Pantry items are pretty easy to group into categories. Hanging clothes aren’t so difficult to organize by type and color. However, there are a lot of items around the house that can be more difficult to categorize or sort. We can think of things as if they were people, placing items in families, with co-workers or with cousins.

Family:

Like items that serve the same purpose and are in the same category. You store these wherever you have the space.

Co-workers:

They might not all be in the same place but they are in the location you need them. A good example are scissors. You don't just have one place in your house with all the scissors, but you might have some in the kitchen, office, and craft room. They will be with other similar objects that are not specifically scissors but serve the same purpose in that room. In the office the scissors will be with the stapler and tape, and in the kitchen they might be with the knives.

Cousins:

When you don’t have any good place to put something, and there isn't enough to create a whole storage category, put the item with the closest possible category. For example, you probably don’t have a whole lot of picnic blankets, and let’s say you don't have any other picnic supplies. You might put the blanket with camping stuff out in the garage. We would consider camping and picnic items as cousins. :)

There are some items that can go with any of these categories, and it is simply a preference. Takeout Menus could go in any of the three categories. Family: all the menus go together in a binder. Co-workers: menus are bundled by the phone. Cousins: menus go with recipes in a recipe book.

Here are a few more odd items and where you might consider storing them:

Koozies: Put a few in your grab and go coolers. Store the rest in a bin or drawer in the wine bar or pantry next to your party or paper products.

Winter Accessories: Store your ski gloves, googles and gators with your ski pants and boots in a lidded bin in the basement or garage. Gloves,hats, and scarves should be in an open bin in the coat closet for easy access.

Straws: Place next to daily eating utensils, food storage bags or party supplies.

Command Strips: Contain in a shoebox sized lidded bin with nails,hooks & furniture pads. Be sure to label the bin “Home Hardware” or specifically name what is inside.

Safety pins: These might be stored in multiple places. Sewing basket, utility drawers in the kitchen, office, or bedside table.

Extra Charge Cords: Put one in your suitcase so you are never without. Put others all together in a technology drawer or bin and wind them neatly with the velcro cord holders.

Goo Gone: Place with cleaning or paint supplies in the laundry room or garage.

Drain Snake: Put in a bathroom cleaning caddy for a monthly drain cleanout.

Gorilla Glue: We like to store all glues and tapes together in a lidded shoebox bin. Store the bin in a laundry cabinet, craft room or next to the bin marked “Home Hardware”.

Kitchen Appliance Attachments: Store your stand-up mixer attachments inside the mixing bowl. Larger attachments for food processors should go in a small lidded bin next to that appliance.

Party Supplies: Consider the frequency of use for these items. Things like balloons, streamers and banners should be binned up and stored away in a basement storage room, craft room, laundry room or top shelf of a closet.

Cookie Decorating Supplies: Since these are typically only used during holidays or birthdays, we like to store these in a lidded and labeled bin on a top shelf in your pantry or cabinet to save space for things we use more often.

Gorilla Glue: We like to store all glues and tapes together in a lidded shoebox bin. Store the bin in a laundry cabinet, craft room or next to the bin marked “Home Hardware”.

Air mattress pump: Store with the air mattress in storage next to your luggage, or place in the garage next to pool floats if that is what you use it more for!

Check out our TikTok this month for more examples of things that you might not have a place for in your home! If you don't know exactly where something goes, put it with related items or where you will use it the most.