This Affordable Item Is the Secret to Back-to-School Organizing

When it comes to getting organized for back-to-school season, everyone has their preferences. From smooth-writing pens to the best notebooks, people know what they like and tend to stick with their favorites. In terms of organizing your office supplies, however, there are tons of options. 

Whether you’re organizing a dorm room for the very first time or trying to keep your elementary students on track at home, any student returning to school can benefit from a school supply organizing overhaul.

As it turns out, there’s one great way to not only get organized, but also ensure your supplies are easily within reach and accessible. After chatting with a few of our favorite organizing experts, we’ve decided that this year, everyone should add a portable label maker to their must-have list. 

MARKLIFE P11 Label Maker

Why is a label maker a great item for any student?

Jan Johnson Serafen of The Ordered Home, Inc: Nothing helps guide your back-to-school organization like a sleek label. Labeled storage spaces like drawers, bins, and baskets can make your student’s daily life more efficient, especially when acclimating to a new space. In dorm rooms, especially, space is generally at a premium, so the ‘place for everything and everything in its place’ strategy is gold. 

Amanda Wiss of Urban Clarity: A label maker helps you give a proper home to all of your belongings and easily remind yourself what's going where. It will help you stay focused and maintain organization throughout the school year.

What is your favorite thing about using a label maker? 

Meredith Goforth of House of Prim: On a functional level, it maintains constant visibility into where items live, so you don’t have to tear the room apart looking for things. It also helps remind you to return items to the correct home. On an aesthetic level, the visual continuity and cohesiveness of the labels are huge for me. The cohesive look of matching labels makes all the difference in how the space feels at the end.  

JJS: The visual organization—I don’t go crazy with labeling everything in sight, but there’s something highly satisfying about that crisp clean label on certain items.

AW: Label makers can be used for so much more than just labeling file folders. You can use them to label and organize your school supplies, clothing drawers, and storage bins. Sorting and culling are the foundation of an organized room, but adding a label really takes it to the next level. Labels show a commitment to maintaining this organization you worked so hard to set up.

Brother P-Touch, PTD210, Easy-to-Use Label Maker Bundle

What should people consider when looking for the perfect label maker? 

JJS: You may be more comfortable with a subtle approach, like a small font and label size. There is a vast world of label makers out there, so be sure to pick one that suits your needs. Some are high-tech and compact, rechargeable, and smartphone compatible and available in a variety of colors. Others are low-tech, bare-bones basic workhorses, offering standard fonts and label sizes. 

AW: The more basic ones are generally smaller and less expensive, and the label makers with more enhancements tend to be a little larger and more expensive. Consider your budget and label-making wants and needs before purchasing the perfect label maker for you.

Any practical tips for using a label maker?

JJS: Dorm room pro-tip: labeling those most-borrowed items is critical. Think hairdryers, phone chargers, handheld steamers, clothing—any personal belongings that your student may be happy to lend but unhappy to never see again.

What would you change about your label maker?

JJS: As a professional home organizer, I have different label makers to meet different objectives. I wouldn’t change a thing about any of them.

AW: I travel with my label maker to clients‘ homes, so sometimes, I wish my label maker was smaller and more lightweight. I just haven't found a smaller one that offers as many customizable options as mine does.

MG: If your budget cannot allow investment in a label maker, there are so many other ways to label on a budget. Some cheaper alternatives I would recommend are bin clips from the Container Store, which you can label directly with chalk or dry-erase markers.