage
All my stationary is honestly in a mess hahahh great post! Thanks for sharing xx
http://confessionsofabruncher.com
I hope you can sort it! Thanks for reading x
One day hahahah xx
great post! i’m always looking for new ways to store my ever growing stationary collection! this post was really helpful xx
mich / simplymich.com
Aww I hope it helps! Thank you for reading xx
My stationary is not growing, it is breeding!
That’s the only explanation I can think of.
Haha, breeding! Can never have too much stationery!!
Considering how I have so many stationery goods, I had to find a way to organize them without cluttering up a ton of space. I like the idea of categorizing them. I love how the washi tapes are stored. They are nicely aligned. Oooh, I’ve seen people using wooden boxes/drawer organizers as well. Thanks for sharing these ideas!
Nancy ♥
Thank you for reading I hope these help you sort the stationery goods! I hope my comment went through on your light bites post x
Love this post! I have SO much stationary!
Thank you. Please can you send me link to your blog
This is such a great post! I always struggle with what to do with this kind of stuff. I don’t have loads so I don’t dedicate huge amounts of space to it…but I do have a fair bit and can never find things when I need them. Thanks for the ideas! x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
I hope some of these ideas help. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment x
I can’t even begin to tell you just how badly I’ve needed this post to come into my life! I’ve got loads of stationery and while I’ve got a bit of a system in place to organise them, it desperately needs an overhaul. Thank you for such great tips!
Aww I am so glad this is helpful for you. Please can you send the link to your blog x
Great ideas. I moved into a smaller place a few months ago so storage and organization are top on my list and you have given me many ideas.
I hope they help you. X
They have. Do you have any posts on organizing paperwork?
I am not too sure you can always check them out online x
I feel like this post was made for me. I have a growing collection of stationery and these are definitely helpful tips in storing them away! Right now, I’m utilizing a drawer from IKEA and I literally just show my stationery items in there xD
☼ Eena | cabin twenty-four
I hope these ideas help you! Thank you for reading and commenting x
Neatly and effectively storing things pays off so much in the long run, when we need to grab a roll of tape or find a pen. Love your ideas for keeping everything organized!
Thank you!!
Yeah they really can! A caddy would be a good idea! Aww thank you, I love colour! Haha x
Oh goodness! It’s hard to find storage suitable sometimes! Thank you for reading and leaving such a kind comment
I hope it goes well. Yes I am the same haha xx
Thank tou
That sounds like a good idea 😊
Thank you
I have all my markers, highlighlighters and pens in storage boxes. My stationery fits nicely in a short shelf. I like your idea of pegboard and hanging items.
That’s great, yeah it’s good isn’t it! Thank you for reading and commenting
Great post. My stationery is all over the place at the moment, after outgrowing the drawer unit I kept it in. lol. These are some great ideas.
I hope these help! I know the feeling haha! Thank you for reading and commenting Kim!
I’m hoping to get some decent storage going on once I get my shelves up. Then everything can have a rightful home rather than a half-baked attempt.
Thank you for this wee guide!