Storing household documents paperwork - how to make it organised/nice/neat?

[MissyB1]

Boring question I know sorry!
I currently have a couple of hideous metal filing cabinets - belonged to dh when I met him. They are sooo ugly! I am about to have our tiny study redecorated and want to get rid of the filing cabinets.
I was thinking of a kallax unti with Box files Instead?
How do you store your documents?
Its stuff like
Mortgage deatils
Tax paperwork
instruction manuals
Car documets
Life insurance etc etc...

We used to have a filing cabinet. Now we have a pretty slim folder of documents. Instruction manuals etc recycled - just download a pdf. Most invoices, pay slips etc are all online now - very little paper has to be filed. Most of the stuff we have in a folder is from way back - birth certificates etc rather than instruction manuals.

I keep hospital letters, car documents, council tax bill (current only) in a 1-31 concertina file. I also have a "documents" folder in the photos on my phone. I regularly use the photos of passports, driving licences etc for ID

Scan all of the documents you need to keep and ensure you have a backup file (such as in the cloud). Obviously long documents such as instruction manuals may not suit scanning, but I reckon you could eliminate most of your hard copies.

I have a concertina fule marked A-Z & file everything in that, I use C for all car documentation, H for home stuff. I also keep copies of all benefit claim forms in a cloud file as well as paper copies.

Firstly they are in files and boxes. Secondly they are stored inside a cupboard out of view.

I have a work area with my work papers which I keep on the lower shelves behind the sofa.

Husband has his in an in/out tray in his work area.

I can't justify the price of this but it looks like a nice way of dealing with the problem and they have masses of choices of fabric www.thedormyhouse.com/large-portland-filing-ottoman

We spray painted our filing cabinet with car paint. It went from ghastly, functional, office equipment to funky and cheerful. After about 20y use we started thinking about a respray... but 5y in we still haven't got around to doing it

@Mia85 Thanks for sharing that ottoman link - what a great idea! I’m sure something cheaper could be adequately converted to hold files in a similar way.

We run as paperless as we can in terms of documents and only have one plastic popper folder with car/finance/life stuff in and a couple of obscure manuals.

On the other hand, I have literally every school book and piece of art my pre-teen has ever made in the loft and I really struggle to throw any of them away. I really need an ottoman to “file” it all in!

Instruction manuals are always online, chuck those once you're used to the appliance.

I scan documents that don't need a hard copy and store on Google Drive (you can scan straight into Drive on your phone).

Then it's just 1 folder of stuff that does need to be kept - review annually and scan/discard old paperwork.

IKEA pax wardrobes.
We have a double in office and it fits the printer inside ( cut hole at back for plug), all files which we have about 15 files due to being expats, both self employed, company’s, house, health etc.
Plus any thing else ‘office’ related. Paper, pens, sellotape, scissors.

it goes right to the ceiling. Top shelf fits guest bedding. We have sofa bed in the office. Means if guests stay, all the mess and work related stuff is hidden away.

I think they start at 50cm single wardrobe size and you can basically go as big as needed. I think I will add another 50cm to ours to match, so we have space for all out of season coats, shoes, and clothing not used often.

@retirednottired - god I wish. We need a folder for everything overseas. So many documents. If self employed it’s the company/ tax stuff that also takes up lots of space.

In folders in a locker!

uk.mustardmade.com/collections/mustard-made-family-lockers/products/the-skinny-in-blush-school-locker

I have a couple of concertina files and plastic wallets. It all fits into a drawer. I keep manuals in a pretty box but rarely look at them so maybe not worth keeping.

I use Google drive for as much as I can and shred everything not in use.

Yes I suspect when I empty the filing cabinets to sort it all out that I will be able to shred half of it!
I’ve ordered kallax unit and some pretty pastel box files.

This x 2 and stored on shelf in the wardrobe in the spare bedroom.

I have a small wooden filing cabinet that lives under the breakfast bar in my kitchen. Doesn't look out of place.

I managed to reduce our paperwork from 4-5 folders to just 1 by keeping an address book with the paperwork, if a letter comes in I'll write any information I need (eg account number, reference numbers, nhs number, contact number) in the address book then get rid of the paper.

Don't forget that you can scan an awful lot of stuff and then store it in the cloud. Always there if you need it but not cluttering up your house. These days government departments accept scans, so you don't need a lot of the paper documents.

Pinterest idea- separate files in a box that can slide under the bed. I put them in files as I use dividers and it makes it so much easier to find when you need to start looking at months or years.