Need to create flat workspace in my home

[Heather Micaela]

So I have a new place. We have shelves and all the furniture we need EXCEPT we do not have any flat workspaces.

I know that due to being right brained or ADHD or whatever that I HAVE To organize horizontally. That means stacks of paper on a flat surface. Trying to do anything different is working against my nature and has resulted in papers all over the piano, papers all over the piano bench, papers, all over the dining room table, and papers all over the floor.

(I wish there was a way to stop the influx of paper, but alas there is not!) The most important papers and notices have a place on the 2 fridges I have (A door or side per person). But there are things like the 5 things my kids need me to sign, the application I was going to fill out, the Girl Scout nut order, etc. That need a home.

So...in a space where there is very little room for flat surfaces - how do I create them? I have about a 2 foot wide spot near the front door and a 2.5 to 3 foot space along one wall in the dining room.

What could I put in these spaces and what would I put ON these spaces.

ETA - how do you handle the influx of HOMEWORK paper? You know, all that finished schoolwork that the kids bring home daily? It seems I could fill a tall kitchen trash with it daily. Where do you look at it and toss it so that that it does not overwhelm the home?