Keeping Track of Household Manuals

This week has been a big change in our household. I am back to work!  I was lucky enough to start a job at The Riley Center, which is a behavioral and educational center for children with autism. I will be a therapist who gets to work with the children in the classroom. I am so excited to get back in the classroom and work with children again! I am especially looking forward to the chance to help children work through challenges that aren't commonly faced by others.

With this comes the true need for organization. I was able to come up with a lot of strategies for our family while at home, but now we will be putting them to the test. I'm sure we will be making adjustments so everything will continue to work smoothly. One of my struggles has been conquering paperwork.

I have tried quite a few strategies to organize all of those pesky booklets that go with all of the gadgets that accumulate in the house. I would have probably just recycled them in one of my crazy purges, but my perfectionist side is afraid I will end up needing some information from one of the booklets one day. I also make sure to keep receipts and warranty information, which we have needed here and there in the past.

After all of the booklets and paperwork followed us from Virginia and tripled overnight, I finally came up with a way that works for us to organize them! Just because it works for me, doesn't mean it will work for you, but if I can give just one person the inspiration to finally take control of the crazy booklet pile, I will be happy.

The first thing I did was separate all of the instructional booklets, warranty information, and receipts into piles according to the room where the product is located. Then, I used clear plastic page covers to hold each pile. I found a place in each room to hold the plastic cover. Now, everything is within easy reach! Here are a few examples of the places I stashed my piles.

In the kitchen, I store them in a drawer under my place mats. There were so many for the kitchen that I didn't try to fit them into a clear page protector.

In the living room, they are stored in a drawer of the entertainment center.  You can also see that we put other loose ends here.

The pantry is the closest storage spot for our thermostat and security system manuals. I have storage drawers that I slid the manuals above. 

Please share any strategies you have for organizing household manuals.

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Or check them out from the links here: The Prudent Pantry, Here Comes the Sun, Jane's Adventures in Dinner, Project: Inspire, Melting Moments, The Artsy Girl Connection, Confessions of an ADD Housewife, The NY Melrose Family, Someday Crafts, The Dedicated House, Adorned From Above, Organize and Decorate Everything, Six Sisters' Stuff, I Heart Nap Time, Positively Splendid, Heatherly Loves, Kayla Creations, Debbiedoo's, A Stroll Thru Life , The Thrifty Home, Beyond the Picket Fence, Stone Gable, Here Comes the Sun