Peace of Mind Organizing

Worth repeating (again): The beauty of vertical storage

16 September 2024

I originally wrote this post in 2019. I moved earlier this year and all the photos in this post are from my old home. But I replicated the vertical storage in my new home whenever I could (which was most places). Five years later I’m still a big fan of vertical storage!

To the extent possible, I love storing things vertically, rather than horizontally. Think about how files are stored in a file cabinet—it’s much easier to access folders in a file cabinet than in a stack.

But vertical storage isn’t just for files. I love using the principle all around my house (and with clients). For my office supplies, for example, I have three shelves in my office supply closet where I store supplies vertically (see the photo below). Notice how my Post-it® notes and other supplies are stored vertically using acrylic containers (a divided one similar to this Linus 4-Section Drawer Organizer and a 4 × 12 × 3 Linus Deep Drawer Organizer) on a shelf. I used small containers inside a basket so help me store as much as I can vertically on the middle shelf of the photo. And on the shelf, this magazine sorter allows me to store clipboards and portfolios vertically. I repurposed a box from Bare Minerals so store a small collection of handy pouches.

I have some notebooks I like to keep handy on the radiator behind my desk. One of them is the one grab when I’m on the phone on a business call. By using a desktop file holder, I can store notebooks vertically so I can easily (and silently) grab the right one when I need it.

Long before Marie Kondo was telling us how to fold, I was folding my t-shirts in half again and storing them vertically in the drawer. I love that it enables me to see the shirts and just pluck out the one I want. I do the same thing with my leggings—I store them vertically and use this closet drawer organizer to keep them upright.

When you’re organizing in your home, I encourage you to think about how you might integrate vertical storage. I think you’ll find it life-enhancing!

Tagged with: organizing, organizing principles, organizing solutions, organizing systems, storage, worth repeating

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