devo digest » Organizing

Important Things To Consider When Buying Plastic Storage Boxes

Stevie Wonder — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:02:05 +0000

Plastic storage boxes are used extensively to help keep homes and workplaces clean and organized. You can sort everything according to similarity and store it in plastic boxes that you can label so that you can always find it later on. However, before you run out and buy some of these boxes, there are some considerations that you should be taking into account. This article will discuss some of these items so that you can make a well-informed purchase that you won’t regret later on.

One consideration is the size of box that you’ll need. This will depend on the size of the items that you wish to store. Bigger items will require bigger boxes. I know that’s ridiculously simple, but so many people end up buying plastic storage boxes that are of the wrong size, and in some instances, the store where they bought them will not accept returns. So, they just spent money on boxes that they can’t use.

Another consideration is whether or not you can afford the boxes that you wish to buy. Once you’ve figured out how many boxes you’ll need, and how big they need to be, you need to figure out whether or not you can afford them. If you can’t, you may want to buy cardboard boxes instead, especially if you are storing your items in a climate-controlled environment.

Some plastic storage boxes are clear, while the rest come in a wide assortment of colors. Clear boxes allow you to view the contents of the box without having to pull the box out and remove the lid. However, if you go with boxes of several colors, you can create a system of color-coded storage by which you associate items like frosted window film privacy rolls and power tools with a certain color, allowing you to find whatever you’re looking for fast.

You also need to think about whether you would prefer your boxes to come with certain add-ons that might help satisfy your unique storage needs. For instance, some boxes are made with dividers on the inside that allow you to sort items that are held within the box. An example of this would be the storage of nuts and bolts, where the dividers are used to keep the nuts and bolts separated according to size. Another example of a customized storage box would be a box that has wheels, allowing you to store and transport items that are too heavy to carry. These add-ons might make your storage boxes more expensive, but they can really make your life a lot easier depending on what you’re doing.

These are just a few of the things that you should be thinking about prior to buying any plastic storage boxes. If you give some of these items serious thought, you will be much more satisfied with your purchase.

Portable Building Solutions For Every Need

Stevie Wonder — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:42:08 +0000

If your organization has a problem where you need additional space or extra room, then a portable building could offer an excellent solution. These box-shaped buildings are modular and can be used in a wide variety of applications whenever it’s not practical to build a permanent structure. Here’s an Aspen Dance Realty overview of some common uses for portable buildings:

Storage Space

Storage is probably the most common application for these types of structures. Since a portable building is available in practically any size, it can provide very efficient and cost effective means of storing your valuable equipment, tools, or office records, because you can pay for only the space that you need. As an additional benefit, it provides security at the same time.

Basic Shelter

Oftentimes construction companies need temporary buildings on site while they are in the process of construction. A portable building will provide basic shelter and work space in such situations. For example, architects and project managers require a workspace, or workers need a sheltered space for eating or securing their possessions out of the weather.

Office Space

A portable building may not be much to look at from the outside, but inside it can be outfitted with an entire range of equipment and features that makes it very suitable as temporary office space. Especially for businesses that need extra space requirements on a seasonal basis, and therefore can’t justify the cost of a permanent structure, a temporary building might provide exactly what they need.

Education

Almost every school district is struggling with budget shortfalls, as well as buckets of red tape when trying to build permanent classrooms. A portable building provides an ideal classroom setting for any number of students. Schools can also justify them because of the uncertainty of fluctuating student enrollment levels.

Emergency Housing

Portable buildings offer a viable solution to the housing problems caused by many different natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. When such a disaster renders large numbers of people homeless, it’s crucial to find a speedy and flexible method of providing shelter. They can be used for instant medical clinics, temporary hospitals, shower and canteen blocks, as well as family and the dormitory style housing.

No matter whether the situation involves temporary storage for shelter, temp office space, teaching rooms or emergency housing, an inexpensive portable building provides a quick, efficient and practical solution to the problem at hand.

Kids Closet Organization

Stevie Wonder — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:39:05 +0000

Kids are messy, carefree creatures and that is nothing new. They cause so much havoc in the house and it’s almost impossible to contain them. Let’s not get started on their bedroom! Kids’ bedrooms are always full of trash, with piles of clothes all over the furniture and shoes strewn all over the floor. Aside from clothes, children have plenty of bulky items such as balls, baseball bats, caps, hockey sticks, etc. Do you know that kids have just as much clothing as adults? It’s true—and the thing is, kids don’t know how to organize their stuff into neat stacks and leave them where they left them. It’s a perennial headache for us as parents.

