A new year means a new start for your work or home office. Whether it’s cleaning up for the new year or getting ready for tax season, staying organized is important.

Want to save space, time, and energy looking for items? Check out this list of the best office supplies for organization for 2024. 

For your wallspace

Instead of using your desk to hold everything you need, such as your calendar, sticky notes, and other small office supplies, try hanging them on your wall. 

Using vertical space for organizational purposes will keep sticky notes visible and your desk space clean.

1. Use a peg board or grid panels

One of the most popular home office and supplies for organization is a peg board or a grid panel.

Peg board, Amazon

Peg board, Amazon

Using one of these items allows you more space to organize up instead of out.

With a pegboard or a grid panel, you can add additional shelving to hold more items or hooks to hang things. 

The difference between a peg board and a grid panel is their design.

A peg board uses pegs, while a grid panel looks something more like the image below:

Grid panel, Amazon

Grid panel, Amazon

2. Use wall-mounted shelves

Similar to a peg board and a grid panel, shelves allow you to use your wall as vertical space for organization. 

Wall mounted shelves, Amazon

Wall mounted shelves, Amazon

Wall-mounted shelves let you see all your important items and make them easily accessible.

For your printer

3. Create a dedicated printer scanner setup space

A printer is a bulky machine that takes up unnecessary floor space sometimes, especially in your workspace.

However, it’s an important item for an office as it is used to print documents, contacts, reports, etc.

Did you know that printers use toner chemicals that can be toxic to your health?

While these chemicals are in small doses, they can build up over time. Since most printers have wireless connection capabilities, we recommend having a printer set up away from your desk.

Your business scanner or printer can sit on a desk drawer or a small shelf with other office supplies. Both options provide enough space for the printer above and space for papers, inks, and toners below.

Example of a printer setup space, Joyful Derivatives

Example of a printer setup space, Joyful Derivatives

For papers and documents

4. Use filing cabinets

While filing paper cabinets are not the most aesthetically pleasing office item, they can help you become more organized—as well as help you keep your surfaces free and clear.

They maximize storage space by letting you file away your important documents, and the sliding drawer function allows you to pull out and scan through your documents quickly. 

A work or home file organization system will let you find your important documents quickly while keeping these documents safe.

5. Use a receipt organization and scanner app

When a filing cabinet becomes overloaded, you may struggle to locate receipts or business expenses.

Try using a receipt organization and scanner app to avoid the stress of losing a receipt.

An app allows you to keep track of your receipts and other important documents—all while minimizing paper clutter.

One excellent software to consider is Shoeboxed’s Magic Envelope service, which allows you to outsource your receipt scanning.

All you have to do is to put all your receipts in a prepaid Magic Envelope, send the envelope to Shoeboxed’s processing facility, and then the receipts will appear in your Shoeboxed account.

Afterwards, you can export or email them to where they need to be.

How to send your receipts with Shoeboxed’s Magic Envelope

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For your cables

6. Do some cable management

Even with a power strip, computer cables always manage to tangle around themselves. So cord management is one of the best ways to stop that from happening.

Organizing your cables makes it easier to know which cable is for replacing or unplugging.

There are many super affordable and easy solutions, such as using tape, paper clips, and clothes pins to help keep your cables organized.

Organizing cords and cables with Laura Smith

Additionally, cable management products are available to keep your cords in their place.

Cable management products from Amazon

Cable management products from Amazon

For your desk

7. Have a monitor stand with storage drawers

A monitor stand improves productivity because having a larger screen helps you multitask more easily as you can have multiple windows open at one time.

However, there’s so much more potential for your monitor.

By simply increasing your monitor’s height by a couple of inches with a stand, you can create space just the right height just underneath your monitor for your notes, pens, papers, and other stationery.

Monitor stand from Amazon

Monitor stand from Amazon

8. Use containers to hold your stationery

Having all your pencils, pens, paper clips, and other random items on your desk can become messy.

To keep your desk minimalist and organized, use a container to hold your stationery.

You can use a cup for cheap and easy storage. Additionally, you can buy a dedicated custom stationery holder.

Stationery holder example, Amazon

Stationery holder example, Amazon

9. Get yourself a desktop organizer

A desktop desk organizer has space to store pens, hold your notepads, and keep your desk clean and organized.

Plus, you will have everything on your desk within arm’s reach.

