Stackable Plastic Storage Recommendations

Do you know exactly where to lay your hands on everything you own? If like most people the answer to that question is no, you need to invest in some stackable plastic storage containers. You can easily set up a logical storage system for you home and suddenly finding things will no longer be a problem.

Plastic storage bins come in a variety of styles, shapes and prices. If you want to store food leftovers, you can buy small storage containers for the fridge. If you want to put all your toddler toys in one box, you can buy huge plastic bins which will keep things tidy. All it comes down to is for you to develop the system that works best for you and your home. If you are like the average household you will have clothes everywhere, items that don’t seem to have a home hanging about the kitchen and depending on how many kids you have and their respective ages you may find yourself walking on Lego in all rooms at different times of the day or night.

A huge part of being organized is having a place for everything to go. That means having a “Lego” box for, yes you guessed it, all the Lego pieces. Have another plastic stackable storage container for dolls and yet another for jigsaws. Kids are used to having things compartmentalized at school so doing it at home as well should come as second nature. But they are bound to protest at first especially if they have been allowed a drop it and leave it policy at home up till now.

As you sort through stuff, it is wise to have a spare plastic storage bin handy for those items your family is finished with. In fact you should have two. One that can take the items that are still in good condition which you can bring down to the charity center and the second for those bits and pieces that should be in the rubbish bin. Be ruthless as you go about getting organized. If your kids haven’t played with a particular toy for a year or more the likelihood is that they have outgrown it and there is a poor child somewhere who would love and treasure it.

Don’t be tempted to buy a load of stackable plastic storage containers and just put your excess stuff into them without a system. You will never be able to find anything again and if you do need something you will have to sort through every box to find it. It is bound to be in the last one you look in. Instead have a system in place and put things that go together in the same box. So drill bits go with DIY tools, books go with books and shoes with other shoes.

When you are storing items make sure you employ common sense. There is no point in putting a plastic storage box full of heavy items on a high shelf. You are asking for an accident to happen. Either the box could fall and hurt someone or somebody could hurt their back lifting it down from a height. Put the items that you use a lot where you can access them easily. You can put seasonal items into the loft. For example put all of your Christmas decorations into one plastic storage bin and stow it in the loft. You only need these once a year so it doesn’t make any sense to have them within easy access. On the other hand you are hardly going to put all your DIY tools in the loft unless you really don’t want anyone tinkering with them!

If you are looking to spring clean your home or just get organized you are going to have to invest in a plastic storage container or two.  You can find them in all shapes and sizes from plastic underbed storage boxes to those sterilite plastic storage containers you use to store food in the fridge.

When it comes to getting organized, you need a system that works for you and your family. It makes sense to store heavier object in heavy duty plastic storage boxes and put them under the beds or if they are not needed very often out in the garden shed or the garage.  If you are trying to tidy your kids toyroom, you can get plastic stacking storage boxes.  These are a great idea as you can put each type of toy into a separate box. Just don’t stack them too high or they will prove a danger to your kids as they could fall over.

Most containers will come with a plastic storage box lid to keep dust, termites and other pests away from the contents.  On that note if you are packing clothes or bedding into these boxes, you need to make sure that the garments are fully dry before storing or you could cause damp and mold. You should also put some herbs such as lavender into the box with the garments to keep them smelling nice but also to ward off pests.

There are many different brand names on offer in the plastic storage container market.  Rubbermaid plastic storage bins come in a range of different colors and prices with sizes from the huge to tiny while sterilte plastic storage containers come in a range of sizes suitable for kitchen use.

If you are going to use plastic storage containers outside, for example to store stuff in your garden shed, you need to be sure that they and the shed are completely waterproof.  If you want to store metal objects you should use a plastic container rather than a metal one as otherwise erosion may become a  problem.  Some people believe that they should be using fiberglass boxes outdoors instead of plastic but fiberglass can crack fairly easily so it does depend on what the box will contain.

When you are getting organized to store your belongings, don’t buy plastic storage containers in the one size. You will have different requirements depending on the type of stuff you are putting away. For example if you want to store paper files, you will need a shallower box than one required to store bowling balls and other sports equipment.

If you want to clear out some space in your home, you can use stackable plastic storage boxes to store your property in a rented unit.  Rented storage units are becoming more popular as people are finding that they cannot afford to move to bigger homes.  This leaves them with no option but to look at other storage solutions hence the increased number of people building garden sheds and renting lock ups.

Regardless of what you store or where you put it, always make sure that the plastic stackable bins are securely shut to prevent unwanted guests i.e. small pests taking up residence with your belongings.

Plastic stackable bins are a great invention particularly when you are decluttering your home be it for spring cleaning or simply because you are tired of falling over stuff all the time and would like more space.

When cleaning out your kitchen cupboards, you can use plastic storage boxes to keep your cleaning tools and materials safe from your kids while also keeping them tidy. All cleaning supplies need to be kept in a cool dry place out of harms way. This could mean that you store them in a high to reach cabinet or else that you put a child lock on the ordinary kitchen cupboard. Given the number of accidents caused by bleach and other cleaning products to both children and pets in the home, this is one piece of advice you shouldn’t ignore. Properly label each box and then you won’t have to open it to see what is inside.

Small plastic storage containers can be used in other areas of the kitchen as well. Did you know that mice will eat through cardboard boxes? It is therefore wise to use small stackable plastic storage bins for foodstuffs such as rice, cereals, biscuits and any other perishable products. Just be sure that you label the container with the name of the contents and the best before date. Sealable plastic containers are great for keeping food fresh. If you have kids and they take a packed lunch to school, you should be using these.

You can also used plastic stackable bins in your freezer. We all know that we should be doing more home cooking and relying less on shop bought ready meals. But we are all busy and don’t always have time to cook dinner. So next time you are cooking, why not double the quantity? You can freeze the second dinner in the plastic storage containers. Next time you are stuck for time but fancy home cooked food, all you have to do is take the tub from the freezer in the morning and by evening it will be ready to heat and serve. Talk about fast food!

There really is no end to the uses of plastic stackable bins in the home. You can use them in kids bedrooms to contain their overflowing supply of toys. You can store summer clothes in them when its winter and then swap the summer clothes for winter ones when the season changes. This frees up a lot of closet space.

We all have family records that we keep for whatever reason be it legal or emotional. You can safely store old photographs and paper documents in plastic stackable bins. It is an idea to put some of those silica gel packets in with the documents in order to keep everything dry. Valuable documents such as your marriage or birth certificates shouldn’t be stored in a plastic box as it is not fire resistant. These should be stored in a secure fire proof box either in your home or in the safety deposit box area in your bank. It is fine to store old tax documents and other financial records in plastic storage boxes clearly marking the relevant year/dates on the lid.

If you have lots of videos or DVDs you might want to consider storing some of them away in boxes and taking them out on a rotational basis. This may mean that you actually watch them more often than when they sat in a heap on your living room floor.

Decluttering your home using plastic stackable bins is one way to instantly increase your living space. It is also a great time to sort through your belongings and get rid of stuff you no longer use. Before you throw it in the garbage you might want to see if you can sell it on EBay or a similar auction site and maybe generate some cash to pay down those credit cards or pay extra on your mortgage. If you do not believe that anyone would buy your old stuff, having a look on EBay will soon re-educate you. The old saying that one man’s rubbish is another man’s gold is very true.

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