SOAPBOX SUNDAY

Measure twice, buy once

I will admit that I am container crazy, but only because if I didn’t admit it, my husband would spill the beans.  I purposely stay away from The Container Store so that I don’t end up filing for bankruptcy. 

That said, I can also tell you the most important lesson I’ve learned about containers:

IF YOU DON’T BUY A SPECIFIC CONTAINER FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE, THE CONTAINER ITSELF CREATES MORE CHAOS THAN IT SOLVES.

It’s true.  Don’t get sucked into the “what great containers, these will help me organize everything” argument.  Many people (excluding me, of course) fall into this trap and load up on great containers only to find that they don’t fit what they were intended for, or they don’t fit into their designated space.  Or maybe they were bought without any intentions in the hope that having the container would somehow make the person who bought it more organized.

Don’t do it.  Figure out what you need by creating piles of categorized items and measuring it’s volume.  Then, measure the size of the storage space to determine what you can accommodate.  You may end up with a few smaller containers, but if they fit your stuff and in the correct space, they will eliminate much more chaos than that one box that won’t fit anywhere but your dining room.