We get the gas bills, the phone bills, bank statements, insurance documents, receipts, pay slips, a work portfolio, a half written novel, they all build up. Many people are drowning in paper, and need proper document storage systems. Do we even know how long we should keep all this paperwork? Most people are hoarders by nature, but surely a year is long enough for most bills and statements. But even a year's worth takes a lot of space. Most houses are not that large and we do not have a room for a dedicated office, so what can we do? Some people will store a few documents bit by bit, a bit in the kitchen drawer, a bit in the hall cupboard, a bit in under the bed, and a bit in the living room. It is a nightmare to find things if you do this.



But at least one document storage problem has been solved. You can sign up to a list that stops you from getting any junk mail, well except the hand delivered pizza menus, but who doesn't want them once in a while? Although the general document storage system for junk mail was always the bin. But at least we can save some trees now.

However, that's beside the point. What can we do about our document storage? Continue scattering our mail around the house? Box it away in your deepest darkest closet. Yes, that has been tried. And do you know what happens? A week or so later you will need to check something so it all comes back out creating mess. You rifle through this box and that file. Sometimes you never find what we are looking for. We all need a personal assistant to sort out our mail and file it by type of bill and by month. Who has the time or inclination to do it themselves? And also, most people do not have the funds for a personal assistant. Either it is time for all houses to be built with office space, or we all need to buy document storage systems, or both.

In fact there are a wide variety of home-friendly document storage systems that you can fit into your home to suit the space you have. And you do not have to have loads of ugly shelving units full of dull-looking box files. Many of the most progressive sellers offer attractive shelving units that take up little space, yet provide a wonderful amount of document storage. The actual documents can be placed in built-in cupboards or free-standing storage boxes, and here there is a wide range of attractive options for materials and colours. There is something for every type of home and style of decoration.

One very successful way to approach document storage in the home is to have attractive, stylish shelving units along a wall. The lower part of the shelving would be in the form of cupboards, and the upper part open shelves. This way, you can store all that pesky paperwork out of sight in the cupboards, and use the upper shelves for your TV, sound system, CDs, DVDs and ornaments.