

So I gathered up all of the little papers that were floating around our house, stuck in drawers, lying on counters, stuffed into our overflowing fire-proof box, and figured out a filing system that instantly transformed our office into one of the most functional rooms in our house. (It’s about dang time!)
And, of course, to really get into the organizing mood, buy some crisp, new hanging folders, and type up some labels to make your file drawers easy to navigate.
I spaced out the organizing process over the course of a couple of days while our little one napped. Take it from one who attempted it, organizing files with a toddler in your office is impossible. For real, just walk away until they conk out at bedtime.
Home Office Filing System Plan:
(Each sub-header is labeled for the category of each file cabinet drawer.)
I think this post is going in the record books for the most technical one to-date, but it is amazing what organizing files can do for your peace-of-mind. It’s like doing a yoga marathon! Cleansing breath, people.
Happy organizing!

One more little tip. When you purchase a new appliance, write the date of purchase on the outside of the owners manual and staple the receipt to it as well before you file it away. You think you will remember how old that washing machine is but time flies and you don’t realize how long it has been. You have a great system set up!
Ooh! Good one! Going back and adding that in!
For the over cautious… Also photocopy the receipt and fold that snide the front cover. A lot of receipts these days are printed on thermal paper that often deteriorates over time. If you have a 5 year warranty, and pull the receipt 4 years later, it’s not always readable, and sometimes that’s all they need to deny the warranty… Trust me, it happens! 🙂
Good tip! I didn’t even think about that, but that’s a good point.
My husband started out file system and I’m so thankful he did. I know exactly where to find things when I need them. Like at the beginning of the school year when I needed shot records, power bill, and birth certificate – it was all in the filing cabinet. I also staple my receipts to my purchases. Not office related but I staple the receipt for clothes to the tags so I don’t have to keep track of them. It paid off when my daughter outgrew her back to school dress in the 3 weeks before school started. Welcome to NC Bloggers! Looking forward to getting to know you better.
It really is great to know where everything is. Good tip about stapling tags and receipts! Thanks so much for the welcome! Excited to join you guys!
I just read this and I love your system. I’m a legal secretary and practice high standards of organization in my office on a daily basis. Your system is similar to the one I started to create at home, however mine has yet to take off. It’s a daunting task for me because I have so much paper clutter! Anyway, I did want to add, and this might go without saying, keep a printout of your [home office] file list as well as an electronic copy, should the hard copy get lost. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Gina! That’s so good to know that it gets the stamp of approval by a legal secretary! Good tip about the file list. I’ll have to remember that.
What a great system! I’m in the middle of a home office revamp and this is just exactly what I needed!
Yay! So glad it helped, Ashley! It’s helped so much for our sanity and the drowning in paperwork feeling.
Thank you so much for this; For a few months now, I’ve been overwhelmed with paper clutter and didn’t have a filing system in place. Hopefully by the end of the month I’ll have it done. I couldn’t find a good filing list , but your list is perfect!
So glad to hear that, Sher! I’ve slacked off lately and need to get back in the filing habit too. It really does help so much.
I recently did some filing but your system is so neat and covers almost everything. Great job! I will definitely revisit it as I am overwhelm with paper and my inability to locate them is stressful and costly (monetary) at times.
Thank you, Beatrice! So glad it could help! I totally agree. Having paper piles everywhere is definitely one of the most stressful types of clutter.
Starting all over at the beginning of 2017! Never too old to learn. Heck! We moved 2X in 2015 while selling old home/building new home and we are ‘seasoned citizens’ of 65 & 72 now.
Can we do this? Yes, we can!!
I know you make a file for the main topic but then within that Do you make individual files for each sub category?
Thanks for sharing this! I found it super helpful as I organize our files today!