Tips on Storage Container Organization

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How To Organize With Storage Containers

There are thousands of storage containers available for you to buy. There are even entire stores devoted to selling you different containers.

While these are handy places to put things in your home, you might be adding to your clutter by purchasing storage containers.

The key to properly using storage containers is to determine whether they are actually necessary. How do you do this? That’s simple. Follow the organized, clutter-free rules below!

Containers are NOT Impulse Buys!

You should never buy storage containers as impulse buys at a store, garage sale, or online.

Don’t buy a storage container because it is cute or is on sale. Don’t buy five containers when you only need two because you can get them a few cents cheaper by buying in bulk.

Too many people see a great buy or a nifty container, buy it, and then plan to figure out a use for it later. If you buy storage containers this way, their use will likely be creating more clutter, or they will become fodder for your next garage sale!

Storage containers should be planned purchases based on your need for them. If, at that time, you find one that’s on sale or perfectly matches your decor, that’s great.

Buying a container first and then inventing a need for it will only add to your clutter, making your home less, not more, organized!

Don’t Buy Storage Containers to Enable Your Packrat Gene!

If you tend to keep everything whether you need it or not, buying containers to store these things will not make you more organized. Your home will not get decluttered this way.

Here’s the big packrat secret: Buying containers for your junk increases the value of the junk in your mind. You may not even realize it as it’s often subconscious, but suddenly your clutter has a home. You feel like it now belongs in your home somehow because it has a place to go. You don’t even realize that you’ve wasted money and valuable space to keep things you don’t really want or need!

Before you buy a container for items, ask yourself these questions:

• Will this container be a “temporary home only” for things you will sort through and put away or throw away later? This is allowed as it will keep your home neater during the workweek (when you are tired) and you can go through the items on a weekend to put them where they belong.
• If the container will be a long term or permanent home for items, do you love and/or use the items on a regular basis? This applies for decorations, collectibles, small appliances, camping gear, sports equipment, clothing, etc. If you no longer use the items (more holiday decorations than you actually put up, your child’s old Buzz Lightyear decor, your size 5 jeans that you’ll “someday” get into again, etc), sell them or donate them so someone else can use them and you can reclaim your space!
• Is the container for items that (be honest!) belong in the trash? It’s OK to keep magazines until you read them…unless it’s been months and that day hasn’t come. Then they need to go. If there is a recipe or craft idea that you want, cut it out and throw out the rest of the magazine. If you are buying a storage container or basket to store old issues of Good Housekeeping or mail order catalogs, you are wasting money and space! Even in 50 years, your magazine “collection” will be worth less than you spent on them. Do you really go back and read old magazines? Ever? If there’s an article about heart disease that you wanted to look at again in the future, you can find the information online. There is no reason to keep old magazines, newspapers, catalogs, or other trash.
• Containers for clothes are sometimes handy. Sweaters store nicely in under bed storage containers during the summer. Don’t buy containers to store clothes your children (or you) have outgrown – even if the clothing item was hand knit by Aunt Sue. Donate or sell outgrown clothing. People can use it, and you have no reason to keep it. If you have a weight loss goal, you’ll want new, updated clothing as a reward for reaching it. Get rid of the skinny clothes!

Using Containers for Decor

You might have read too many Martha Stewart books and think that every single item you own should be in some sort of decorative container.

If you’re trying to get organized, the last thing you need to worry about is putting your Q-tips and cotton balls in some cute container and your astringent in a glass decanter. Refilling and cleaning the containers is just one more thing you have to do.

The point of organization is to save you time and effort, not create work that takes more time and effort away from your life. Do you really care if people that snoop through your medicine cabinet or under your sink notice that you buy (gasp!) store brand cotton balls?

Keep things in their original containers, especially if the containers can be resealed or make it easier to dispense the items.

Using Wicker Baskets on Shelves

Lined baskets can be a big help when you store things on shelves, but putting them on shelves just to improve the look of your shelves is a waste of time and money. It can also keep you from easily seeing what’s on the shelves.

If you use a closet with shelves instead of a dresser with drawers, lined baskets are essential for storing items that don’t easily stack when they are folded like undergarments, socks, scarves, and belts.

Baskets are not needed for sweaters, T-shirts, etc. Rolled towels in baskets look nice on a vanity in the guest bathroom, but they aren’t necessary for towels or washcloths in your linen closet. They just take up space. If your washcloths fall over, don’t stack them so high. They will still fall over if you stack them that high in baskets!

Remember – buy baskets that are necessary. Don’t buy baskets and then invent the necessity for them!