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What are Key Organizing Supplies?

Mary Elizabeth
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Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 3,915
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Key organizing supplies for you will turn out to be the supplies that fit with your particular organizational project as well as your organizational system. Different approaches, and therefore different supplies, become important if one turns from organizing important papers to organizing the kitchen or organizing the family photos. Some key organizing supplies are good to have on hand all the time, both for keeping important items in easy-to-find locations, as well as for controlling clutter.

Anytime Key Organizing Supplies

Let’s take the last group first and go through some of the major household areas. In the kitchen, it’s very common to need to organize lunches that are eaten elsewhere—a child’s lunchbox or a worker’s lunch bag—and food storage. Key organizing supplies may include sandwich bags, quart bags, and gallon bags; resealable, reusable containers—which might be plastic, glass, or porcelain, depending on their purpose; plastic wrap and aluminum foil; lunch bags or boxes; and reusable, refillable drink containers.

In the bathroom, a place to organize items that change over frequently—such as extra toilet paper, facial tissue, and soap—such as a cupboard or set of shelves, is useful. And most people find that at least one medicine cabinet—often with a mirrored front—is built into every bathroom above the sink. The shelves of this device can be organized by type of product or by person.

Turning to your desk or office, key organizing supplies that are good to always have on hand include staples, paper clips, and tape. There are on-desk and in-desk organizers available for such items. Some sort of filing system—either in folders in a filing cabinet, or in binders on shelves—can help keep tax files, copies of important household documents, and medical records in easy-to-spot locations. Accordion folders can be used to organize monthly expenses and/or receipts.

In the laundry room, hampers can be used to collect and sort or even pre-sort dirty clothes, while laundry baskets can help with returning clean items to their proper owner or location in the house. A shelf or cupboard can hold both laundry supplies, such as detergent, bleach, fabric softener and special cleaning agents, as well as ironing supplies and general household cleaners, if desired.

In a garage or storage room, a pegboard or tool chest can keep hand tools organized, while a rack or bin can be used to store long-handled tools such as rakes, mops, hoes, and turning forks. A rack can hold garbage cans and keep them out of the way. And car supplies—such as oil, windshield wiper fluid, and antifreeze—can have their own shelf or cupboard. Racks or cupboards for off-season clothing and equipment are other key organizing supplies.

Special Projects

Special projects may require not only special planning, but also a special set of key organizing supplies. When doing construction, storing items from an area that’s being refurbished, and the supplies being used to make the improvements can make the task much easier. A long-term arts-and-crafts project—such as beading, quilting, scrapbooking, or sewing—also benefits from having the space and organizational supplies that serve the need, whether a giant pin cushion or a storage case for beads of different types and materials. A filing holder for different types of paper, punches, and stamps for scrapbooking makes it much easier to set up for and clean up after each session.

A new baby is another occasion when out-of-the-ordinary storage needs arise. A changing table that accommodates storage for diapers, baby wipes, clothing, and other frequently-needed items, can make things easier. Strong wall hooks or a special spot on the porch, in a closet, or in the hallway may help keep strollers, carriers, car seats, and other baby apparatus organized.

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Mary Elizabeth
By Mary Elizabeth
Passionate about reading, writing, and research, Mary Elizabeth is dedicated to correcting misinformation on the Internet. In addition to writing articles on art, literature, and music for WiseGeek, Mary works as a teacher, composer, and author who has written books, study guides, and teaching materials. Mary has also created music composition content for Sibelius Software. She earned her B.A. from University of Chicago's writing program and an M.A. from the University of Vermont.

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Discussion Comments
By LisaLou — On Jun 16, 2011

An organized kitchen is important to me and I like things to be in a drawer and off the counter. I have one drawer where I keep all of my saran wrap, aluminum foil and different sizes of zip-loc bags.

Some people just have the gift of organizing and one of the best tips I received from a friend on organizing your home was to just keep things simple and practical and keep the items you use all the time within easy reach.

We all have items that only get used once in a while, but keep them all together in one place, so the spaces you have within easy reach are full of the items you use every day.

By andee — On Jun 14, 2011

Having some file cabinets in my home office is one way that helps me stay organized. I went for several years without one and found that I had papers and files everywhere and could never find anything when I needed it.

I like to be able to find things at a quick glance, so purchased color coded hanging files and file folders. Once you have a system set up, organizing paper files does not take long at all. If you have a paper you don't currently have a file for, it doesn't take long to add one. The easiest way for me is to keep them filed alphabetically.

Mary Elizabeth
Mary Elizabeth
Passionate about reading, writing, and research, Mary Elizabeth is dedicated to correcting misinformation on the...
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