Bin There, Done That

Storage bins are amazing things. How is it that a pile of stuff sitting there looks cluttered and disorganized, but if that same pile of stuff is put inside a bin, even a clear plastic one, it suddenly transforms into something neat and orderly? Who cares about the iPad, I think the real “magical and revolutionary device” is the Rubbermaid bin.

I think it all started last week at work, when I suddenly had the fantastic idea that, rather than piling up my mail all over the table until the end of the day and then load it into trays to take to the post office, I could simply set out several empty trays and put stuff in them right away. Genius! It looks so much neater when it's sitting in a tray, not to mention no chance of knocking a stack over and it going all over the place. I honestly can't believe it took me 14 years to think of that.

And then on the weekend, I realized I could do the same with some of my stuff at home. Rather than tossing a bunch of loose cables on the shelf or bringing some empty cardboard box from work, I decided to run out to the store to buy a couple Rubbermaid bins for them. Coincidentally, they just happened to be on sale, too. I can't believe how much better it looks. And now I'm tempted to run back and pick up a few more. I have lots of other things that could be good candidates for “binification.”

Now I'm actually worried I'll go too far overboard and put everything I can think of inside a bin. Today at work, I looked at a couple items sitting on my table and thought about how much nicer they'd look sitting in a bin. I even entertained the thought of using bins at work for holding all my books and CDs. I quickly threw that idea out though, because in this case it would have ended up being a very inefficient use of shelf space as well as costing hundreds of dollars that could go towards better uses. Like staff lunches.

But in any case, I'm definitely going to buy a few more for myself while they're on sale. They were sold out of the smallest size last time I was there, but maybe they've received another shipment since then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some shopping to do...