Organising tools, or clutter?

I love gorgeous boxes and baskets as much as the next gal. Looking at this shelf in my study makes me very, very happy.

But when is a box/ basket/ storage thingamajig an organising tool and when is it clutter?

Many of us buy things hoping that the things will bring us the results we so desperately crave.

So we buy boxes, baskets, storage bins hoping that by having the organising tools, we will miraculously become organised.

You may have figured out that that's not so :)

This is why buying the organising tools or using things around your home to organise your stuff is one of the last steps of getting organised.

When people buy my Organise your Home ecourse, they get a free report of mine, the DREAM method of getting and staying organised, as part of the MANY bonuses. One of the things I mention in that report is that only once you figure out how you want to store your things, that's when you get the container!

So before you go buying things, STOP and ask yourself if you're not adding more clutter to your home. To answer the question above, it's clutter when it has no purpose in your home.

Read more about the Organise your Home ecourse here and get your home organised this year!

Favourite organising tools#10 - baskets (3)

For more WFMW posts, visit Shannon


Wow, I haven't done one of these for a while. And then I found the last of the basket posts in my drafts!

here is post 1 and here is post 2 on organising with baskets. There are more great ideas in this e-course.

This is how I organise the smallest bathroom in the world. Honestly, I'd love to know if you've ever seen anything smaller :) I certainly haven't!

baskets on a 3-tier tray keep different categories of toiletries together

this blue one holds Dion's toiletries separate from the rest of the stuff in the bathroom vanity

my bedside table - night cream, hand cream, bookmarks, pens, etc.

spare socks and pantihose - I stash the closed packs in this space between my two piles of clothes

P.S. Guess who bought 12 cute baskets at Pick & Pay? That's right - at only R4,99 each, can you blame me?!

Are you sold on baskets yet? Make me happy and tell me YES! :)

Blog about the contest and you can win $25 Stacks & Stacks gift card

Favourite organising tools #10 - baskets (2)

I really do love baskets. Remember I blogged about it last week?


Here is part 1 in case you missed it.

This time, I'm showing more kitchen and pantry pictures.

this is a cupboard right next to my stove - that basket holds some extra spices that don't fit on my spice rack

this is in my pantry - the packages (red kidney beans if you're interested) take up less space like this than if I lay them down
baking stuff and extra chocolate in the back that I got on sale
extra cleaning supplies
If you use baskets in your kitchen/ pantry area, please blog them and come leave the link in the comments so we can all come visit and see :)

This is also my Works for me Wednesday post - working smarter, not harder :)

Favourite organising tools #10 - baskets (1)

Baskets make really good organising tools for containing items. When you're organising, you always want to keep like items together and this is a great way to do just that.

It's much easier to pull a basket off a shelf, remove something and then put it back instead of feeling your way on the shelf, messing up everything. When the basket has a handle, it's also very easy to carry from room to room (like in the case of cleaning supplies).

They're cheap and you can easily re-purpose if you outgrow the basket or it no longer suits the original purpose.

To prepare for this post, I walked around my house taking pictures. Since I got 14 pictures without even trying, I'm going to have to split up this post otherwise you'll all get bored.

Here's how I use baskets in my kitchen. Pantry, bathroom and bedroom to follow!

1. to hold my cell phone charger and rechargeable batteries for my camera (this is on top of my extractor fan)

2. to hold our vitamins (the front one has the daily stuff and the back one has all the extra supplies)

3. to keep my recipe books next to the microwave (when I want to declutter, I pull this whole thing out and take it to the TV to work on - easy!)

4. to store cleaning things under the kitchen sink (notice how I write the date on the dishwashing liquid? I'm weird like that - I like to keep track to make sure we don't waste money)

How do you use baskets in your kitchen?