To effectively introduce kids closet organization, you should assess the current closet situation first. The primary thing to do is to tackle the toys and sports accessories first. These are usually the bulkiest items that take the most space. Have an open shelf prepared for them that is within your child’s reach. This allows for easy access especially if they use the toys often.

Next step is to divide clothes according to season. During summer, your children do not need the bulky clothes like boots, winter jackets, ski wear, etc. Store them some place else like storage cubes. Only during the change of season should you exchange the closet items—colder season do not require swimsuits, board shorts and tank tops, so store it again in another storage area.

Next concentrate on organizing the kids’ footwear. If they leave their shoes on the floor, their tendency is to throw them or drop them anywhere. This creates clutter and also difficulty in keeping pair together. Finding that match to a pair of shoes becomes a hassle that wastes plenty of time and energy. Instead, dedicate a place like a shelf or cubbies to place the pairs of shoes in one area.

Of course, you don’t need to do this all on your own. After cleaning the closet spotless tackle the closet closet organization process head on with your child. Show them how to put things away and where they go. This way they learn how to take care of their belongings and learn a sense of respect.

The Different Sizes of Wicker Baskets made for Storage

Stevie Wonder — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 03:03:12 +0000

There are many uses for a wicker storage basket. The basket itself is available in several sizes ranging from the very small to the items large enough to hold a load of laundry. The smaller sized square shaped items are often used as letter holders for bills and other pieces of outgoing mail. These can be made more decorative by weaving a colored ribbon through the wood around the edge of the top. Smaller baskets are also used to hold potpourri and scented soaps in a bathroom. They can also hold extra wash cloths for guests to use.

The medium sized products come in styles that can be used in an office setting. There are cabinet units designed using a metal material for the outer frame and the baskets as the containers for storing papers and other items. There are also several large styles created as trunks that can be placed in a bedroom setting to hold extra bedding when not in use. You can even find products designed as wicker storage for baby items. These are specially crafted carriers that have enough inside space to hold several diapers, powder, lotion and a change of clothing.

The items used for babies are sometimes referred to as hampers and are similar in design to classic picnic baskets. Often the item will have a hinged lid and may even come in a special shape made to be placed on stairs. This shape has one bottom end placed higher than the other so the hamper will sit firmly on the stair without tipping over. Most baby hampers as well as many other storage items made of wicker will come with a fabric material placed on the inside as a liner. This helps protect the interior wood from getting scratched and also adds a bit of decoration to the finished piece.

Going Uncluttered with Closet Organizers

Stevie Wonder — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:00:46 +0000

Tired of the clutter in your closet? Do you need to dive into a pile of t-shirts to look for your dress? Or go back and forth your hanging office uniforms for your favorite pair of jeans? Sounds like you need some serious organizing work to do with your clothes, doesn’t it? Now think. How and why did that clutter get into your closet? Two probable reasons: a) you have no idea where to put your shirts or formal clothes or uniforms OR b) your closet’s just not big enough to accommodate all your clothes. Well, you’re not to worry because you’re not the only one hiding clutter in their closets, and we’re here to give you some helpful tips on how to reduce, if not lose, the clutter in your closet.

Labeling your closet is one of the simplest things that you can do to organize it. You may label your closet according to your clothes’ type such as casual wear, formal or semi-formal, uniforms, pants, and so on and so forth. Allot a bigger closet space for the types of clothes that have the most number in your wardrobe, and a smaller space for lesser ones. However, if your closet doesn’t have enough space to contain all your clothes, you might need to do some expansion work so you can organize and fit all your clothes in. You could take out a wall, for example, or modify your room but doing this can be quite costly and time consuming.

There actually are a lot of products that try to address closet problems. One of those products is closet organizers. If you want to go for a less expensive but highly efficient option to organize your closet, you may check out these products as closet organizers might be the solution you’ve been looking for.

There are different closet designs and models and each has distinct closet organization systems. There’s also a wide variety of these products that come in different styles to suit your lifestyle, taste, and budget, and cater to both the young ones and young once. Not only can you save money and time, you can now organize the clutter in your closet because you can easily install it yourself without having to remodel your room. You can find these types of organizers for your closets by doing a search on the web. There are actually many types that you can choose from ranging from all different prices.

Clean Out Your Basement

Stevie Wonder — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:26:15 +0000

Millions of Americans use the basement in their homes as extra storage space to place their collection of stuff. However, there is so much stuff, there is room for nothing else. Are you one of them? There is an easy way to clean out your basement and still be able to use it as a storage area and use it for something else like a kid’s play area or “man cave.”

