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Because I Hate Piles

I may be a drama queen (it’s true, ask any friend), but I rarely use the word hate. I love our cats and I love cupcakes and I friggin’ love my ice hockey (holla to the Steel City), but I don’t hate much. So this, my friends, is serious.

Every day when I come home from work, I find our daily stack of mail on the kitchen counter, carefully tucked in one corner by the hubs. I hate piles. Other than the occasional glossy, rarely is it anything exciting (an out-of-the-norm colored envelope sends me into a tizzy – I love the good hand-written snail mail). And while I plead with him to (pretty) please shred the junk mail, stack the mags, and toss the bills in the office, he just… doesn’t.

Now, I love my man. (Maybe that should have been example one up there, eh?) But perhaps he can’t stand opening mail as much as I loathe to watch it pile up? You can find me every day at 6 pm attacking those stacks with a vengeance. Why, oh why, is this so hard for you, Sweetums? (Smooch.)

Help. How do you wrangle your mail? Are you an open-as-it-comes in household, or do you stash the (ahem) pile in a handy catch all? I’m kicking myself for not scooping up a sweet ceramic “in” box at the Vintage Bazaar, thinking I had no use for it. With all the hustle and bustle around me, it was simply a moment of panic that had me place it back on the vendor’s shelf. Ugh. Advice?

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  • Jacquelin Seybert9.1.10 - 10:01 AM

    HAH! I can’t stand piles either! I bought my husband a small tray with dividers for our kitchen counter top. He sets his wallet, phone and coffee mug NEXT to the tray!ReplyCancel

  • Katie9.1.10 - 10:06 AM

    We have a little bookcase right by the front door, and there is a basket on the shelf for mail. So when one gets the mail, one should just put it in the basket and then slide the basket onto the shelf, so the mail is out of sight. Then I go through it later.

    However. I still occasionally find it on the kitchen table or, worse – on top of the little bookshelf.ReplyCancel

  • Lauren at Trim NYC9.1.10 - 10:09 AM

    I hate the stacks of junk mail, too. But I also hate dealing with it, so I’m left with the piles. I think I’m going to break down and buy a shredder to address the problem as you do. I try to avoid buying one-use-only appliances that take up the little space I have, but it’s seeming more and more practical.ReplyCancel

  • Hails9.1.10 - 10:09 AM

    if I could teach the boyfriend how to go through his freaking mail and not let it pile up for months (and then they turn our cable off because he didn’t pay the bill…oh lord) then I would be a very happy woman.
    All I’ve come to do is yell at him every week and make him do it.ReplyCancel

  • Amanda9.1.10 - 10:14 AM

    I wish I could help but I have the same problem (except the non mail-dealer-wither is me). I used to have a cool little divider but then it broke, and I never replaced it. So… dining table it is. Please post when you get this situation figured out!ReplyCancel

  • Jane @ The Borrowed Abode9.1.10 - 10:37 AM

    That’s funny.
    To me.

    Funny, because I have the same pet peeve about the mail. The boyfriend stacks it all, including his, on the end table by the sofa. Even the newspapery-junk mail. He knows it goes in recylcing…

    So anyway, I am putting an in-box on a not-yet-purchased entrance table, soon.ReplyCancel

  • Cait @ Hernando House9.1.10 - 10:46 AM

    Oh lordy how I hate piles! We have more than I’d like to admit, but I’m slowly going through them. We mostly shred/burn our junk mail, stack the mags, pay the few bills that aren’t electronic and then file/shred/burn as necessary. If it’s something that the hubs needs to deal with, I oh-so-helpfully throw it on the stove or the keyboard of the computer he uses (and then after he deals with it I usually have to move it from it’s new pile to the shredder/whatever). Basically, we need a better system too, so I’ll be checking back to see what you come up with!ReplyCancel

  • Cait @ Hernando House9.1.10 - 10:51 AM

    And also, at least your hubs checks the mail! Mine usually forgets/doesn’t bother, unless there is a package on the bench and then he thinks to check it. Sigh.ReplyCancel

    • Kim9.1.10 - 11:49 AM

      All, thank you for sharing in my mail-pile-misery! I’m curious to keep hearing those wrangling ideas. Baskets and dividers are a great tossing point, but how we get ourselves to just DO IT? Hmm.

