I Wanted to Get My Life Together… So I Bought Containers

There comes a point in every adult’s life where you look around your house and realize that everything is technically fine, but also nothing is really under control. The house isn’t dirty, but it’s also not neat and tidy. You have food, but somehow there’s nothing to eat. You have closets, but everything is on a chair or countertop. You have a junk drawer that no longer closes and might actually be considered a safety hazard.

That was the day I decided things needed to change. I needed to get it together and rein in the chaos that was my home. The questions I had were "how" and "where" to begin. So, I grabbed a latte and a danish and assessed the situation and decided to start where all responsible adults start: containers.

Because if there is one thing I have learned, it is this: people who have their lives together have containers. Matching containers. Clear containers. Containers with labels. Containers for things you didn’t even know could go in containers.

So naturally, I went all in (as if I'd do it any other way).

It started with the pantry. I had seen those beautiful pantry pictures where everything is in clear containers and all the labels match and it looks like the person living there wakes up at 5:00 AM to bake muffins and read inspirational books. There was no guessing how much of something was in a box. Making out a shopping list didn't require pushing things out of the way or shaking a cereal box. My pantry, on the other hand, looked like a grocery store clearance bin that had collided with a snack aisle.

I bought a set of pantry containers and spent an entire afternoon pouring things into them. Flour, sugar, rice, pasta, cereal, snacks, things I forgot I bought, things I probably bought during a stress grocery trip, and at least three bags of chocolate chips for emotional emergencies (don't judge me).

When I finished, I stepped back and just looked at the pantry like I had completed a home improvement show reveal. It looked organized. It looked intentional. It looked like someone who meal preps lived there. I do not meal prep, but that is not important. What’s important is that I now look like someone who could meal prep if I wanted to.

And that was the moment I realized containers don’t actually change your life. They change how you feel about your life, which is almost the same thing.

After the pantry success, with a mixture of confidence and trepidation, I moved on to the junk drawer. Every house has one. That drawer full of batteries, pens that may or may not work, random screws, takeout menus, rubber bands, tape, a flashlight that doesn’t have batteries and may not even work for that matter, and at least one mystery key that nobody dares to throw away.

This is how it starts. You organize one drawer, and suddenly you're ready to tackle not only the house but also the garage.

Next came the closet bins. Closet bins are magical because they allow you to keep everything you don’t want to deal with but in a way that looks intentional. Winter clothes? Bin. Extra blankets? Bin. Craft supplies? Bin. Random cords and electronics that you don’t use but are afraid to throw away in case they belong to something important? Definitely bin.

You start walking through stores thinking, “This could go in a container.” Towels? Container. Cleaning supplies? Container. Snacks? Container. Office supplies? Container. Emergency chocolate? Hidden container (emphasis on hidden).

At some point you realize organizing is really just moving your mess into smaller, more attractive boxes, but honestly, I’m okay with that. Because when everything has a place, even if that place is a plastic bin labeled “miscellaneous,” life feels slightly less chaotic.

And sometimes slightly less chaotic is the goal. The trick is to stick with the system.

I think we all have this idea that one day we’re going to wake up and have everything figured out. The house will be clean, the laundry will be done, the bills will be organized, the fridge will have vegetables that don’t go bad, and we will drink enough water and go to bed on time and remember where we put our keys.

I’m starting to think that day might not actually come, but that's okay.

But opening a cabinet and seeing matching containers lined up neatly does something to your brain. It makes you feel like maybe you don’t have everything together, but you have this cabinet together, and that’s a good start.

There’s also something very satisfying about systems. When you have a place for things, you spend less time looking for things, moving things, and getting annoyed by things. And anything that reduces daily annoyance is worth it in my book.