Some Thoughts on Containers

Yesterday I went to a store that kind of feels like organizing mecca to me, The Container Store.  I love this store because everything has so much potential.  How cool would this or that be to hold my stuff and make it look so much prettier.  But as much as I love this store, I rarely buy anything there.  We do have our closet system that is Elfa but it was already here when we bought the house.  It always occurs to me that if I would just let go of some more things I wouldn't need another container to hold it.  However, I am a huge fan of hiding things in boxes instead of having them out for the world to see.

I stroll through the aisles and just love the patterns and sleek displays.  One of the items I always go crazy for are pretty file folders like these.  I have some of these cool folders but I realized quickly that they are hidden in my filing box so what's the point.  Hmmmm, not such a good investment.  Maybe if I had some acrylic shelves where they are displayed in the office though.  Very cool, indeed.  I really love paper products though, anything stationery, journal or with pretty colors makes my heart melt.  I gave myself a good lecture though and moved on without a purchase.

I pondered these shoe boxes for a little while, not because I wanted them but just couldn't imagine buying them.  I really don't have that many shoes though so it doesn't make sense for me.  To me, this is a bit inconvenient but I suppose it does make a nice display if you have a collection of gorgeous shoes.  When you see these amazing closets that come from a fairy tale, they probably use these.  What I can imagine in many closets is a bunch of these boxes sitting on the floor empty because the person was too lazy to put them back in there.  Isn't hanging up clothes enough work?  It seems like it would be a good idea, but maybe not.

This is what we have.  I wish I had those leopard print shoes on mine.

I do love wooden hangers.  Before I got married, all my clothes were on wooden hangers but now G prefers his to be on my our wooden hangers.  I have a mix of these and the plastic ones like you see at the stores.  They are both ok for me, but for the look I always go with wooden.  I bought mine from Target one packet of three at a time so gradually my closet looked all pretty and uniform.  They also sell these at Ikea but I don't like the quality of the wood because they snag your clothes.

One of the reasons I visited yesterday was to look for a spice rack.  My spices are a mess in little packets that I buy from bulk bins.  They are in desperate need of a makeover.  I like the idea of a spice rack, but the living on the counter part I'm not sure I like.  I'm still contemplating solution so if you have any insights, please share.

I must say that I'm always intrigued by anything lipstick related and maybe at one time I would have bought something like this.  Now I like all my makeup hidden in a drawer instead of out for display and organized.  I've been so good at whittling down my makeup and not replacing anything.  I still have my goal of all my makeup fitting in one little bag.  Why should I need more?  As I use up six items of Mac, I am so happy to only leave with one, through their recycling program.  

I honestly left the store with nothing but a bad taste in my mouth.  Even though I love these storage ideas, I just wondered how one might get the wrong idea about organizing.  Organizing isn't about buying more stuff to hold the stuff you don't need. I could go on and on but that's the crux of it.  I worked a temp job a couple of years ago.  The lady that I was working for was a paper hoarder in the worst sense of the word.  Her cubicle area looked like it exploded 10 filing cabinets.  The interesting thing to me was that she had about 20 filing systems started but never used.  Looking for something was useless because you had to look through all her "organization" tools to find them.  The hard part is that you have to be organized before you buy all these things that are supposed to make you organized.  

What are you thoughts on The Container Store?  Do you buy many organizing things and then not use them?  What are you drawn to in the store?  Are you like me and think many of these items are really a waste of money?  I mean, don't shoes come with shoe boxes?  Why do I have to buy another one?