Life Wisdom From The Container Store

Everything should have a home. No, this isn’t a political think piece about America’s immigration issue. This is guru girl here. I don’t have enough coffee – or brain power – in me to do that today or really ever. No, today I’m writing about items in your home having a home designed for the task. Not just stashed haphazardly in a cardboard box left over from your last run to Costco.

The billions of photographs you have from back when you actually printed them and didn’t just store them on your computer? There are photo boxes you can store them in.

The kids’ art projects that multiply like mice (that comparison’s for you, Tish!) every year? There are giant, plastic portfolios for those.

How about wrapping paper, bows, gift bags and tags? They don’t have to be wedged into one giant, crumpled gift bag. There are gift wrapping storage cases. Finally, last week I’d had enough, and I took myself to the Container Store and got one.

Only instead of running out, in a hot lather to make some organizational sense of my home, I actually took a breath and thought about how gift wrapping works at my house. Where do I do it? What tools do I need for it?

Usually, I gift wrap, sitting on the floor, with a panting dog and wrestling children “helping”. This is important information to consider because it means one of those hanging gift wrap gizmos wouldn’t work for me. But they have flat wrapping cases perfect for storing under the bed. So I thought about if I had any under-the-bed space available for such an item, and it turns out I do!

This simple change has got me all fired up. To wrap a present! Because now I know where everything is for the task, so instead of being an arduous, “how can I be an adult and not know where the scissors are?!” exercise in frustration it seems kind of fun.

Think about where you’re storing stuff in your house and how you’re storing it. Does it make sense? Does it make you dread the job?

There’s probably another way to do it, and I know the fine folks at the Container Store have already thought of it. Take a stroll through their aisles to see the amazing storage solutions they’ve come up with.

Yes, the gadgets they sell are only made of plastic, highly overpriced plastic at that. But it’s magical plastic that’s worth the price of admission because it will streamline your life. Streamlined life = streamlined head. And who doesn’t want that? Unless you’re Lady Gaga who wears tiaras made of meat and other paraphernalia. And if that’s the camp you fall in, you’ve got bigger problems than wrapping paper storage. (Click this link to view different options from the Container Store.)