10. Use a desk drawer organizer

A drawer organizer keeps all your items from getting jumbled. This way of organizing makes searching for any item you want easy.

An added bonus is that wires won’t get tangled together.

Desk drawer organizer, Amazon

Desk drawer organizer, Amazon

11. Try a utility cart

Instead of a desk drawer or a shelf, try using a utility cart.

These utility carts are similar to a rolling cart but have higher walls so that your items do not fall off.

Like all other items on this list, a utility cart will help you keep your desk clean and your important stuff close to you—a perfect alternative to a desk drawer.

Where to buy cheap office supplies

If you’re on a budget, decking out your office with supplies for organization can quickly add up. Thankfully, there are a slew of places you can shop for budget-friendly office supplies!

Here’s a list of where to buy cheap office supplies:

1. Amazon

Need a desktop tray? Mesh organizers? Magazine holder? Amazon has everything you could need for your office at prices you can control. If you need to find your receipt on Amazon, we got the perfect article for you: The Easiest Way to Get an Amazon Receipt (4 Steps).

2. Target

Target has a large selection of supplies for office organization that you can buy online or in the store

Target has a large selection of supplies for office organization that you can buy online or in the store

Target usually has good deals on office supplies, desk decor, and back-to-school supplies with cute colors and designs to spruce up your office space.

3. Staples

Staples is known for their office supplies that can be bought in bulk (more bang for your buck!). Buy big and small supplies for work or home office organization.

4. Walmart

Explore various categories of supplies for your office to buy online or in the store

Explore various categories of supplies for your office to buy online or in the store

Walmart has a wide selection of affordable office supplies and back-to-school sales to help you stay organized.

5. OfficeMax/Office Depot

OfficeMax and Office Depot are beloved by professionals everywhere for all their office supply needs, including bulk supplies, at prices you can’t resist.

6. Dollar Stores

Dollar stores offer low cost organization supplies for offices

Dollar stores offer low cost organization supplies for offices

Often overlooked, you can find desk organizers and other supplies for an organized home office for as little as $1!

A. Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree has writing supplies, binders and binder accessories, notebooks and note pads, paper, poster supplies, dry-erase accessories and boards, office organization supplies, office basics, and more when you buy online.

b. Dollar General

Dollar General offers desk organization and back-to-school and teacher supplies, including notebooks, writing supplies, binders, folders, scissors, and more.

c. Family Dollar

Family Dollar has your typical office essentials and has a few organization supplies, but overall, Family Dollar is lacking on the organizational front.

If those stores don’t do it for you, your local Five Below might. They won’t have as much to choose from as some of the other supply stores, but you can occasionally find diamonds in the rough for $5 and, well, below!

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Frequently asked questions

What are the best office supplies for organization?

When it comes to organization, the best supplies include pegboard or grid panels, wall-mounted shelves, printer setup space, filing cabinets, receipt scanning apps, cable management products, monitor stands, stationary containers, desktop organizers, and drawer organizers. Don’t forget the utility carts for added convenience.

What is the best way to organize a small office?

To organize a small office effectively, utilize functional wall space to maximize storage options. Declutter by removing unnecessary items and embrace minimalistic decorations to prioritize essentials. Assign specific places for everything and make sure to return items to their designated spots after use. Utilize labels to keep files organized and consider going digital to eliminate paper clutter entirely.


In closing

These 11 best office supplies for organization will keep your office space tidy.

Starting out doesn’t have to be expensive, as some of the storage items are everyday household goods.

If you already have a couple of these items, then you can dive right in and add a little more organization to your day. 

Tammy Dang is a staff writer for Shoeboxed covering productivity, organization, and digitization how-to guides for the home and office. Her favorite organization tip is “1-in-1-out.” And her favorite app for managing writers and deadlines is Monday.com.


About Shoeboxed!

Shoeboxed is a receipt scanning service with receipt management software that supports multiple methods for receipt capture: send, scan, upload, forward, and more!

You can stuff your receipts into one of our Magic Envelopes (prepaid postage within the US). Use our receipt tracker + receipt scanner app (iPhone, iPad and Android) to snap a picture while on the go. Auto-import receipts from Gmail. Or forward a receipt to your designated Shoeboxed email address.

Turn your receipts into data and deductibles with our expense reports that include IRS-accepted receipt images.

Join over 1 million businesses scanning & organizing receipts, creating expense reports and more—with Shoeboxed.

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