If your bank statements, children’s artwork, and wedding pictures are are in one huge pile, here are 5 home office organization tips to help eliminate clutter and restore productivity. After twelve years of marriage, 6 computers, 7 years of college textbooks, and 4 years of kid’s artwork, my home office resembled a storage locker. For over 4 years, my wife and I have been frustrated with our cluttered office upstairs, but still continued to create stacks of statements and paperwork. We spend at least 2-6 hours a day in the office and we needed to make organization a priority, so we could work more efficiently. Our home office organization started when my wife started her new job. One night, she simply asked me if I had found her social security card. We spent the next 3-4 hours looking through old boxes in the garage and office. I don’t know about you, but I can be more productive when my desk is clean and my computer cables aren’t wrapped around my ankles.

For under $200, here are 5 home office organization tips:

1. Purchase a sturdy office shredder. I purchased a Fellowes at Costco for about $70 and it can handle up to 10 sheets of paper at a time. We shredded old school papers and projects and anything with our social security number. It was frustrating as our school used our social security number as our id. It was on everything. Shredding paper can be a very time consuming task, and you should factor a few days for this project. Any personal shredder is going to overheat and take time to cool down, so plan to multi-task. If you have more than 5 boxes to shred, you might want to look at a local shredding company. A local company wanted $25 per box, so I decided to shred it myself.

2. Photo Boxes and Photo Albums. If you asked me for my wedding album, I could tell you 100% where it’s located. If you asked for any other album or picture, I have no clue. We have photos in boxes, inside larger boxes. It’s a big mess. My wife went to a local craft store as well as Target, and purchased photo boxes. You can organize your pictures by theme or by specific vacations. She even chose a floral theme to match our new office organizers. We also have large wicker baskets that can hold magazines and loose papers, and give the appearance of organization on our bookshelves. Photo Boxes range in price from $5 and up.

3. Recycle or donate old computers and printers. We had 6, yes 6, old computers and one old printer. I removed our hard drives from the computers and then took them to a local recycling facility. If you are concerned about data left on your hard drive, you can just remove them. It took me about 20 minutes with a few screwdrivers and a little patience. If you are not comfortable removing your hard drive, you could ask a local computer repair center if they would do it for you. They might offer this service if they have a recycling program. Check your cities website for donation or recycling facilities. Many local schools also hold recycling events and all profits go back to your local schools. You can also donate to local charities and take a tax deduction. My Cannon printer was donated to a local Salvation Army and I will be able to claim it on my 2008 tax return. It felt great to get rid of the old computer towers and free up some needed floor space. Removing 6 computers and 1 printer saved us almost 6′ of floor space. Amazing!

4. Update your library. My family has changed and grown over the last 12 years. We went from college life, dinks (duel income no kids), and now we have two kids and two dogs. Our family book collection and office library needed a huge makeover. We had wedding plan books, do-it-yourself home books, dog obedience books, career planning books, investment books, and even baby name books. I even found 5 copies of the same dog-training manual. The dog is still not trained, but he’s much more relaxed after 7 years. Salvation Army and Goodwill will take most books, but our local stores would not take college textbooks. I called our cities recycling facility and they would not recycle textbooks, but did suggest a local company that ships textbooks to the Philippines. We cleared 5 boxes of used books and now have room for children’s books and family photo albums.

5. Children’s artwork. Out of the 5 home office organization tips, this will be the most fun. We have two kids and they create a lot of fun artwork. Our 4-year-old daughter brings home several pieces of artwork a week from preschool. We love to keep her pictures and also wanted a way to display it. Each day I would pile her paintings and drawing on our file cabinet, until the pile finally fell over. We were driving home from school one day and I noticed a neighbor’s garage had children’s artwork on display. The artwork was framed inside a wooden box. We later found the same boxes at Cost Plus and they had several options of these shadowboxes. The boxes work well to display your children’s artwork, as well as for storage. Each shadow box can hold 10-50 pieces of art, depending on the thickness and size. The artwork is placed on a cushioned backing with stickpins and enclosed with a glass-hinged door. We purchased several shadowboxes, and use them in the living room and office. Now when we come home from school, I immediately place one of her pieces of art into a shadow box. Mom will see it when she walks through the door, and my daughter can tell her all about it. Each shadowbox is approx $25-50. If you are handy, you could probably make the shadow boxes yourself.