How to Organize without Buying More Containers

If you’ve ever tried to organize a messy closet, pantry, drawer, or room, only to find yourself wandering through Wally World looking for baskets and bins, you are definitely not alone.
We’ve been “taught” to think that organizing means jamming everything into a container. And while containers can certainly help, they aren’t the place to start when trying to solve an organizing problem.

In fact, buying more containers before sorting and decluttering what you actually own will make things worse. Remember my SHOO method!

The good news? You can organize your home without buying a single freaking container.

Here’s how.

Start by Removing Before You Organize
The biggest organizing mistake is trying to find a home for everything before deciding whether everything deserves to stay.
Instead, start with one small area—a drawer, shelf, cupboard, or corner.
Use my SHOO system and sort everything into like categories. And then declutter each category into:

• Keep
• Donate
• Recycle
• Garbage
• Belongs somewhere else

Be HONEST about what you actually use.

If you have six spatulas but only reach for the same two, you don’t need to figure out a clever storage solution for the other four. You need fewer spatulas.

Decluttering is often the best organizing tool you already own.

Shop Your Own House

Before buying baskets, bins, drawer organizers, or shelves, look around your home.

You may already have things that can be repurposed.

An empty basket from another room might work perfectly in the bathroom. A small box from a recent purchase could organize cords. A sturdy shoebox might work in a dresser drawer. I used two different shoe boxes to organize my skivvy drawer, below.

Look at containers you already own and ask:

“Could this be doing a job somewhere else?”

You may discover that you already have lots of organizational supplies, you just aren’t using them where they’re most useful.

Stop Trying to Make Everything Look Like Pinterest

Beautifully matchy matchy storage can be inspiring, but real homes look like Pinterest photos.
Organization is about making your home work better, not to create a showroom.

If a stack of neatly folded towels works better for you than putting every towel into a basket, leave them on the shelf. I actually bought a rack for our tiny bathroom and we roll our towels to store them on the rack.

If your baking supplies are easier to use when they’re grouped together in the cupboard without individual containers, that’s the right way to organize for you!

The best organizing system is the one you can maintain.

Use the Space You Already Have

Before buying more storage products, look at your space differently.
Could you:

• Adjust a shelf?
• Use the back of a door?
• Stack items vertically?
• Store something underneath a piece of furniture?
• Move frequently used items to an easier-to-reach location?
• Use the top shelf for rarely used items?
• Group similar things together?

Organization isn’t always about adding storage. It’s about using your storage containers more efficiently.

Group Like Items Together

One of the simplest ways to make your home feel more organized is to stop storing similar things in multiple places.
For example, instead of having batteries scattered through three drawers, decide on one location for them to live.
Do the same with:

• Office supplies
• Candles
• Cleaning products
• Baking supplies
• Gift-wrapping supplies
• Light bulbs
• Pet supplies
• Craft materials
• Seasonal decorations

When everything has a general “home,” it’s a lot easier to put things away. And you don’t need a matching collection of bins to do that.

Use Labels, Even Without Containers

Labels aren’t just for baskets and bins.
You can label:

• Shelves
• Drawers
• Cupboards
• File folders
• Boxes you already own
• Storage areas
• Freezer sections

For example, instead of putting random food items wherever there’s room, pick a spot for each item in the categories of baking, breakfast foods, canned goods, snacks, etc. to put them all together.
A simple label can turn a shelf into an organized system.

Organize by How You Actually Live

Your home doesn’t have to follow someone else’s organizing system.
Think about your routines.

If you drink coffee every morning, your coffee supplies should be easy to find.

If you bake frequently, your most-used baking ingredients should be easy to put your hands on.

If you use a particular cleaning product every day, it shouldn’t be buried at the back of a cupboard simply because that’s where they “belong.”

Organize according to frequency of use, not just appearance. The things you use most should be the easiest to put your hands on.

Don’t Buy Containers for Things You Haven’t Decluttered

This rule will save you a surprising amount of money:

Never buy a container for a category until you’ve decluttered that category.

You might think you need a huge bin for your craft supplies, only to realize that half of them are dried out, broken, unfinished projects you no longer want, or supplies you forgot you had.

Once you’ve removed the excess, you may find that you don’t need a container at all.

Repurpose What You Already Have

Look at household items with fresh eyes.

A clean cardboard box can organize a cupboard. A mug can hold pens. An old jar can hold buttons or craft supplies. A small dish can collect hair accessories. An unused serving tray can display items on a bathroom counter. A sturdy gift box can hold small seasonal decor.

You don’t have to spend money to create useful organization.

And if the solution isn’t beautiful? That’s okay.

Function comes before aesthetics.

Leave Some Things Uncontained

This is a big one.

Not everything needs to be containerized.

If you use something all the time, tossing it into a box or basket can actually create an extra step for you.

For example, if you use your toaster every morning, it probably doesn’t need to live inside a cupboard. If you reach for your everyday dishes several times a day, they don’t need individual organizers.

Sometimes the most organized solution is simply: leave it where you use it.

Create a “Home” for Everything

Instead of asking, “What container should this go in?” ask: “Where should this live?”

That’s a more useful question.

Everyday items should have an obvious home. When something doesn’t have one, it tends to move around the house.

You don’t need a special storage product. You simply need to decide where the item should live.

Once you’ve created a home for something, putting it away becomes a snap.

Use the One-In, One-Out Rule

Once you’ve organized an area, protect your hard work.

For categories that tend to grow, such as clothing, mugs, kitchen gadgets, craft supplies, books, and decorations, try the one-in, one-out rule.

When something new comes into the house, something similar leaves.

Buy a new sweater? Consider donating one you no longer wear. Buy a new coffee mug? Choose one you don’t love anymore to let go.

This prevents your space from slowly becoming overcrowded again.

Organize in Small Bursts

You don’t need a whole weekend and a house full of storage bins to get organized.
Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes.
Choose one small area and work until the timer ends.
You might organize:

• One kitchen drawer
• One bathroom shelf
• One section of your closet
• One junk drawer
• One pantry shelf
• One craft supply category

Small victories add up and keep you motivated.

And because you’re not turning organizing into a giant ass project, you’re more likely to keep going.

The Goal Isn’t More Storage

This may be the most important lesson of all: The goal of organizing isn’t to find more places to put your stuff.

The goal is to create a home that’s easier to live in.

Sometimes that means buying a container. Sometimes it means rearranging what you already have.

And often, it means getting rid of things you don’t need.

Before you buy another basket, bin, drawer organizer, or storage cabinet, stop yourself and ask:

Do I need more storage, or do I simply need less stuff?

You might be surprised by the answer. Hint, it’s always less stuff.

A More Organized Home Doesn’t Have to Cost More Money

You don’t need perfectly coordinated storage containers to have an organized home.

Start with what you already own. Sort like items together, then Heave/Help to remove things you do not use and things that you can donate. Do all the things that remain have a home? Make frequently used items easy to access. Use the storage space you already have as efficiently as possible.

The result may not look like a perfectly styled Pinterest pantry, and that’s okay. Our homes are living space, not storage space! It will be your home, organized around the way you actually live.

And that’s a better kind of organization.