Paper Organization - help please

I have Christmas and Halloween separated out, but otherwise sort by where I got it. Sounds weird, but I remember paper best by where it came from (LSS, kit club, on-line order, big box, class, etc.). And, I typically buy things that go together at the time.

Some of that ties to date as well. All my paper from LSS#1 is together, but that LSS went out of business around 2009 and mostly carried Basic Grey, 7Gypsies, and October Afternoon. My Studio Calico paper is together, but I really only purchased there in 2015. That kind of thing.

I store all themed type of paper with the like. My solid colors get sorted. I have all papers that I think are "boy" or "girl" in groups. I do keep some manufactures together like MME or American Crafts. I do not separate paper that comes in pads because I think they all match in some way or another. I store my paper in those Cropper Hopper vertical paper holders.

I sort by manufacturer and then individually by line, with Christmas, Halloween and Disney sorted out. I tried the color thing, but didn't work for me cause I think in terms of lines and manufacturers. I guess I'm no help!!

I have a friend who scraps photos in style from the corresponding year. For example, a baby born in 2000 would be scrapped in 2000 era papers and embellishments.

Your system would be good for this way of scrapping. I could remember paper from a store, or trip, much easier than a year.

themed stuff that can really ONLY be used for that theme is separated out but themed stuff that's more general purpose isn't (so paper with Christmas words goes in the Christmas folder but the coordinating stripe doesn't)

beyond that - I sort by colour I have 3 Recollections cubes (with shelves so a total of 12 spaces) and each has a colour
1.Black/grey cardstock and patterns that are predominantly black and/or grey
2. red cardstock and patterns that are predominantly red
3. green patterns
4. green cardstock
5. browns/beiges/tans cardstock and patterns
6. orange/yellow patterns
7. orange/yellow cardstock
8. purple cardstock and patterns
9. white cardstock
10.pink patterns and cardstock
11. blue patterns
12. blue cardstock

You can tell which colours I have the most of

But I scrap by colour - I rarely know who made a particular paper and I look for something red or something green vs something OA or something BG or even somthing floral or something striped

  If the pp is super themey it's kept in an Iris box with other paper of that theme... Christmas, Disney....  Otherwise I seperate mostly by brand.  If I have strays that don't seem to fit anywhere I will put together a kit of sorts. Just pp that I think goes together that I can see myself making a layout or two. I will also throw scraps in the kit. I find this helps me to mix things together and make sure I am using my pp.


  Good luck! Organization can be hard sometimes. 

I've been really struggling with this for awhile and it's making me crazy. Right now it's sorted by manufacturer, and cardstock by color. That works to some degree because I do look for some paper by manufacturer...Simple Stories, for example. I'll think that a SS ledger or woodgrain would be a perfect background and then I can find it easily. But if I just want a red patterned paper, that's when things become difficult. I could use one from AC, or Jillibean, or SS, or Crate Paper...Sometimes it's hard to keep it all straight.

I've been really paying attention to how I am thinking when I am looking for paper and I've realized that some of my papers need to stay together by manufacturer: SS, Stampin Up, Amy Tangerine and some others. Also anything I bought as a collection pack. The others need to be separated by style or "feel". By that I mean, is this a paper that reminds me of my daughter, or my son? Would I use this for school albums, or is this just a paper that I would use if I am looking for blue patterned paper?

So my plan this summer is to sort my papers out of manufacturers and into these categories (still developing)
Simple Stories
Stampin UP
Amy Tangerine
Papers for daughter
Papers for son
Papers for school album
Halloween
Christmas and Winter
Fall and family (I have lots of these papers and the categories seem to go together for me)
Spring Summer
Then the others sorted by color or pattern style
Backgrounds (any paper that I will use exclusively for the 12x12 background and not as a layer. Will probably include all of my woodgrains, ledgers, mostly white with some allover pattern, etc.)

I spend way too much time looking for papers now. I was making a card the other day. The card itself was rather simple but it took me over 30 minutes to find an appropriate paper for the background. I really need to separate the papers into the way that I think. I've been making notes about what I am actually thinking as I have been looking and I think this need system may really be what I need to do...now to find the time to actually do the sorting!

Your "artsy" category reminded me that I have a category that I call "cheap thrills" - cheaper not so great quality papers that I like anyway.

Mine is all divided by lines In large baggies and similar themed papers all together.

My plain cardstock is in Iris boxes, sorted by bright, pastel, dark and neutrals. Within that they are sorted in rainbow order.

Patterned paper is a whole different system. I have four main sections - family/travel, feminine, not feminine, and holidays. Within that, papers are in Cropper Hopper paper sorters. Some of them have entire collections including embellishments, but most have similar papers combined.  I tend to combine paper lines on a layout, so for me this is one step toward having kits ready-made.

Here is a picture of my storage. The bins are in a 4x2 unit from Costco.



(Photos removed)

Themes go together. I keep collections together until I only have a few sheets left.

Non-themed papers I keep in a few different ways. I have some, like OA and EP, stored by manufacturer. I do it this way as the papers usually go together well, even if they are from a variety of lines.

I also keep tone on tone papers sorted by color. They work well for layering, so if I need a yellow pattern, I go there first.

Finally, everything else goes in an Iris box and I just dig for inspiration.

I use vertical CH also. Cardstock is by color (large cut pieces are in front), and pattern with that color dominant are in the same folder. I have Christmas, Fall, Birthday, Patriotic, Other Holidays, Ancestry, Florals, Patterns (like stripes), and the like separated. When my sons were younger/involved in sports, I had each sport separated as well. Now those leftovers are lumped together. I also have Disney in it's own container, and Baby stuff separated (now that my youngest are going to be 28 next week, you think I should start the baby albums yet??)

I can't tell you which manufacturer is which - I just go by theme/color. As I work on a specific theme/event, and go to a crop, I'll pull papers and put them in a 12x12 envelope to keep it all together.

I get mine from Amazon. I think they're made by Advantus, called Paper Arranger.