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All About Planners

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August 25, 2017

How to store planner pens (5 ways – and my favorite method!)

Some women buy clothes and shoes, I buy stationery – especially pens! The addiction has gotten a little out of hand so I’ve had to find the best way to store them. If you’re a fellow pen addict, here are 5 ways to store pens.

1. Pen cup

If you don’t have many pens, a pen cup is one of my favorites ways to store them.

I use a few pen cups for all my black planner pens – as these are the ones I use most frequently. As well as the PaperMate Inkjoy Gel – my favorite pens for color coding!

kikki k pen cup with inkjoy rainbow pens

Update: I no longer store pens vertically like this. I lay all of my pen cups on their sides so the ink remains horizontal (pen ink lasts longer this way)

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Pros

  • Doesn’t take up much room on your desk
  • Lots of pretty options to choose from – my favorite is this acrylic one from Kikki K – the base is gold <3!

Cons

  • Pens (especially pen lids) can tend to look the same so if you’re looking at them from above or you have a lot of pens in the cup it can be hard to find the pens you’re looking for
  • Unless you put a lot of pens in them, the pens will fall or look ‘messy’

Makeup organizers make great pen cups – this one has 4 compartments – ideal for keeping all the pens by one brand together

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Related: Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner 

2. Drawers

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the eye candy 🙂

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This set of acrylic drawers sits next to my laptop at my desk – love it!

I really like that they’re see through so I don’t have to try and remember what is in each one and can see all of the pretty colors.

Pros of using drawers

  • You can fit a lot of pens in the drawers
  • Easy to see what you have

Cons of using drawers

  • Unless you have a lot in there they can move around a lot (I like to keep the pens for each brand / collection e.g. PaperMate Flair and PaperMate Inkjoy together)
  • Drawers can get expensive (I got these from eBay – they were cheap for $30 but most of the others were $60+!)

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Related: How to make printable storage contents labels in Photoshop (step by step video tutorial) 

3. Using a box, tray or basket

Pros of using a box or tray

  • Can see what you have right in front of you
  • Boxes can be stacked and are usually rectangle so are an easy shape to store
  • Looks nice on a shelf!

Cons of using a box or tray

  • If it’s not covered you can’t stack them – you can’t fit as much in them as drawers
  • Unless there’s dividers e.g. you use a cutlery drawer insert, the pens can easily get out of order
  • If the box you’re using isn’t see through and you don’t have it labelled you have to open the box to see what’s inside – which can be a pain if you have a big stack of boxes!

Using clip top bags or storing pens in their original packaging will keep them in order so you can easily find the pen/s you’re looking for.

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I like to store pens in their collections, and in their original packaging if they come in a plastic or hard-cover case. This makes them easier to store and easier to find what I’m looking for i.e I just flip through the packs of pens rather than rummaging through a ton of different pen brands trying to find all the other colors in the collection. It also looks nice and neat!

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Related: Best pens for writing on washi tape 

4. Pencil Case

Pros of using a Pencil Case

  • Portable
  • Cheap
  • Lots of designs to choose from (you could even sew your own!)
  • You can get clear pencil cases with holes pre-punched if you’re using a binder

Cons of using a pencil case

  • Because there’s no dividers, the pens can easily get out of order
  • Over time pencil cases can get dirty and damaged with wear and tear, zips can break etc.

Related: Favorite places to buy planner pens (online)

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5. Pen case

Pros of using a pen case

  • All of your pens neatly laid out so you can see exactly what you have on hand

Cons of using a pen case

  • For the size of them, you can’t fit nearly as many pens as you can into a set of drawers or storage container
  • They’re bulky
  • They don’t maximize space

Related: 5 Planner supplies you should never skimp on

There are many different options for pen cases including multi-layered (where you can flip through the pen case) such as the MAMBI pen case which are quite portable, and larger size ones that have space for just 1 layer of pens, and aren’t really portable.

This one is from Pilot

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Related: Favorite pens for writing headings in my planner 

6. Other Options

  • Clip top bags – a cheap and easy way to keep all of the pens in a collection in one place
  • Hair tie or rubber band around the pen collections

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Related: What type of pens write best on correction tape? (gel pens vs. ballpoint vs. marker pens)

Which method is my favorite?

I prefer pen cups for pens I frequently use, otherwise acrylic drawers as you can store so many pens and since they’re see through you can easily see what’s in them.

Related Posts:

  • How to make a personalised screensaver/computer or laptop wallpaper/desktop background 
  • How to make printable labels in Photoshop
  • Review of the Plum Paper Memory Keepers Book 
  • Planner companies that will let you download, print and try their planner layout for free 

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Posted In: Planner pens, Planning Tips & Inspiration · Tagged: acrylic drawers for pens, best blogs for planner addicts, best pencil case, best pens for planning, best way to store planner pens, drawer dividers, erin condre pen testing, favorite way to store planner supplies, home office ideas, how office inspiration, how to store pens, how to store planner supplies, ideas for storing pen, papermate pen, papermate pen review, pen addict, pen review, pen storage, planner addict, planner inspiration, planner pen review, plum paper pen testing, stationery haul, stationery storage

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