      And Jacquelin, we also have a pretty neat little tray that we set on our entrance table for my man to stash his keys and wallet. Luckily, he abides by those rules (love ya, honey!) and actually puts his pocket items in the tray!ReplyCancel

  • Whitney9.1.10 - 12:55 PM

    I love this post!! I laughed out loud because my first thought was “That’s so funny – I love piles” but what I really love to do is go through a big pile, organize, and get rid of it! Cute post.ReplyCancel

  • chrystie9.1.10 - 2:22 PM

    i like the idea of a basket to be a hold all for mail. but in our current place there really isn’t an option for that. i ended up finding a cardboard desk accessory at ikea for a few bucks and stuck it to the inside of our hall closet wall with double sided tape. so far it works pretty good. my man has one of the slots and I have the other. if it weren’t for that i would have piles of mail stacking up on my coffee table just like yours.
    good luck! xoxoReplyCancel

  • amie9.1.10 - 7:18 PM

    I hate piles too!! I go through the mail the minute I get home, standing over the recycling bin. Because 90 percent of what we get is crap anyways, it gets tossed in there. I also called a ton of catalog companies to have our name removed from the mailing lists, so we don’t get TOO much, and we aren’t too overwhelmed with it.

    Good luck!ReplyCancel

    • Kim9.1.10 - 7:21 PM

      Amie, I think I may have to call the catalog companies, too! Seems I always get too many from clothing stores, which can be sad since I can’t fathom spending so much on those gorgeous sweaters anyway. Boo. But those shelter mags? Stay.ReplyCancel

  • Lynn Stevens9.2.10 - 10:27 AM

    I hate piles too. And I have a lot of them!

    I think the first step in the recovery process is to stop as much of the junk as you can (I’m not following why you bother to shred junk mail — except for credit card offers — just recycle).

    Yes, call the catalogue companies to remove your address. Yes, sign up for the National Do Not Mail list. Yes, opt out of those pre-screened credit card offers. Yes, call the 800 number to remove your address from those Tribune advertising bundles.

    Now if I could only get the cable company to stop (Comcast: I haven’t signed up in 15 years, do you really think that your latest mailer is going to be the one that hooks me??!!). And those door-to-door flyers we must deal with in the city…. Sigh.ReplyCancel

  • Danielle L.9.2.10 - 2:12 PM

    Okay ladies, i think i may have a solution! since the kitchen is your stash area, it seems most likely that the short term solution would be to have a nice slim tray/basket etc. placed strategically on your counter-top to be the catch all for your initial mail drop. Here’s the fun part,you have to create a system that works for you to stay clear of the piles. The hubs and i have one of those desktop memo spirals (it’s about 4in long and holds scraps of paper)to hold unpaid BILLS that way you can see each indiv.envelope yet they are uniformed. You can get a flat hanging MAGAZINE rack to mount off the side of the kitchen counter at places like The Container Store to stash your mags. And lastly, shred that JUNK mail. There you go!:)ReplyCancel

  • Brick and Brack9.3.10 - 2:03 AM

    dude. I am sorry to tell you but I do not think there is a solution to this problem, other than we have to do it ourselves. I have tried and complained and huffed and puffed, and finally I have let go and just do it myself. Maybe this isn’t the right answer, what do i know! It drives me so nuts but I just tell myself there are worse problems to have in life/marriage:) But I hear ya sister! It drives me bonkers! I have almost solved the key/wallet problem- but the mail? Mine is worse though, it actually gets opened, but the empty envelopes are on the floor- not in piles and not in the trash!ReplyCancel

  • Ugh, me too! I think we’ve finally come up with a solution that works- 1. Recycle it as it comes 2. Put it in the downstairs shred pile (in a filebox on the bookshelf) 3. Put it in the other person’s drawer if they don’t claim it (our entry table has two drawers)ReplyCancel

    • Kim9.3.10 - 5:38 PM

      Kasey, I love that you have two drawers. Seems like a perfect solution!ReplyCancel

  • Kalli9.4.10 - 3:08 PM

    Open it as soon as I get the mail, otherwise I know something would be misplaced. I also have to write checks for bills almost immediately after opening them and put the stamped envelopes in a special spot for outgoing mail, and because of that I’ve never really been late on a payment.

    I’m terrible about piles of clothes and things I don’t want to deal with, but with mail I’m a stickler!ReplyCancel

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