When cleaning through your stuff, keep in mind that you should have 2 piles. One pile is for stuff to keep (keepers pile) and the other pile is stuff to leave your space (leaving pile). Get out the garbage can and throw out your stuff that is broken or has no re-sale value or simply cannot be used by anyone. For the items in the “leaving pile,” you can do several things. Check out ebay to see if any of your items has any re-sale value. Then if they do, start an ebay auction and make some cash. In addition, you can organize a yard sale or tag sale to get some extra cash. If you have neighbors that want to get involved with their own yard sales, you will get more traffic to your neighborhood. For your items that did not sell at your tag sale, you can call your favorite charity and see if they accept those items as donations. Some stuff doesn’t get accepted. If they do accept your items, some charities will send pickup trucks to your home and collect those items. It’s also a good idea to look up your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store to see if they will accept your stuff. This will ultimately reduce the amount of stuff going into the trash.

What to do with your “keepers pile”? If you have a lot of items that are heavy, get a heavy-duty metal shelving rack that can store your stuff safely. Most manufacturers will have a maximum weight allowance that the shelving unit can hold printed on the box. Some shelving racks are better than others. Since metal frames usually have a greater ability to hold numerous heavy items when compared to the plastic kind, you should go with the manufacturer that has the highest weight limit allowed for future needs.

Now what do you do with the small stuff in your “keepers pile”? There are a couple of options. Small items can be organized with peg boards or an apothecary cabinet. These can help you organize your space more efficiently. Another idea is clear plastic shoe boxes.

Different Types of Garage Storage Cabinets

Stevie Wonder — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:29:08 +0000

When it comes to picking out the right garage storage solution to help get organized, the number of options can be overwhelming for some people. First you have to decide if you are going to build a unit yourself or purchase a unit or garage storage system. Then you need to determine if you are going to go with garage cabinets, or garage shelving or some other type of garage organizer. Each of these have their own pros and cons so whatever you pick, it is going to be a significant improvement to whatever you have.

Garage cabinets are favored by many people because when the garage door is up, it presents a neatly organized look to other people that may drive by or be walking around the neighborhood. It makes the garage look more like an extension of the house inside. Because there are so many different types of household items that will need storage, cabinets work well because there are a multitude of options to meet all of your needs. Here is a closer look at some of the different types of garage storage cabinets.

Base Garage Cabinets – these are the typical cabinets used for storage and will run usually three feet high. You want to make sure they come with adjustable shelves inside so you can fit different sized items easily. Be sure to check if the shelves come with the cabinet. Some companies offer the shelves but as an additional cost with the cabinet. There are cabinets that will have pull out shelves that are able to slide out and in easily to make it better to reach items at the back.

Garage Drawer Cabinets – just as the name implies, these are cabinets that come with drawers, ranging anywhere from three to 12 per cabinet. The typical depth of most drawer cabinets is 18 to 24 inches. These work well for smaller tools or parts, especially if they come with or you purchase dividers for the drawers so you can easily segment like items. If you have stainless steel cabinets, you are going to want to make sure to get drawer liners so the tools and other items are not sliding around on the smooth surface every time the drawers are opened and closed.

Parts Bin Cabinets – if you do a lot of home improvement projects around the house, these cabinets are nice to keep all of the little nuts, bolts, screws and other accessories organized and together. No longer do you have to worry about different sizes getting mixed together or losing spare pieces when something needs to be replaced. The bins are usually removable so you can take them to different areas of the garage as you do your work.

Garage Corner Cabinets – if you have cabinets on two connecting walls, these cabinets work to fill in the space between the two rows as they come together. It gives you some additional storage space instead of leaving a gap in that corner since the garage cabinets cannot be overlapped and still open otherwise.

These are just some of the popular types of garage storage cabinets. There are more cabinets on the market that can fit additional needs if you have them. Be sure to check at your local store and if you cannot find what you are looking for if you have special needs, there is always the option of going with customizable garage storage cabinets.

Closet Organizer: Brands You Should Consider Buying

Stevie Wonder — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:38:03 +0000

Having a long lasting closet organizer is very essential for a beautifully decorated home. When you are aiming for the long term usage of the closet organizer, then you should consider going through all types of the brands available in the market. Many of the famous closet organizer makers not only make great quality of closet organizer, but also have unique design. Some of the noteworthy companies that make great closet organizer are Ikea Closets, Elfa Closet System and Rubbermaid Closet System.

Elfa is a closet manufacturing company that has been in this business for a long time. Elfa doesn’t depend on many kind of raw materials. The major colors used upon the closets are majorly platinum and white. Elfa designs the closets keeping in mind the varied storage space of a user. Thus the Elfa closets can be made to fit in a space. Elfa gives you the option to customize your closet organizer. You can change the size of the racks and adjust the height of the compartment. You have the choice of either going for the steel framework or the wooden closets. Even though Elfa packs great features with the closet organize, it still remains affordable.

