DIY Mail Organizer + Broom Closet Organization

You know how it goes.  You get the mail, it sits in your car for 3 days.  It sits on a random table for 4 more days after that.  You move it around a few times.  Your kids draw some awesome pictures on the envelopes.  You then realize the cell phone bill is due tomorrow.  No?  Just me?

We've been over this, but our house is small for 4.5 people.  When we moved back here in July of last year, we decided to give the kids their own rooms.  I honestly can't remember the reasoning at the time, but there you have it.  So we no longer had an office space.

So we moved our filing cabinet and mail organization to the garage, right next to the door entering the kitchen.  Suuuuuper classy around here, I know.  Clearly, that doesn't work as a long-term solution.  When we finally add on that big room, it will either include a separate office space or a big ol' built-in desk area.

But I know me, and I know that the likelihood of carrying the mail from the car/mudroom/kitchen to the office area is about zero.  I needed some sort of holding area for that stuff that was convenient.  But not ugly.  And preferably not hanging out in plain sight.

Then, thanks to the devilish combination of Ana White + Pinterest, I found a plan to build one.  Holler. Nic wasn't totally on board {never stopped me before}, so I waited until he was out of town and then had my talented mother-in-law help me with her jigsaw.

I followed the basic plan, but altered it to use a frame I had laying around {originally from Ikea}.  It was so so easy, and I painted it to match the cabinets.  I used some fun label paper I had on hand {a good friend works at Avery and gives me some random samples} and made some labels for each slot.  Then I added some cork board at the top.

So much better than stuffing our mail in the garage!

As for the rest of the broom closet organization, I put some cork board inside another frame and use that for the extra keys we have.  Our plastic bags hand in there, as well as brooms and mops.  At the bottom are two baskets that hold outdoor things {sunscreen, bug spray, hats, kids' sunglasses} and trash bags/paper bags.

This was another one of those thoughtful updates that make staying on top of things a little easier.