Hey yall! Well, after about a year and 15 different tries, I think I have finally found a paper storage solution that works for me! Yay!! I thought I'd share in case you were on the hunt too.
At first, I just kept all my paper in a big container. I hated this. I couldn't keep full sheets separate from scraps. It was just a big ol' mess. I've tried so many of those plastic dividers from the LSS and just was not happy. I knew that I would not be able to afford custom cabinets for a long time. I thought about those plastic 3 dwarer 12x12 bins that are made by Sterylite, but those can rack up in price too when you buy enough. I priced them at Wal Mart for about $12. So if I wanted to compare with the one I bought, for 24 dwarers, I would of ended up paying almost $100!!!
I like to keep my full 12x12 sheets of cardstock separate from my scraps. So with a gift card from HL, I purchased this paper storage tower. It was $50, but if you will wait, they put these on sale!!!! It has 24 individual slots in it and is really sturdy!!! Love that sturdy part! Here is what it looks like:

It is only open from the front, all other sides are closed off. Here is a view from the side so you can see:

Then, if you are like me and don't want your paper to get dusty, the company that makes these already thought of that for ya! LOL. It comes with a good, sturdy black dustcover to cover up the whole unit when not in use. It slips over the top in a matter of seconds. Here it is covered up: (LOL...do yall think I should alter this? Hee hee)

I sort all of my solid cardstock separate. I have a slot for white, creams, nudes ( I chose this because I like to paper piece the Paper Doll's and Disney Princesses with my cricut so much), blues, greens, pinks, purples, and so on. I love being able to walk up to this thing and pull out, for example, all my blue at once and find the right shade for a project. Then with the extra slots I had, I sorted all my seasonal paper. I have a slot for Christmas, Fall & Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, and Valentines Day. Then I also sorted some of my favorite brands of paper in the remaining slots. Yall know I'm a huge 'My Mind's Eye' fan, so I have a few slots reserved for those. You could also put a whole 180 page stack (with room to spare) in these slots if you wanted, just to give you a idea of how tall each slot is.
Now, once I had my 12x12 cardstock sorted out, I wanted some way to organize my scraps. So I came up with this little storage solution. I went to my local dollar store called 'Deals' and bought these 2 'locker' storage bins for $3 a piece! These will fit anything shaped 8 1/2 x 11 inches perfectly! I chose to buy 2 because I wanted one bin for solids and one bin for patterned papers. Next, I went to Wal Mart and purchased some 'file folder pockets.' These cost about $4 for 10. I purchased 3 packs. These are a little different from file folders in that they have a pocket. The sides of them are closed up to prevent paper from falling out, which is perfect for those little scraps! I labeled each of these. I have a separate one for all my solid cardstock, i.e. pinks, greens, blues, browns, etc. Then I also have a separate one for patterned papers, i.e. pink patterned. I also have a file folder pocket for the following categories too: christmas, fall/thanksgiving, halloween, valentines day/love, easter, beach/various trip, patriotic/4th of July, wedding, baby, and school/sports. Then I also have a pocket for mulberry paper scraps and vellum paper scraps. Here are some pix so you can have a better visual:
(these are on my baker's rack in my dining room...I told yall scrapbooking was taking over the house! LOL. FYI: if you do not know, I do not have a scraproom!!! :( I have a wall in my living room where I line everything up. I have my table and all my cabinets along one wall, which is next to the dining room. Scrapbook stuff is slowly starting to take over the dining room too!!!

Individual pocket:

View from the side so you can see how it will hold your scraps in:

When you are ready, you just go up, find the pocket you need and pull out what ya want. These pockets will hold a lot of scraps! They are expandable!!!




Then, I am a big scrapbook paper stack lover! I got this little cart for FREE!!! They were cleaning out at my mom's school and was getting rid of it. Well, you know I snatched that thing right up. Not the prettiest thing, but it works!! I keep all my paper stacks (i.e. DCWV, MME, etc) in the slots on the bottom and then have my rotary trimmer on top. I also keep my scrapbook paper kits here too. My hubby has yet to paint my second coat of white paint on this!

So there ya have it, for almost no money, I have a paper storage solution that has been working out great!!!!!! Hope this will help someone out there!

Thanks for stopping by today! I'm gonna try to scrap this evening. If I do, I'll post. Hope yall are enjoying your weekend! Take care!

Aymee