While using vertical space to improve your organizational prowess is almost always an excellent idea, sometimes things must be corralled, divided, or subdivided in more or less horizontal ways. Try some of these suggestions to make the most of the "other dimension".
Contain, contain, contain
Lap Desk Tray
* For all your fine washables: Mesh lingerie bags do their jobs in the laundry and elsewhere, holding doll clothes, small toys, socks by individual family member, hair ribbons, and bathtub toys hanging in the tub.
* Preserving the memories: If you're a person (like me) who's not likely to put together scrapbooks or photo albums, at least make sure that your pictures are stored in archival-quality photo boxes. Then the method is up to you: organize them by person, event, or chronology. You can also save letters, greeting cards, baseball cards, or sentimental items in such boxes as well, also arranged by event, person, category, or chronology. You'll thank yourself later for keeping these things safe and all in one place.
* Tackling the problem: Tackle boxes are extremely cool. They can hold fishing gear, of course, but also cosmetics and beauty products, jewelry, coin collections, craft and sewing supplies, small tools, and hair accessories. Plus, they're portable, waterproof, and easy to rinse out, and they snap shut to keep the contents where you put them.
* All secure on the shelf front: Tins, bins, plastic lidded containers, jars, cans, canisters, cookie jars, orphaned dishes, fish bowls, flower pots, cache pots, mugs, and vases all make pretty fine (and fun) receptacles for just about anything, especially if they're lidded, stackable, transparent, and/or labeled. To start, think of matching sets -- or at least visually pleasing groups -- to cut down on visual clutter. Then use your containers to corral everything from bath beads, cotton balls, swabs, craft supplies, and small treasures to pasta, dried beans, flour, colored pencils, make-up brushes, bars of soap, and paper clips.
* Bank on it: A banker's box, a lidded plastic file box, or an empty copy-paper box can work wonders for the files you want to archive. Make sure that you really do need to keep them in the first place, and then label the container with the contents and date before it goes into deep storage. Consider adding a "destroy date" if the files have a limited shelf life. Then, when that date arrives, recycle or shred the papers without fear.
* If at first you don't succeed, tray, tray again: Contain your hairbrushes, hand mirrors, and perfume bottles on a pretty tray on the top of your bedroom dresser or bathroom vanity. The tray will keep the items in one place, and when displayed together, they may constitute a beautiful collection. (You artsy thing, you.)
* Bowl or tray, dish or basket, mug or cup... Whatever you choose, just put something right inside the door where you typically enter the house (and perhaps place additional receptacles in the bedroom or bathroom) to catch much of what you bring home -- wallets, keys, glasses, cell phones, receipts, loose change, mail, jewelry, and all that other weird stuff that ends up in pockets. Then clean out the containers very often.
* Boot camp: Contain wet boots and shoes on a plastic boot/shoe tray, and you'll be glad you did when you can just rinse off the tray instead of mopping up the floor for the 18th time this week. You can put the tray away during drier weather, or set plants on it -- it won't matter if they (or you) drip a bit at watering time.
* Just like Grandma's old quilt... Well, not quite, but quilted china bags are pretty soft -- and useful. Protect your expensive or heirloom china in zippered, quilted bags that are made specifically to hold it. There are round ones in various shapes and depths for dishes and bowls, ones with dividers for tea and coffee cups, and tall ones with dividers for wine and water glasses. Grandma will be proud of you.
* Bring it on (or in): At your paper-processing place, make sure you have an in-box, basket, or tray into which you toss the papers that you don't want to misplace, but can't deal with right this minute. If you train your loved ones to do the same, nothing will get lost in the shuffle, and everything will be waiting for you in one place when it's time for you to sit down (during your scheduled time -- make it a priority!) to process your paper.
* Tote that barge: Plastic totes, buckets, or baskets with handles are just the things for holding cleaning supplies as you travel from room to room, gift-wrap sundries (so you can sneak away to a private place in case the gift recipient is watching), beauty and grooming products, and craft necessities. Such a tote is also great if you choose to set up your paper-processing place in a favorite chair, on your bed, or at the kitchen counter. Just outfit a tote with essential supplies -- envelopes, post-its, stamps, pens, tape, scissors, a stapler, paperclips, and the like, plus a clipboard or lap tray to write on -- to create a mini, mobile home office. Then you can take your bills, letters, or other paperwork wherever you like to work.
* Thinking a little bigger? If your paper-processing place is the dining room or kitchen table, rather than an actual office or desk, then something bigger than a tote might be in order. Try a rolling cart with several drawers in it. When you're done working, just roll your mobile office into a nearby closet or empty corner.
Reduce, repurpose, reuse, and recycle
Think of all the cool storage options you have available to you, just by reusing what's in your recycling bin! Here are a few ideas:
* Coffee cans and other metal or plastic "cans" (such as hand-wipe containers) can hold markers, paintbrushes, and pencils. Pretty them up by covering them with contact paper.
* Plastic or wooden berry boxes can hold balls of string or twine. Just thread the loose end through a hole in the box, affix the box to a wall or put it on a shelf, and the ball will stay put while you pull out the length you need. You could even keep a small pair of scissors in the box permanently.
* Hand-wipe and baby-wipe boxes can securely hold any little item by snapping the lid shut.
* A collection of microwave food trays, checkbook boxes, margarine tubs, cough-drop tins, and any other little containers that you can scavenge can form an ingenious infrastructure for your junk drawer (though I prefer to think of it as an Administrative Sundries drawer) or any other spot that needs small compartments.
* Don't you love shoe boxes? For things from dioramas to kids' treasures, they're useful vessels.
* Film canisters (if you still use film, as I do) are great for holding screws and nails; a few buttons, needles, and some thread; a few pairs of earrings while traveling; or small amounts of hand lotion.
Doing double duty
Double-duty furniture rules! Here's a small sampling of pieces that do their primary jobs and provide storage at the same time:
* A large, lidded basket or sturdy, wicker or wooden trunk could serve as a nightstand, end table, side table, or coffee table.
* A bench in a mud room or foyer could have shelves with baskets, boxes, or cubbies above or beneath it; hooks above it; and its seat could flip up to reveal a storage well below.
* Old suitcases have a certain shabby-chic look when they're stacked to form an end table, side table, or nightstand.
* An ottoman with a hollow space inside provides seating, storage, and a table surface if you place a tray on top of it.
* A rolling cart with a butcher-block top expands work space in a kitchen, offers shelves below for large appliances, provides space for utensils in a drawer, and even has a bar for towels or utensils.
* An end table, coffee table, or nightstand with shelves or drawers is better than one without.
* An armoire (or even a small closet) can be outfitted to become a self-contained home office.
When vertical storage just isn't possible, there are still plenty of ways to divide and conquer your belongings using horizontal strategies. Use both of these dimensions together to become the organizational maven you're destined to be!