Penelope Product Review: two simply smart office products

Here’s a product that had me wondering “why didn’t someone think of this sooner?” I love the Smead Tiered Stadium File for its simple genius. They took a page out of good sports venue design and created an expandable file that is tiered, rather than flat. It’s thinner than most like products, so it uses a smaller footprint on my desk. And i feel like I can see what’s in the file folders much more easily.

Even with its more streamlined size, there’s still plenty of organizing oomph here: 12 expandable pockets, large enough to hold up to 800-900 sheets of paper. It’s made of a tough Tyvek material, so it’s got staying power, and it’s navy blue color works with most color schemes.

While it can be used with or without folders, I like the ease and look of using their SuperTab folders with it so I can just grab the paperwork on a particular project and head out for a meeting. I used just 2 colors of the folders (Penelope’s khaki green and glass blue, of course!) for a more restful feel for my eyes.

Speaking of those SuperTab Folders, they’re pretty smart, too. They have extra large space for labels, which means I can either do labels in a nice, large font, or, more likely for me, include more info about what’s inside. {I like to do two lines of information: a header and then sub-title with details like the meeting date or the specifics of the topic.}

One last bonus here: I have to admit that I like Smead’s website, too:  It asks you a few questions about your needs and your work style (I love that part) and then recommends solutions. Would it be embarrassing to tell you that sometimes I just make up various “organizational needs” just to see what the Smead folks are going to suggest to me? Probably.

Important note regarding this review: as with all product reviews I do on Penelope Loves Lists, the product featured here was sent to me for testing but I did not receive any further compensation for the review (though, in this case, that was offered). Also as a matter of policy, what I say in my review is absolutely true. I will never recommend a product that I don’t honestly think is useful to you. That would just be dumb, wouldn’t it?

For more info on my overall review and advertising policy, click here.

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