If you want to talk about the highest standard of the closet system, then you can’t miss upon the California Closet System. Every other closet system that has been designed and executed by the company has a very long life and a timeless attraction. The company has made their closet organizer quite lavish and luxurious.

If you happen to be looking for the closet organizer which has a very nominal and attainable price tag, then you must go for the Rubbermaid closet System. This company concentrates on making the end product lighter and better as it eases the extra gym charger that would otherwise based. So These were a few closet organizer brands.

Declutter my House: Getting Organized

Stevie Wonder — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 02:05:06 +0000

It seems as though every weekend I am trying to declutter my house. I always seem to have getting organized on my to do list and I have finally learned to make it a priority. Getting rid of clutter in your home is not always an easy task. We tend to think we need everything. If we have it, we have it for a reason right? Wrong. Often times we buy things thinking we may use it and we never do. The rule of them is usually if you haven’t used it within 6 months donate it, give it to charity or trash it! It seems though, that most people do not understand how beneficial getting rid of all that extra clutter in your home can be. So here are a few reasons you should make getting organized a priority.

Clearing out all the excess items in your home will give you peace of mind. When you come home to a clean house everyday you feel less stressed. You can actually come home and spend time with your loved ones instead of having to clean up a mess or feel obligated to get certain tasks done. Imagine coming home and that “junk room” that you have always had is now clean and organized? Wouldn’t that give you an overwhelming feeling or pride?

Organized means less stress! Think of all the times you have run around your home trying to find something. Maybe it was in the morning before you were going to work and it made you late? Or before you were leaving for a night out on the town and you just could not find that one item you needed. When things have a place, and you know that they are always there you have few moments of panic trying to locate something.

Overall it makes you happy. Peace of mind, no stress and a clean home make for a happier home. Once you have a system for things it is much easier to maintain it. If you have put a lot of work into it, be sure to tell your friends and family so you can get a pat on the back. Don’t be shy. It is also important to let your family know all the hard work you did, so that in the future when they think of leaving something out, or just shoving it in a drawer they will think of how hard you worked. You can also use this as a good family bonding moment where you and your significant other or your kids get together and get things done!

Closet Organziation Systems And You

Stevie Wonder — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:50:04 +0000

I think that we all have the one closet in our house that has just gotten out of control. It could be the one in your bedroom that has all your clothes in it or the one in the kids playroom that has all the toys. Either way, a closet organization system of some type will drastically improve your usable space and overall organization.

There are many different types of closet ideas out there and it really depends on what you mainly use the closet for. If it is a clothing storage area then you are going to want a closet organization system that will cater to hanging clothes. This will also help you avoid having wrinkles. There will also need to be room for you to store folded items such as sweaters and jeans. Then there is the challenge of housing all the different types of shoes you may have. Now we all know that for a woman this may be a much bigger task then for the men out there. Thankfully there are many different types of shoe storage and shoe organization solutions available.

If you are interested in storing things like games and toys a good solution would be one that contains a lot of shelving. This way you can stack multiple items on top of one another while still be able to see what is there. Another good concept is to invest in some large plastic storage bins. These can easily be labeled and stacked to save room.
Another big factor to consider then organizing your closet is the space that you have to work with. If you have a large walk in type closet then it may be a little easier to find a place for everything. If it is a smaller storage space that you are working with you might need to get a little creative. One common area for a odd shaped closet is under a staircase. These areas are best served using some type of stack able storage containers so that can be stacked into the stair pattern that is made by the staircase. With smaller closets it is important to remember to try and use all available space. This includes the walls, the back of the closet door if possible and sometimes hanging things from the ceiling works.

There are many different types of closet organization systems out there for you to choose from. As previously stated there is no “fix all” for every type of closet. You are going to need to decide what works best for you application and the space you are working with. One of the most popular closet ideas is the metal wire systems. They are very adaptable and are easy to customize. Most of them can easily integrate a bar to hang clothes from along with wire shelves and even wire pull out drawers. One main advantage to this type of organization system is that you are able to see into the drawers. This way you know exactly what is stored inside each one. For a more grand look you can get a wood closet organization system. These tend to be much more costly but give a more finished and refined look and feel. Most of these are supplied by companies that will come in and actually cut everything to fit in your closet.

There are many different closet ideas and closet organization systems out there. Your first step to getting a more useful closet is to determine you budget and get out there to see what will work the best for your application. If its feasible you can just pay a professional to come in and develop a solution just for your closet.