Most of us start out in a new place with the best intentions of keeping it clean and tidy (unlike our last residence). And yet, almost without fail, life gets busy, unexpected obligations come up, and you let the housework fall by the wayside. Piles begin to form and before your know it, your house is starting to look like an episode of Hoarders. Well, it might not be that bad yet, but you clearly need to nip it in the bud and get organized before you feel like you’re living in a fort of pizza boxes and piles of clothing (clean or dirty? You don’t even know…). And your salvation lies not only in the ability to throw things away, but also in learning to organize the stuff you want to keep. To that end, you should invest in a storage system that involves containers.
The nice thing about container storage is that it can be put to use in every room in your house as a means of organizing your entire life (and you can buy piecemeal to avoid ending up with a lot of expensive storage space you don’t need). The garage is a good place to start, because it is often the catchall for crap that you don’t want to trip over in the hallway. You likely have everything from sporting equipment to Christmas decorations to craft supplies to tools and automotive repair items that actually belong in the garage. And you can bet there’s a lot more. So get yourself some extra-large bins to house the majority of the detritus and get a number of smaller tubs for items that can easily become lost (like your disparate collection of nuts, bolts, screws, nails, and so on).
Next, think about how you can organize the spaces that are meant for storage. Instead of piling everything up in the closet until it’s ready to explode in an avalanche of stuff, install shelving and fill it with properly sized containers. Each one can be allotted to hold craft supplies, extra linens, board games, or whatever else you plan to house there. This will not only keep the closet from becoming an ungainly mess, but it will give you easy access to items you use frequently. If you label the bins, you will be able to find everything in a flash.
Another likely area of clutter is the office, followed closely by the family room. In each of these rooms, you probably face media storage problems. These days, there are many forms of electronic entertainment, such as CDs, DVDs, and video games (not to mention old-school standbys like books, records, and tapes) and organizing them can pose a real problem. Instead of opting for cheap plastic shelving units that will fall apart soon after you fill them, put up the cash for some permanent shelving and line it with stylish bins to hold all of your media. You can find options to suit any aesthetic and they will look better and last longer than some of the furniture that is custom made for media.
Organizing your living spaces may not be your idea of fun, but if you spend the time and money to do the job right the first time, you’ll only have to do it once. And by using containers, you’re not only ensuring that everything has a place, but you can also seal your items in airtight bins to ensure that when you come back for them, they are just the way you left them.
Breana Orland writes for Morrison CHS which specializes in feed screws, quick change parts and builds the best products available in the container handling industry.