Organizing Paper

I am always revamping and tweaking my organizational systems.  As I wonder why that's the case, I realize the only ones that stick are the ones that work.  There is a lot of  paper clutter in my house and I can never find the system that sticks.  In order that I don't forget things, I have to keep many papers within easy reach, but then I suddenly find that the counter is piled with bills, letters, recipe clippings, you name it!


When we moved into this house 6 years ago, I tore out a bit inspiration for the office and never used it - a wall of clipboards. It's one of those ideas that always keeps coming back to me, so I finally decided to try it in our kitchen.  To tame the paper that needed more immediate attention, I had the perfect unused space on the wall that divides the kitchen and the living room.  The only issue was the fact that this wall can be seen from most angles in our open-concept living area.  I didn't want bills and random papers creating a un-sightly mess.  It finally occurred to me that I could make the clipboards work!  I found different papers I liked that had a similar color scheme and mod podged them to the back of the clipboards.  Now I can clip the papers on the front side and simply flip the clipboard over so no one has to see all the papers.  I added sticker letters to indicate what goes where and have created some calm where there was chaos.  So far, I love this solution!  The papers are off of my counter, I've added a bit of pattern to my kitchen, and it has the clean look I was going for.  Phew.  Now onto the closets . . .

Does January turn you into a mad organizer?