Bill Pay & Mail Center Ideas in the Kitchen

Breakfast Bar

• Make your breakfast bar do double duty as a desk and work center. Use the bar if the counter is at least 30 inches off the ground with 30 inches of legroom underneath for the optimal working conditions, according to Beth Veillette in "Kitchen Ideas That Work: Creative Design Solutions for Your Home." Install pocket drawers or cabinets under the breakfast bar for storing envelopes, stamps, a calculator, pens and pencils. Place a divided basket on top of the breakfast bar to receive incoming mail in one half and for holding outgoing mail in the other half.

Cabinets

• Keep your mail clutter out of sight. Dedicate an overhead cabinet to office and mailing supplies. When not in use, keep the cabinet doors closed to put the mail and bill pay center hidden. According to Veillette, a cabinet kitchen work center has cork boards on the inside of the doors for posting messages and notes, and apothecary drawers on the bottom shelf of the cabinets for organizing small paper clips, stamps or pens. The counter directly below the cabinet serves as the writing surface for working while standing or seated on a kitchen stool.

Homemade Mail Cubbies

• Set up a mail receiving center on a kitchen counter with horizontal cubbyholes for sorting letters for each family member. Cover empty cardboard oatmeal tubes with shelf paper and glue them together on their sides with the name of a family member on each. Add another horizontal tube for mailing supplies, and a separate, vertical tube for outgoing mail. Set this mail sorting station on a kitchen counter where it will be readily visible by those coming and going. As you bring in the mail, sort it into the tubes for each family member. Once bills are paid and put into mailing envelopes, put them into the vertical tube so you know which tube to remove letters for mailing from before you leave the house.

Repurposed Breadbox

• Place a wooden breadbox on the kitchen counter to receive new mail. The door on the breadbox keeps the mail out of sight but within easy reach. Set the breadbox above a kitchen drawer for holding mailing items such as envelopes, stamps, pens and pencils. If someone else puts the new mail in the breadbox, he can put a distinctive figurine or mug on top of the breadbox so you will know that there is mail inside that needs sorting and addressing.