clutter

I need to deal with the clutter in my house. 

It's a Polly Pocket sized house with very little storage space and the clutter is quickly taking over. 

I have a good amount of surface area in my living/dining room - and it's all covered with paper.

Bills
Catalogs
Magazines
Notes
Receipts
Coupons

It never ends. 

I try having different piles - this one for bills to look at, this one for junk mail to be recycled.  But then it all gets mixed up and all of a sudden, I forgot to pay that parking ticket and now it's doubled.  Or last month's House Beautiful never gets read.  I need a system and I need an attractive one that I don't hide when I have company.  When that happens, the box/bag/pile ends up staying hidden for a few extra days (or weeks) and then I'm back where I started.  I also can't have anything closed because in my house, out of sight definitely equals out of mind.

Here's my current thought: on my little chest, I could have a letter sorter to put bills to be paid, coupons and catalogs that have items I actually want to buy.  Behind that, I could have a small file box where I put receipts, bills that have been paid and other things that are to be filed with the idea that every few weeks I'd transfer them to a file cabinet upstairs.  Next to this, I can have a magazine file for current magazines (old ones get recycled or put in a bookcase upstairs).  Finally next to the chest, I can have an attractive waste basket or regular basket for paper recycling.

And The Container Store has all of these pieces in an attractive woven wicker (though I'd want to see in person to see if it's really attractive).  I like the idea of something neutral because with all of these varying pieces of paper, there will be enough visual noise.

I may start out with the file and magazine boxes and the waste basket.  I worry that having empty slots in the mail sorter will make me fill it unnecessarily and then things will get hidden. 

So added to my list of trips to take is The Container Store!