Containers 101: How and where to buy the right ones for you
While I don’t believe the answer to anyone’s clutter or organizing woes is found only in the purchase and use of containers, the right container in the right context can be incredibly useful! You can start thinking about containers after you’ve done the hard work or decluttering a space or streamlining a routine/household system that works for you. You can’t shortcut this. Buying a container before completing this type of work only creates more work for you on the backend in the form of clutter.
My rules for containers.
Always, always, always declutter before you even consider buying containers. If this is a container that will support a routine or household system (ex: laundry and laundry hampers), make sure you’ve nailed down the system so you know exactly what role the container needs to play.
Consider: Does this need to be in a container? Will it be helpful if this is in a container? Not everything needs a container. But containers can be enormously helpful in the right context. A container’s main function is corralling similar items (i.e. all of my “Christmas stuff” is contained in these 3 totes). Containers can also streamline a routine. An example that comes to mind is my “night time” box. It is a box (behind a child-locked cabinet) that contains all of mine and my husband’s night time specific necessities. Mostly medications and my rotation of face creams. Let me tell you, it is so luxurious to just pull out this little box and know that anything I need for my evening routine is in there. And then when I’m done, the box goes right back into the child-locked cabinet. It removes some friction from the nighttime process. It makes it easy to corral and keep track of all my nighttime items.
Consider if you already have a container that will work for your purposes. If you do, even if it’s not a perfect container, I urge you to consider using it now. Using a container you already have lying around (even a cardboard box or other recyclable item) will help you get clear on what your “Container Criteria” will be when you’re ready to invest in a more long-term solution.
Now you can start considering your “Container Criteria” by answering ALL of the following questions.
Will this container be out on display? Do I care what it looks like?
How much capacity should this container have?
Do I want a container with or without a lid?
Do I want the container to be clear or opaque?
How often will I be handling this container?
Who will be primarily handling this container? (if it’s my kids it better be a very sturdy container!)
What are my space constraints (where will this container live and how big is the shelf/closet?)
Where will this container be stored? In a garage or basement subject to extreme temperatures? Somewhere where I need to be concerned about possible water intrusion or pests?
Measure, measure, measure! This is so important that I mention it again. Once you’ve considered and answered the above questions, you need to again consider 1) how much space you have to store said container and 2) how much capacity you need the container to have. Measure the height, width and depth of the shelf/closet. Draw a diagram if that’s helpful. Try putting the items in a container that you already have to get an idea for how much capacity you need.
Always account for some “wiggle room” in your shelf/closet measurements. The container itself takes up space and you don't want to have containers jammed so tightly in a closet that it’s hard to put away or retrieve items.
Always plan for more container capacity than you think. It is always helpful to have some headspace in the container and makes putting items away and retrieving items much easier. Also remember: containers are great natural, physical constraints as long as you respect their capacity. So there is a balance to be found between how much capacity you need now, having some extra capacity to work with as your needs may change and leveraging the power of a physical constraint such as a container.
A simple calculation for measuring capacity is multiplying the length, width and height of the container in centimeters, then dividing by 1000. This will give you a cubic liter measurement which you can convert to quarts if necessary.
Here are a few of my favorite containers:
For household odds and ends: The Kuggis line at ikea is one of my favorites. They have discontinued some of the sizes and colors I loved sadly. I like this because it’s functional and looks nice enough to display, the containers can stack and there are many great sizes to choose from. Also the updattera line at ikea. Great for storing cleaning supplies under a sink or other small items.
For general indoor storage: I have these in the 74 quart size and 60 quart size. Stack, sturdy, keep out water and pests. I had these stored in a temperature controlled basement and we had a plumbing leak and nothing in the totes got wet! You can also buy them here.
For seasonal clothing - for me these are a great natural constraint for kid’s clothing storage and and seasonal clothing storage. They aren’t too big but big enough to hold all of the winter and summer clothes for a size when neither of my boys are wearing that size. I have one for each size (2T, 3T, etc.)
For general garage storage: These are sturdy, come in good sizes.
For toys: these are sturdy enough for my kids to handle, they stack. I use the bigger ones for big toy categories (duplos, blocks, trains) and the little ones for smaller toys (magna tiles, marble run, music toys, etc).
For keepsakes: these are sturdy and beautiful
For legos: I use these to sort Legos roughly by size and color. We use 1 or 2 to store each Lego set individually.
My favorite places to buy containers are Ikea, Home Depot, and Walmart. The container store sells beautiful, high quality containers but they are usually quite expensive. I usually only shop for containers there if I’ll be looking at and handling the container on a daily basis.
