I Bought Bins ... Now What
Photo Credit: The Container Store
I’ll be honest … I love pretty bins. I am obsessed with pictures of manicured pantries and closets with all those labeled bins. Neatly stacked shelves of pasta and beans in glass jars (not a commercial label in sight) and woven wood bins with snacks with only a chalk “snacks” label visible. Closets with precisely folded sweaters and a few hats next to mostly white button-down shirts hanging neatly. I do admire these pictures.
Photo Credit: Ikea
But after a few moments, I also start to see the flaws in those manicured images. Many pantries I see in person as a professional organizer do not have as much space as the product pictures idealize. Most people don’t have pantries the size of a bathroom with a big beautiful light fixture shining down on shelving with well-spaced products. (If you do have large pantries that are not as functional as they could be, I would LOVE to help you out, though!) The pantries I typically see are often a cabinet or two and they have to be functionally succinct to fit a family’s food storage needs in the space they have. These clients don’t always have room for backstock pasta, bean, flour, and other boxes hidden away while a small amount is displayed in pretty labeled glass jars. These clients just need to be able to open the cabinet and find the pasta box for dinner without frustration.
Similarly, with the closet, who has only 5 white, crisp shirts to hang in their closet with nothing else? Who owns only 3 pairs of shoes and one handbag? Where are all the colored shirts? Where are all the clothes? Most clients I see have a lot of clothes and, even after sorting and paring down the amount, they still have a full closet and want to be able to see and find items easily. Closet storage products definitely help and I always highly recommend them. However, these social media images start to deceive us. Remember, the companies posting them are selling products, not organization.
Bins are useful tools for any organization project, and they mind-as-well be pretty and labeled. But one cannot often start and end an organization project with just a few purchases from the big box store. In fact, it is easy to walk away from the store with $300 of product only to find yourself a few months later in the same organizational state in which you started. To be truly organize, one often engages a process of intentional thought about their space, their belongings, and their current/future needs. Organization is about knowing what you need, knowing what you love, and being willing to weed out the rest. Organization is about creating systems of what goes where and how to maintain the systems months and years into the future. Organization is about up-front thought so as to eliminate constant re-thinking and re-processing later on. Organization is about a lot more than just the container.
I do believe that organization is a learned skill for many people. Learning organizational concepts (and how to apply them) is not only doable but will benefit you now and in the years to come. I also know that many people struggle to organize on their own, often not completing the process or maintaining the system. Hiring a professional organizer often speeds up the process and reduces anxiety involved … it’s an investment in your well-being. And, I believe, one well worth the cost.
