What it is:

This week’s storage solution of the week are clean, unused pizza boxes to store kids’ school papers by year.

Where I got them:

I get mine at Pizza Hut simply by asking for a few large boxes as we are leaving the restaurant. I remember working at a pizza place during college and occasionally having someone ask for a clean box or two, which I thought was odd until the manager explained they used them to store their kids’ artwork. Once a mother, it all came back to me when a friend shared that this was her solution to storing her children’s school papers.

Why I love it:

The size is ideal. They are large enough for bigger works of art, but thin enough that I really have to purge excess and only store true keepsakes. Also, the size and shape makes them very easy to stack and store on shelves in our basement.

Schoolpaper storage copyright simplify101

If you are great at purging as you go, I would suggest keeping your current year’s box in an easily accessible place and putting those treasured reports and tests right in. At the end of the year, simply seal it up and put it in a more permanent storage area!

For me, it’s much harder to decide on the fly. It’s also hard for my children to see their work go directly into the recycling bin! So, most things go into under-bed storage bins during the course of the year. Each child has their own bin to keep their work separate.

Underbed storage copyright simplify101

During the summer, we go through to decide what’s to keep and what to let go of. I have one child who would let go of nearly all of it, and another who gets very distraught because it is all special. So, involving them in this process makes it more tricky, but I feel it’s worth it. I like knowing what kinds of things they feel are special from the year, and I also think it’s a great lesson in purging and organizing.

Aby’s system of saving her kids’ schoolwork in binders is another great way to do it, and we’ve hard from many of you have tried and loved it.

Art binder copyright simplify101

Do you have another system that works for you? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Happy Organizing!

Jennifer

P.S. If you are interested in more ways to organize paper in your home or office, our Organize Your Paper Clutter is now available as a self-paced online class. Get started today!