Day 8 of 12 Days of Back-to-School Prep: Homework Station & Supply Drawer
Posted on September 13, 2026
Here we are at Day 8 of our 12 Days of Back-to-School Prep series! We’ve covered the fridge, my yearly refresh list, my drop-off-to-gym outfit, breakfast burritos, washing the lunchboxes, backpack SOS kits, and our snack bin — today we’re setting up one of the small spaces that makes the biggest difference once homework season kicks in: the homework supply drawer.
Day 8 of 12 Days of Back-to-School Prep: Homework Station & Supply Drawer
Why a Dedicated Drawer Matters
Once school starts, there’s a constant stream of small requests — “do we have tape?”, “where are the scissors?”, “I need a highlighter for this” — and if those items don’t have one obvious home, you end up hunting the house every single time. A dedicated homework drawer solves this instantly. Everything they need for homework and projects lives in one place, and once they know where it is, they can grab it themselves without pulling me away from whatever I’m doing. IYKYK!
Working With a Small Space
Our drawer for this is actually pretty small, so I didn’t try to cram in every school supply under the sun. Instead, I used clear dividers and kept it to about 8-10 true essentials — the things that actually get reached for during homework and projects, rather than a full office supply closet stuffed into one drawer.
Here is what the drawer looked like before:
At the last minute, I found an old roll of contact paper, so I emptied the drawer and put it down.
What’s Inside
Here’s exactly what I keep stocked in ours:
Pencils
Highlighters
Scissors
Glue stick
Post-it notes
Index cards
Paper clips
Rubber bands
Tape
Ruler
The clear dividers make a huge difference here — everything has its own little section, so nothing gets buried or lost, and it’s easy to see at a glance when something’s running low. I grabbed the clear dividers at Dollar Tree! But linked some similar options below:
Keeping It Stocked
Because this drawer gets used constantly once school is in session, I do a quick check every week or two to see what needs restocking. It’s a much smaller task than it sounds like — usually just a quick glance and maybe replacing a pack of Post-its or grabbing more pencils.
The Payoff
This is one of those small setups that quietly saves so much time and frustration once homework routines are in full swing. No more searching the house for scissors mid-assignment, no more interrupting whatever I’m doing to track down tape. Everything has a home, and everyone in the house knows where it is!
Shop My Homework Station Essentials
Click on any of the thumbnail images in the gallery below to shop the clear dividers and supplies I use to keep this drawer organized!
This is Day 8 of our 12 Days of Back-to-School Prep series! Follow along @thisisourbliss for the rest of the series, plus everyday boy mom life, style, and family adventures.
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