Did you see the feature in February's Domino on organization and labeling? Well we're all for keeping things orderly, but why not use clear containers and skip the extra label step? Let the contents speak for themselves, we say.
Usually used for kitchen storage (as shown in Frances' house tour, here), a clear container is a great option if the items being contained are uniform, and even better if they're also attractive. We liked Martha's use of clear containers in her new craft room (shown at top), holding colorful spools of thread. The Container Store has a great selection, but of course there are thousands of options readily available all over the place. And for no cost, you can repurpose empty food jars (just soak them until the label easily peels off) for storing stuff all over the house.
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Comments (11)
Oooh! Where is that green desk-top organizer in the first picture from? I have to have it!
Its like having open shelving in the kitchen and that line of thought... I love it because it can look really cool, keeps me from getting too cluttered and makes everything easy to find.
Cheers to clear/open storage.
well, it's in martha stewart's home craft area, so it may very well be custom.
-lily
Given that the green organizer is from Marthas own craft room, I'll bet it was a custom built-in, seem to remember reading about her craft room update in one of the recent issues. (I covet that tidy paper storage bin myself...)
I once had all my kitchen herbs and spices in clear (unlabeled) jars. I knew what they were, and figured if you couldn't tell by sight or smell, they were too old and it was time to get more. It worked for me, but apparently drove my then-housemates crazy. I came home from school one day to find that they had stuck totally fugly labels on all my jars!
I like open storage too, however, for the kitchen, it just means more cleaning and especially true if you are in an older place that has no exhaust hood.
I know, I had that in an older apartment and it meant wiping out the shelves and washing everything that hadn't been used in a while and such when I did the deep cleaning every 6 months. But in the end, it was sooo worth it though.
That first picture just makes me SO happy... I wish I had all those craft supplies =)
I have been putting kitchen ingredients in re-used glass jars ( I have a kitten that will rip open any bag and eat the contents, regardless of what is inside) and I have been cutting the labels off of the bags and putting them in the jar along the side so that I can see the label, the bonus is if switch up what is in the jar I don't have to remove a label.
I like the green organizer too ;-( It might just be from the old days of her catalog (or what inspired it). She used to sell cool craft furniture ... I remember I couldn't afford any of it and then when I could, the catalog was no more.
I'm a big fan of the see-thru container; glass jars, plastic containers, even open baskets. I even take tea bags out of the box and put them in a glass jar.
I really love the look of a wall of solid color containers when I see it in magazines. But in my studio, out of sight really does mean out of mind. I find things by how they look, not always by their name. So, I need to be able to see in a glance. Other people may work better with the labeled box look. I see it done all of the time.
Different strokes...
I always do this with old spaghetti sauce jars - never throw those things away!!
My husband hates my unlabeled jars. I don't think rice looks anything like barley, but he sure does!