Over the years I have purchased all kinds of bins and boxes. What I’ve learned is buying the bins or organizations system first is almost always a recipe for waste and frustration. You need to assess what you’re actually keeping and what storage system you actually need before purchasing any kind of organizational boxes.
Almost always.
Several weeks ago I had picked a few things up from a craft store for a friend and there must have been a special running because after that trip I got a notice saying I had accrued $30 in rewards points. A couple days ago I received an email screaming in big red letters, my points were about to expire. So, I took a trip to the craft store, because it would be wasteful to just let that non-transferable $30 go unspent, right? I walked around, checking out the aisles that used to call my name and mostly just seeing shelves filled with the same types of items that now lay in donation piles and bags in my son’s room. At that point, I was feeling pretty good about my ability to resist temptation…(while standing in the middle of the craft store).
Then, I saw a wall of storage bins. I knew I was adressing games this week and had already decided that I’d like a few boxes to group smaller card games, as well as a bin or two to house some games that could take up much less space without their original box. So, I picked out a couple simple white metal and cardboard lidded containers, purchased them with my points and put them aside until game day today. Reward dollars well spent, right?
This afternoon I pulled out all my games, consolidating the keepers into those pretty white boxes. Now to find a space for the pretty white boxes. I tried them in three different places before sitting down in frustration. As I looked around, I noticed a vintage train case on my shelf. We use it to hold fidgets, scented putties, and other sensory input toys. I pulled it out and started to weed out the fidgets we never use, the putties that have been loved for too long and now smell like feet, etc. (Today’s decluttering started feeling a little like a sequel to “If You Give a Mouse a Muffin.) Once the train case was emptied, it was the perfect size for the card games and all the unboxed games. I thought, no problem, I’ll just use those boxes to separate some things in the craft dresser I cleaned out yesterday. Except they didn’t work in there either. They are currently in a large tote filled with all the other storage bins that have been rendered homeless during this process. Maybe I’ll find a use for them, maybe I’ll see if the store will take them back, maybe I’ll learn my lesson about buying storage bins before really evaluating my storage needs. Maybe.
Uncovering Real 