Power Up: Mastering the Art of Charging Cabinet Organization
“Organizing Our Charging Station: A Look Back at How It’s Held Up”
One thing you all ask for more of is updates on past organization projects – especially how they’ve held up over time. I’ve been reflecting on how we tend to share our projects as we complete them, whether it’s DIY or organization. At the moment, we might be thrilled with the result, but sometimes we end up tweaking things later on for various reasons. Keeping that in mind, I want to make a better effort to either wait until we’ve lived with a system for a while before posting about it or follow up on how things evolve over time.
Today, I’m revisiting a project that’s been truly successful in our home – the tech and school-related organization system in our dining area. We have a cabinet in a sideboard dedicated to all things school and technology. I’m a big fan of creating spaces in the house that are designated for specific tasks, and because we do a lot of schoolwork and homework at the dining table, this cabinet has been an absolute lifesaver. Over the years, it’s remained incredibly functional, even as our boys have moved from elementary to middle school, and now into high school.
Before diving into the details of the cabinet itself, I’ll mention the drawer above it, which plays a crucial role. At the start of each school year, I stock it with fresh supplies – everything the kids need for homework and projects. This drawer contains:
- Erasers
- Paperclips
- Post-its
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Pens
- Rubber bands
- Colored pencils
- Page flags
- Ruler
- Hole punch
- Pencils
- Sharpener
- Glue
- Tape
These are the items that seem to be essential for completing most of their schoolwork and tasks. Now, back to the cabinet…
Inside, we have a paper organizing system for the kids to manage all the school-related paperwork – newsletters, calendars, info about extracurriculars, lunch menus, and more. (You can check out the DIY tutorial for the paper sorter here!) Every week, I go through each section and recycle anything that’s no longer relevant. Since it’s summer, the number of school-related papers is minimal, but we still keep track of a few important things.
Now, about that tiered charging station. I received a lot of questions about it, and I just have to say – I love it! You might be surprised to hear that I also picked up a file organizer for it. Yes! You can actually use it to file paperwork and charge electronics, all in one super-handy spot. There’s an outlet inside the cabinet, so we’re able to run cables into the organizing tray and charge devices with ease. The tray has separate slots, and each one is roomy enough to fit 2-3 phones. This setup has been a game-changer, especially since we try to keep all tech-free at bedtime. It gives the kids a designated place to charge their devices overnight.
The tray can hold a range of electronics – Chromebooks, Bluetooth accessories (keyboards, headphones, battery packs), tablets, and phones. Plus, some of the universal cables also work for smaller home electronics, which is an added bonus. (I used my label maker to label each slot – you can find all the details on that in this post.)
Since we realized there are times the kids still need a charge during the day or while they’re out, we also keep spare charging bricks and cables in the cabinet.
Quick Tip: After years of trying different cord-management tools, I’ve found that elastic bands and hair ties do the job just as well – and they’re super affordable!
Finally, over the years, we’ve accumulated a lot of colored pencils and markers, so I store them in lidded containers that are easy to grab and move to a desk or the dining table when needed.
That’s it – simple, but incredibly helpful! The tiered paper organizer has worked so well because of its compact size and narrow slots, so it’s definitely something to keep in mind if you’re looking for similar trays or organizers. And if you don’t use Chromebooks but need a charging station, there are similar options that can hold tablets or other devices, too. Either way, it’s always a win when you can take charge of your tech situation!
