Our friend Grace, who has eight decades of housekeeping under her belt, taught me how to divide and conquer junk drawers, cupboards, and closets. Grace's house is so organized that when her brother came to live with her after his wife died, he could easily find everything in the house without assistance. Grace's secret weapon is modified cardboard boxes.
Grace's Box Tricks
- Use labeled shoe boxes to store things on closet shelves.
- Use cereal, tea, and cracker boxes to divide drawers and cupboards. Gather your pasteboard materials, then divide the drawers and cupboards one at a time. Simplify by putting seldom-used items in a box or bag at the back of the appropriate drawer.
- Put open boxes in underwear and sock drawers.
- Use a utility knife to cut the boxes to fit.
For a short while, customizing pasteboard boxes with a utility knife was my hobby, and "Square Is Beautiful" and "Divide and Conquer" were my favorite mottos. Ready-made drawer organizers just cannot compete with these customized dividers.
Once a space has been divided and its contents categorized, its carrying capacity increases and it tends to resist disorder. When was the last time you saw a disorderly silverware drawer? We don't drop our spoons in with our knives, why should we allow or twist ties to twin around our rubber bands, salvaged string, and spare electrical cords?
- I cut the tops off tea boxes and used them to tame our kitchen junk drawers three years ago. The drawers are just as tidy today as the day I conquered them.
- The bottom of a thin cereal box (from hot cereal, for instance) works well for organizing twist ties and rubber bands.
- Prevent lightweight extension cords from tangling by storing them in the cardboard tubes from paper towels.
- I made cardboard dividers for our overflowing collection of grocery bags; the dividers increased the capacity of the cubby by keeping the folded bags upright. The chaos has never returned.
- Heavy-duty cardboard boxes, such as detergent boxes, can be used to build stacked cubicles for storing lightweight dry goods like dry noodles or lightweight toiletries such as toothbrushes or Band-Aids.
- Square, heavy plastic containers such as liquid detergent bottles can be cut down to make cubby holes and dividers for under-sink and other damp storage. Many of these containers are heavy enough to support some weight. Since I don't use liquid detergent, I scrounged for detergent bottles at our local recycling center.
Get more tips on how to live a clean, healthy and more economical life in Green Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck.
About the Author
Ellen Sandbeck is an organic landscaper, worm wrangler, writer, and graphic artist who lives with (and experiments on) her husband and an assortment of younger creatures -- which includes two mostly grown children, a couple of dogs, a small flock of laying hens, and many thousands of composting worms -- in Duluth, Minnesota. She is the author of Green Housekeeping and Green Barbarians.
MSN Lifestyle search:More clutter organizing tips
