The Femme Fatale Life: AT HOME MONDAY. . .organizing those files. . .

Though I pride myself on my organizational skills, it seems my kitchen counter mysteriously and spontaneously accumulates piles and piles of stuff. Where does it COME from? (I have my suspicions.) In an effort to corral the endless trail of papers, mail, keys, change, pens, pencils, I placed a pretty tray on the countertop. Of course, somebody had to then clean out the tray periodically or it became a mountain itself. And, of course, it did. Did I really mean to create yet another chore for myself?

I guess I actually thought the piles of paper would magically sort themselves into "keep," "pay," and "toss" stacks, but for some reason that never happened. When the pile of paper threatened to take over my kitchen I finally relented and separated the mess. Although it didn't take as long as I had anticipated, I thought there had to be a better way to "git-r-done."

My file cabinet is in the back of the house in a bedroom often occupied by my grown daughter when she comes home on weekends (that is another decorating issue), making filing even more inconvenient, which of course, gave me an excuse NOT to deal with the paper pile. But one day a light bulb went off in my head and I realized that I had the solution to filing, at least, right under my nose!

I collect vintage suitcases and train cases, and I just happened to have an empty train case I had recently purchased at Canton's First Monday Trade Days. (That is another blog post, or two, or three!) I suddenly realized that file folders would fit into that little train case, and I could set it in my living room--just off the kitchen--as a decorative way to temporarily file papers until they could be

Receipts and other papers stop here before being shredded or transferred to the "big" file cabinet at the end of the year. It is so convenient to file papers when I finish paying bills now!