Stop. Turn Around. Do not proceed to Ikea. Do not buy into ‘storage solutions’

The truth is; big box stores spend millions every year convincing you that their storage solution products will fix the clutter problem in your home. They use tactics like emotional manipulation and guilt to trick you into thinking that buying their products will immediately solve your ‘problems’.

Funny how every season there is suddenly a ‘new’ storage solution for your home that you should upgrade to! Who knew that every 3-4 months you would need a new storage item to fix your clutter?

The simple reality is that you can’t buy your way out of disorganisation and clutter. You have to deal with it, head-on.

At the end of the day, buying more of anything will not make you more organised and your home less cluttered.

The majority of ‘storage solutions’ will worsen clutter – in the long run

Why storage boxes and containers are not a good option

In general, when you put more ‘storage solutions’ into your home you are doing two things;

1. Making it harder to see what you have
2. Making it harder to access your items easily on a frequent basis
3. Creating surface clutter, when your ‘storage’ gets full

There are many aspects to a good and efficient system in your home. The first element of organisation is the ease of use. If you have to remove a lid, move another item to access, or hunt inside a cupboard for a well-used item, it simply isn’t a good system.

Basically, putting items into baskets or boxes increases the chance you will forget about the contents.

Some examples of storage solutions that we see

We are constantly running across the same not-helpful storage situations in client homes

1. Containers with lids containing items that are in multiple locations around the home (i.e. hair ties, stationary, make-up, etc).
2. Boxes of paperwork spanning years that is never ‘dealt with’.
3. Racks for make-up or bathroom products that are pushed to the side of the bathroom (with duplicates that are used on the bench)
4. Baskets in pantries with old and unused items at the bottom
5. Containers in pantries with items decanted into them but which are never used (while open packets are elsewhere).
6. Beautifully labelled, expensive shoe boxes with shoes that haven’t been used in years inside

If we can’t see items readily and easily, we will forget about them. If we have to open a container to get to an item every day, it is likely we (or a family member) will end up skipping the container and just dumping the item near it.

A good professional organiser doesn’t buy into the hype of storage gimmicks

We have absolutely nothing against storage itself. It is a wonderful thing – but it has to fit certain, right criteria. The storage that you use must follow simple guidelines;

1. It must be properly sized for the contents
2. The items that it contains actually need to be stored, instead of donated/discarded.
3. The items are stored in the right area of your home for access

For this reason, it is important that you consider not only what you put into storage, but also where you put this storage. There are roughly three types of storage;

1. Everyday access
2. Medium-term
3. Long-term. 

It is our responsibility as organisers to help you to implement the right storage solutions for your home. A solution that includes decluttering, system creation, and storage implementation. At the end of the day, for storage to be a solution it needs to be easy to maintain.

Ready?

We will work with you to improve the use and efficiency of storage solutions in your home. This is all part of the process when you book with a Professional Organiser. You can book here now.