What’s the right storage for my organizing challenge?

In every home, there is a unique organizing challenge so finding the right storage solution needs to be unique and intuitive to you.  Can you guess one of the most unique challenges?  If you said something that’s round, bouncy and seems to multiply overnight in homes with young children, you’d be right.   Balls pose a unique organizing challenge because containerizing them is critical.  This is definitely an organizing challenge and finding the right solution is about more than aesthetics, it’s about safety!  More times than I can count, I’ve stepped into a hallway or room to find an array of baseballs, basketballs, volleyballs, beachballs and everything in between crowding this space and making a hazard of walking.

How does the right storage work for me?

Are the kids still young and using these items?  Great.  Sort through the volume, throw out or donate the unused ones and then figure out where to best store the remainder and containerize them.  Have “the kids” headed to college and these items are gathering dust and taking up valuable square footage in your space?  Purge these items immediately and open up that space.  Check out the list of resources for donating these and other items.  Now that you have the “right amount” to keep, how do you control the bouncing chaos?  Large shallow baskets and bins are the ideal storage solution.  Think wide, not deep, so items below the top layer are easy to get to and don’t get lost in the bottom.  Your right storage solution should be placed where it makes the most sense for you.  The garage, the mudroom, the basement – pick the storage spot that is intuitive and works for you.

Every home is unique in its organizing needs and the right storage solutions to meet those needs.  Think intuitively about how the items are used to figure out the right storage solution.  Now, go play some ball….