Your office supplies are essential to productivity, and having a messy supply room can make it more difficult for staff to find items they need to get their work done. Whether you have shelves overflowing with office essentials or you haven't organized your supply room in a while, the following tips can help you create a neat, orderly space.

1. Heavy-Duty Storage Cabinets

Open shelves can sometimes lead to messes. Items can fall off while staff members look for supplies, and the shelves can quickly become disorganized. Investing in heavy-duty storage cabinets makes it easier to dedicate space to specific types of items. For example, one cabinet can be assigned to printer paper and toner cartridges, while a separate cabinet can be used to sort pens, pencils, and other writing utensils. Measure your supply room in advance, and line the walls with these cabinets to create a complete organization area for all your office items.

2. Label Maker 

A label maker can be the organized office manager's best friend. You can use it to create labels for each storage cabinet as well as the shelves contained within. Your staff can use the labels as guides when stocking supplies and when creating orders for new items. If you have a particularly busy office, consider creating a label for one shelf that is dedicated to items that need to be put back in their proper place. You can then check the shelf periodically to return supplies to their assigned shelves and cabinets.

3. Plastic Storage Bins

Once you have your cabinets and labels in place, use plastic storage bins to keep smaller items sorted. Look for bins with open designs for easy access to contents. Long, narrow bins are perfect for pens and markers, while letter-size bins are ideal for stationery and small reams of paper. These bins can prevent your cabinets from becoming cluttered, creating a tidy appearance. You can also purchase larger bins for stacks of notebooks, binders, and file folders so everything has its own storage system.

4. Order Sheets

One part of keeping the supply room organized is making sure that it's well stocked. Ordering too much of an item can lead to clutter on shelves, while ordering too little can lead to staff rummaging through your storage bins in search of needed items. Place a magnetic clipboard on one of your heavy-duty storage cabinets, and add a stack of supply order forms. As supply levels begin to run low, you or your staff members can notate the items needed as well as the date the entries are recorded. You can use this list when it's time to order new supplies each week or month.