5 quick upgrades for your stationery drawer

What does your stationery drawer look? Is it a jumble of pens and pins? Or is it neatly arranged (like mine, ahem), a place for everything so that even the five year old can locate cello tape or a paper clip if I ask him to?

Whether you’re messy or super-organised, here are five upgrades that you can do today to make your stationery drawer a happier, calmer place. And you know what they say, if your stationery is sorted, so is your life. (I made that up, by the way.)

1. Paint your staples gold

Do they sell gold staples in stores? I have no idea, but this looks like such a great DIY. I did try this once, but the gold pen I had made the staples look like weak soup leftovers. Maybe you’ll have better luck!

2. Turn your earrings into drawing pins

You know you have them in your jewellery box –those orphaned earrings whose companion has been lost or broken or gone awol. Use those earrings as custom drawing pins and you’ll have your own unique touch on your bulletin board. I’ve done this and it is such fun to see a pearl earring here and a sparkling diamond (fake, of course) there. Can’t wait to lose more earrings!

3. Control those art materials with loo rolls

If your art materials or pens/pencils are out of control, try this nifty trick to get them in line. Stack a shoe box with loo rolls (you save them, don’t you?) and then arrange your writing/colouring implements in them. Sort them out by colour or use – no one is coming to check. Just keep them orderly!

4. Use cereal boxes to organise your stuff

The lazy girl’s guide to staying organised includes this wonderful tip. Cut the bases of cereal boxes and arrange them to fit your drawer. Put your stationery in it and you’ll never rummage again. I do this with crayons and smaller art stuff – just cut the boxes as high as you need them.

If you have more time and if backgrounds matter to you, cover the boxes with colourful wrapping paper. This is a good way to use up scraps of paper lying around that you may not have the heart to throw out.

5.Use glass jars to prettify your desk

If you have little kids, use this one wisely. I love glass jars for storing and displaying things especially crayons, art materials and pencils. Don’t these look great?

or use smaller jars for your desk or in your stationery drawer if it is deep enough

Find anything useful here?  Do you have any favourite tips for keeping stationery and office supplies under control?

Love…Painted Trunks

I love metal trunks and vintage suitcases not only for their storage possibilities but also for the splash of colour they add to any room. In India, hand-painted metal trunks are sold on street corners. Designs range from floral to mythological. The colours are bold and primary, with hints of neon.

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This is an unusual pattern for a trunk…

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Personally, I’m rather partial to solid colours without any designs on them. Love this hue…

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and these ice-creamy shades…

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I have several of the colourful Indian trunks at home.These hold stationery, bills, random wires, even shoes. They’re great for keeping out the dust but I’m not a fan of the colours I have here. I’m going to paint over the trunks one day – a bright red or pale grey would look lovely, don’t you think?

Do you have trunks at home?

(When you search for ‘painted trunks’ on Pinterest, here’s what also shows up)

:)

Love…SotoMoto

Forget Anthropologie, I’m moving into SotoMoto. I just discovered this fun, colourful store via a post on MDC and they have such ridiculously beautiful things.

Rajee, here’s an idea for you – kantha-clad trunks :)

Now, if I had one of those trunks, I’d start packing right away :)

Images via SotoMoto.

Love…The new H&M collection

I’m in love with these cushion covers and teatowels from H&M. We’ve got similar bottles at home and I’m really tempted to dust them off for a photographic session and then find a screen printer to do them justice.

and these cloth storage bags.

I haven’t looked at the clothes yet. Just goes to show my priorities these days!

See more at the H&M site.

Would you…

use garden planters for other storage?

This is certainly an innovative use of plant holders and child-friendly, too, I’d think.

Image via Firsthome

Peek-a-boo

What do you think of lace being used as a cover-up device? I don’t care for that chair cover very much, but I somehow like the look of that cabinet. Not sure how it will look in a house like ours, though, where everything is vintage, patterned and a tad cluttered :) I think this would look very nice in a modern space, though. No?

Found via DIY or DIE

Unusual Under-Stair Storage

When you think of under-stair storage, you think of built-in cupboards or a desk/chair combination or even a bookshelf or two to fill in that awkward triangular space. This, however, is the first time I have seen such clever use od a built-in system with individual drawers. It would make for wonderful home-office storage, I think. A perfect place for essential papers, photo-albums, manuals and other papers that you need occasionally but don’t have a handy place to keep them.

Found via Pinterest

Tulips on your table

Isn’t this tulip USB port nifty? It might add colour to any ole boring desk :)

Found via

How to be…organised

Via Pinterest

Shiva Flower Vase

Did you notice that vase? I didn’t until I saw the caption on the photo. It’s a ‘Shiva Vase’ by Ettore Sottsass. Interesting concept; maybe I’d have liked it more had it been a different colour. What do you think of it?

I do like that star mirror, though. Really do.

Via Emma’s Blog via Tumblr

Wool over your eyes

Wine rack as yarn storage. That’s a lot of sweaters.

and another…

Via The Name is Laura and That Kind of Woman (love that name)

A fabulous tote for your office

Isn’t this brass tote fabulous? Before you start imagining dragging it all over town on your way to work, let me reveal that it is actually a trash can. What a clever idea! Such an easy way to have a little glam in your room.

First spotted on Hamptontoes

Colour me happy

This photo reminds me of those saree-blouse matching centres that dot our marketplaces. Turns out that this isn’t cloth samples, nor are they colour-coded books. They’re actually…

pencils!

Would you go crazy if you misfiled one?! :)

Love the idea of it, though!

via here

Funky storage ideas

Bet you would have never thought of doing this in a hundred years :)

{Soap-tray/ little tiffin-box converted into a camera case. Via Storage Glee}

{Charging station for your phones via Alkemie}

{toilet roll turned into electrical cord holder. Via Real Simple}

{Colander turned ice-bucket. Via Real Simple}

 

{Never lose your glasses again. Via interior-porn}

 

{Bull-dog clips turned wire-sorters. Genius. Via Storage Glee}

Piggy bank - 2

Love this piggy bank masquerading as a YSL purse. The logo actually reads ‘Youve Saved La Rent’ !!!

Cute.

Found via Vogue. Go on over to see more of supermodel Coco Rocha’s amazing apartment.

The Donck Residence, Goa

I picked up the latest edition of H&E (Homes and Estates, a Goan property magazine) purely on the basis of this gorgeous cover. The magazine usually has an exterior shot of one of their featured homes on the cover. This little vignette was so refreshingly different (and so unusual for Goa) that it immediately caught my eye.

I love the distressed (rare for Goa – the land of richly polished/varnished wood) meat-safe and that it is used to store crockery. The vintage film poster is also quirky, unexpected and fits right in with the house.

The house belongs to Jennifer and Guillaume Donck, a Belgian couple now based in Goa.

The rest of the house is done up with similar finds – antiques from Belgium, almost-life size camels from Indonesia, furniture from their travels across India, artwork by Guillaume.

I’d love to take a closer look inside this home,wouldn’t you?

Rock on

I love this 50GB HDD masquerading as a rock. Other uses – portable weapon, blank palette for rock painting, paperweight…

A whole row of these on a shelf would be nice, yes. But how would one keep track of what’s on what?

via Storage Glee