Sounds like our family... might I suggest for your sanity that you creat a household command center? Mine is a big binder that sits on the counter.. in it I keep schedules, take out menus, ph#'s of people we need to contact ( dr or pharmacy, next door neighboor etc) As for the rest.. why type of clutter exactly do they generate? Stuff you need to look at and sign? School treasures and papers to save? Important work papers? I saw that one family had a small mailbox for each family member.. might that work for you???

Maddiemom6

I wish everyone in my family had an In box--a pocket on the wall, or a slot in a stack of in boxes. unfortunately, I don't have a physical place I can put it. I tried to get DH (who MOST needs one) to establish one; even put an under-shelf wire basket in his room. He won't use it the right way, so he loses stuff.

Papers to save and important work papers go FAR away from the "hot zone"--I file them, in the other room.

But stuff like an article I want DH to see, mail he needs to act on (like a catalog I know he's looking for, bills he usually pays, etc.) mostly gets chased around the DR until he does something with it. Or until I yell at him, so he grumpily gets up from reading and takes it into the bedroom, where he sets it on his desk and never sees it again.

Take a look at the organizer below. I was recently searching for a good way to deal with our mail & bills. I seriously considered this organizer. But it's just DH & me, & I decided we didn't need this, at least for now. We're going to be changing our den into an office, so I may get one then.

Greta

Here is a link that might be useful: Mail organizer

Marie26, try making one w/ foam-core board and masking tape. Modify it when you need to. Then, when you've lived w/ it a while, take it to a woodworker and see if they'll make you one out of 1/2" stock!

Greta ~
Wow! That's exactly the type of organizer I was looking for!The wooden organizer is small enough to fit on the wall between the SGD and new peninsula (right next to the mail basket on the counter). The mail slots will be accessible to the family but not on the countertop.
And I like that it has 8 sections... with 2 adults and 2 kids we can each have 2 sections of our own. And if there's something too big to fit, then the center partition can be removed.

{{!gwi}}
I purchased a wicker mail basket from Ballard's that I'll keep on the countertop and use in conjunction with the wood organizer. The wicker basket holds current magazines and schedules. It's working out quite well.


Talley_Sue ~
your DH and my DH must somehow be related! Yes, he wants to see his catalogs and car maintenance coupons, etc. But if I leave them on the DR table he moves them onto the chair and vice versa. When I finally get on his case about them, he'll move them into the bedroom where they enter the black hole beside his bed. (House is too small for an office!) Hopefully the mail slots will work... at least we won't be shuffling papers between the table and the chairs!

My son in law made a nice orginizer for the wall using a cubbard door from Menards, lining it with cork, and putting on the needed cup holders along the side to hold keys. He varnished it and it really looks nice. Of course with kids, you might need more space.