How to Use Labels to Organize Everything in Your Office

Adding colorful labels to all the things in my home office not only makes them prettier, it also helps me to maintain my organization and keep clutter out of my office and off of my desk. Don’t miss this round up of FREE printable labels and learn more about how to use labels to organize everything in your office!

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How to Use Labels to Organize Everything in Your Office

Printable labels are one of the hardest working organization tools in my home office! I use them to label everything from bins and baskets to binders to drawers and shelves.

And one of the most amazing things about labels is that you can find hundreds of styles, colors, and shapes for FREE.

Today, I’m sharing more about how I use labels, why they’re important for organization, and a few of my favorite FREE printable labels.

So, let’s get started!

Why Labels are Important for Organization

Adding labels to the bins, baskets, and organizers in your home office is important because labeling:

• Makes it easy to find the items you’re looking for
• Allows you to quickly pick up after yourself and return items to their assigned “homes”
• Helps family and team members find the items they’re looking for AND to put them away where they belong
• Keeps things looking neat and tidy (Is there anything more beautiful than a row of neatly labeled bins?!) 😉

Adding labels to your bins, baskets, and organizers takes a little extra time, but you make up that time by finding things easily, quickly picking up after yourself, and maintaining your organization!

Nowhere is picking up after yourself quickly more important than when clearing your desk at the end of every work day. Learn more about this habit that revolutionized my home office organization: 3 Super Simple Ways to Organize Your Office Today!

You know why it’s important to label items in your home office. Now, let’s talk a little about how I use labels to organize everything in my home office.

How I Use Labels in My Home Office

There are hundreds of ways to use labels to organize everything in your home office!

I’ll spare you that never-ending post, and share only a few of my favorites:

Binders

If you’ve been around Calyx and Corolla for any amount of time you’re probably well aware of my obsession, ahem, fondness for organizing paper with 3-ring binders.

But this favorite organization tool quickly becomes less effective when I don’t take the few minutes required to label each binder.

Flipping through the sections or, heaven forbid, every paper in a binder to find what I’m looking for is NOT efficient!

Learn more about how I use binders to improve my home office organization: 7 Ways to Organize Your Office with Binders.

Temporary Storage

I use bins to temporarily store current projects. This keeps the project piles off my desk and organizes all of the supplies for each project in one place.

I like to use free printable labels to organize these temporary storage bins so I can quickly and easily find the supplies I need to work on a specific project.

Then, when that storage bin is repurposed for another project, it’s easy to create a new label!

If a current project’s supplies include mostly paper, I’ll store it in a hanging folder in my tickler file. Learn more about the tickler file in this post: Get Organized with a Tickler File.

An Ideal Label

I use printable blank labels and my Brother P-Touch Labelmaker to create the exact label I need.

We all label things differently (auto vs. vehicle or financials vs. money matters). By using blank labels and a labelmaker you can quickly and neatly create your ideal label!

Hidden Storage

I primarily use clear plastic bins to organize things in my home office and around my house. But there are times when I prefer to use “hidden” storage bins (like baskets or file boxes).

It’s imperative that I label these hidden storage bins because I can’t know what’s in them with just a look.

Keeping Everyone on the Same Organizing “Page”

There are items in my home office that other members of my family use. By labeling the bin in or shelf on which these items are stored, it’s more likely that the item will be returned to my office and to the appropriate location within my office.

This keeps me organized and more importantly, sane. 😉

Those are a just a few of the ways that I use labels to get and KEEP my home office organized.

Now, let’s jump into the pretty part of this post: the labels!

FREE Printable Labels

Okay, so now that you’re riding the labeling train with me, let’s check out some of the pretty, functional, and FREE printable labels that are available around the wide expanse of the internet!

Multi-Purpose Labels

These labels from yours truly are available in the assortment of colors seen above or in minimalist black and white. Print them on cardstock and use them to label bins, baskets, drawers, and more!

Grab a copy HERE!

Decorative File Labels

These printable decorative file labels can be printed on Avery 8167 Return Address Labels and are perfect for labeling folders or hanging files. But they can also be used to label anything that will hold a sticker: binders, drawers, plastic bins, acrylic organizers, boxes, magazine files, etc.

Snag yours HERE!

Learn more about how I use these labels in this post: Printable Decorative File Labels.

Sorting Bin Labels

When I’m working on an organizing project that requires a lot of sorting, I whip out these sorting bin labels to make the sorting process a little easier and to keep me from having to think about which pile is which.

Get a set of your very own HERE!

Binder Cover

Although not technically a label, binder covers can be an important labeling tool in your home office, especially if you use binders as frequently as I do.

So, here’s a binder cover that you can use to keep those binders labeled!

More Multi-Purpose Labels

I’ve rounded up some of my favorite FREE printable labels from around the blogosphere and here they are!

Some of these are actually journaling cards, but they make perfect labels for larger bins and baskets. They’re also a nice change from traditional organizational labels.

You can choose to cut these in squares or rectangles (especially handy when using a paper trimmer). Or you can take the time to cut around the outside edge of each label.

How to Use Labels to Organize Everything in Your Office

Today I shared how I use labels, why they’re important for organization, and a few of my favorite FREE printable labels.

Adding colorful labels to all the things in my home office not only makes them prettier, it also helps me to maintain my organization and keep clutter out of my office and off of my desk.

And with the round up of awesome FREE printable labels in today’s post, you can take advantage of the benefits of organizational labels, too!

Related Posts

If you enjoyed today’s post, you might find these related posts helpful:

• 5-Minute Organization Hacks for Your Home Office
• How to Organize Absolutely Anything at Work
• Organize Your Home Business with FREE Printables

Be sure to share your favorite printable labels in the comments below. I’m always looking to add to my collection!

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Thanks for joining me today. Here’s to labeling all the things, being more organized, and making the most of our business building time!