Small Office Filing Solution

This post is titled “small office filing solution,” but in my case “office” should be in quotes because I’m not sure if mine qualifies. Check it out for yourself:

My “office.” I used to share office space in our house with Mr. L, but ever since COVID hit he’s needed more room. So I moved myself into this small corner of the house.

While the move may sound melodramatic, it was actually a good thing for me. The location is ideal. It’s in the family room right off of our kitchen and back door area, so I can work and watch the kids at the same time. It also forced me to consolidate all of my stuff and get organized.

I’m actually a minimalist when it comes to office “stuff.” I try to keep most of my paperwork digital. And I tend to keep traditional office supplies like tape and pens and things like that in other areas of the house.

My one tie to the dinosaur era is my set of file folders for calendar year items. I find it easier to sort through hard copies for medical receipts, taxes, coupons, and things like that, so I keep them, along with documents I still need to scan, in file folders. For years, I stored these in a mesh file crate from The Container Store. But when I moved “offices” I needed an easy-to-access place to keep the files. The cabinet next to the chair contains children’s toys, so that wasn’t an option for me. But I did have room on top of the desk area.

The only problem was that I needed a file storage container that would fit in with my decorated shelves. A pretty one.

A Pretty Storage Solution

I scoured the internet for decorative file containers, but didn’t have much luck. Most of the file containers that I liked didn’t have lids. And the lidded linen file boxes, while pretty, were all the wrong color and still a bit too “office-y” looking for my family room shelf.

The closest thing I found was this seagrass rolling file cabinet (affiliate link) from Amazon:

But I didn’t need wheels and the hinged top wouldn’t work under my bookshelf.

That’s when it hit me that I could make my own decorative file storage basket. Pottery Barn sells these lovely lidded baskets in a variety of colors:

The large basket measures 21″ wide x 16″ deep x 10.25″ high, which is more than enough space to fit file folders. I like that the lids have wired corners on the bottom so they don’t slide around when put in place.

And Amazon and a number of office supply stores carry this handy mesh file frame (affiliate link) than can be inserted in any container:

Put the two together and you have a pretty file storage solution:

The only drawback to this storage solution is that the price point on the Pottery Barn basket is a bit high. But if you catch the baskets during a sale, the price is not too bad. There are also a ton of decorative basket options out there. During the COVID lockdown, however, I wasn’t able to visit my usual basket sources (HomeGoods usually has a great selection), so I went with Pottery Barn. I do like the large size of the Pottery Barn basket because I have extra room to store my laptop and other miscellaneous items in the extra space around the file frame.

And that’s how I keep everything organized in my new “office.” I may take over that cabinet next to my desk, but for now the kids’ toys are safe. Stay tuned.