Storage Bins

Storage bins are the best and most misunderstood and under utilized aspect of closet organization or really any type of organization. At last count I think I own 47 storage bins. Storage bins rock. Everything and I mean everything in your house can benefit from the effective use of storage bins.

Let me tell you about how I use these bins in my own house. I started with just a few and slowly built my storage bin empire. I actually bought my first storage bins about 10 years with no purpose in mind. They were 60% or 75% off at Canadian Tire and I thought they might come in handy. As an aside, I have made a number of impulse purchases at Canadian Tire because of their great sales and I have never been disappointed.

In any event, I picked up a set of 3 bins and promptly put the still packaged bins in my basement. It was a few months later when I was washing all of my kids summer clothes in preparation for summer that I first used the bins. It occurred to me that as I washed the kids winter clothes I would slowly start to store the clean winter clothes in a bin and replace the winter clothes with the summer clothes. The transition from winter clothes to summer clothes would be seamless and at my own pace. The winter clothes would be washed once and then stored in a plastic bin until mid September. The storage bins gave me power! These are perfect storage solutions .

I quickly scanned my basement for other storage bin options. My eyes fell upon our heap of camping equipment. A light went off in my head that camping equipment was perfectly suited for storage bins. I made a mental note to buy some more storage bins on the weekend. I was right. Preparing for a camping trip is much easy when everything is prepacked in storage bins. After each trip I simply wash the camping dinner ware and cooking utensils and store it in a bin. Before I pack away the bin I try to think of things that we ran out of or forgot, like tin foil. I add these items to the bin. I treat the rest of the equipment in a similar manner. My family can now go camping on the spur of the moment by transferring the 4 camping bins to the car and packing some clothes. It is as simple as that. The storage bins give me flexibility.

I now have storage bins all over my house. Christmas decorations are in a few bins, Halloween decorations and/or Thanksgiving decorations are in another bin. The kids softball equipment fills another bin and so on. The best thing about storage bins is that I know where everything is. Gone are the half day searches for a baseball glove. In addition, I prefer to use homogeneous storage bins so they stack neatly together. If I need to segregate certain items within the larger storage bins I simply employ some smaller storage bins within the larger ones.

You know what else storage bins are good for ... towels, sheets, blankets, pillow cases, etc., especially when you have seasonal sets like flannel sheet sets and summer beach towels. For more ideas about what you could store in your linen bins, take a look at Towels - Table Linens - Bed Linens - Pillows: Towels, Table & Bed Linens, Pillows, Shower Curtains and much more at Rotary Supply!

Trust me. Start with some cheap storage bins. As another aside I never pay full price for my storage bins. These bins are always on sale somewhere. Check the sales sheets. At least once per month you can find storage bins on sale at Canadian Tire. It won't be a big investment. Buy some cheap storage bins when you see them on sale and be creative.