I am so excited about this chapter! We are finally to the fun stuff:containers. I realize in an earlier chapter I mentioned buying containers was the biggest organizing mistake (and it is), but buying containers is only a mistake when you try to use them before you have sorted, purged, and assigned a space for them to go. Containers can only be used properly when you know exactly what is going in them and you know the size and shape you’ll need for the space.
My sister is a container-buying junkie. She is forever coming home with new Rubbermaid totes or storage containers with the best intentions of getting her home organized. While I share her obsession for buying bins and baskets, sometimes unused or misused containers can actually make a clutter problem much worse. In my sister’s case, her busy family often uses containers for quick clean-ups by filling them with random clutter in order to tidy the house fast. While this does make her home clean and tidy in the short term, all of those filled and mixed up totes only lead to missing items and much more work in the long run.
So how do we use containers to get our house organized? We start by understanding our organizing style. Once you know what ClutterBug you are, you can better understand which type of storage bins and baskets will work best for you. Butterflies need clear or brightly colored containers in order for them to work, while Ladybugs need baskets and bins that will make everything inside hidden from sight. I will give you more tips on buying containers that work best for the different organizing styles throughout this chapter.
Next you need to know exactly what is going in the bins, so you know what size of container to purchase. You’ll also need to measure the spot where it will be used in order to make sure that the container will fit. Nothing is worse than buying a bunch of drawer dividers only to come home and discover they are too tall for your drawers. I’ve been there, done that. I had to learn the hard way (multiple times) to always measure first and bring my tape measure with me to the store when buying organizing supplies.
We are now to the part of the journey where we can really transform your home. Not only do containers keep your belongings separate and easy to find (and put away), but they can also really customize your space and turn a boring closet into something personal and really beautiful.
Maybe I’m a huge nerd, but there is something so ah-inspiring about opening up a closet and seeing rows and rows of pretty colored, labeled bins and baskets. More than just being eye-pleasing, containers can double or even triple your storage, too. If you are like me and tend to hold on to too much stuff, the right containers can keep even the biggest ClutterBug neat and tidy.
That really is the key, the right containers. My husband and I have very different organizing styles. I’m a Ladybug, so I like to hide everything away and visual clutter can stress me out. That being said, it doesn’t bother me in the least to have things a jumbled mess when they are out of sight, like inside drawers and closets. My husband, on the other hand, is a Cricket. He likes to make thousands of neat little piles all over the house with the things he hasn’t put away yet. It makes his skin crawl to have things shoved randomly inside a drawer, as he needs things to have a proper home before he will put them away. This combination of Cricket and Ladybug used to create a hilarious and never-ending game of, “Cas, where did my pile go?” and my usual response of, “Did you check all of my hiding spots?” Poor Joe. I was constantly playing hide-the-pile and I rarely remembered where I had hidden it. We are a work in progress, but we have come a long way over the years. While we still do occasionally play our fun little game of hide-and-seek, we now have many organizing solutions and container-compromises that work for both of us.