5 (Actually Good-Looking) Storage Solutions We Love
In this edition of Clean Everything—the last of our organizing challenge—our experts share a few storage solutions so pretty, they might just double as home decor. Plus, how to banish grout stains and a tiny dog that organizes your cables.
Welcome to the last day of our organizing challenge. We’re hoping your space (and perhaps even your mind) are starting to feel a tiny bit tidier. But if things are still looking messy—even after you’ve found hidden storage, tackled your dumping grounds, and prioritized convenience—it may be time to make it prettier.
Well-organized doesn’t have to mean sterile, and sometimes investing in an aesthetically satisfying system can even make you more likely to use it. Today’s challenge: Find an eyesore—like bins you particularly hate and therefore never use—and upgrade it to something that actually looks good left out on display.
Here are five storage solutions we find quite lovely:
- For those loose piles of mail scattered about your table or entryway: A well-designed mail sorter—like this cute and compact organizer—might make you look forward to sorting your bills (or at least dread it less). Its spacious slots make it easy to develop a filing system, and it adds a pop of pretty color to your space.
- Make your spice drawer satisfyingly uniform: In our guide to taming an unruly spice cabinet, our experts recommend transferring your spices from their original bottles into a set of clear, same-size glass jars—and labeling them. This brings satisfying uniformity to what’s often a visually cluttered hodgepodge, and makes it easier to find and use the spices when you need them.
- The versatile wonders of a pretty catchall basket: Organizing expert and staff writer Caroline Mullen keeps her myriad craft supplies in pretty wicker baskets, which lets her easily access their contents, sans visual clutter. The stacked baskets have a lovely country-ish charm on display—much prettier than leaving her “sad half-skeins of yarn” laying around. Caroline thrifted her baskets, but we also like this chic felt option.
- A jewelry box that looks like art: Scattering your jewelry out on a vanity or another hard surface can scratch your baubles and expose them to sun damage—and it just looks messy. Our favorite jewelry cases are truly beautiful, and have built-in compartments for rings, bracelets, necklaces, and more, making it simple to organize your bling.
- Hide away your ugly Wi-Fi router (without sacrificing signal): Hideous as it may be, you shouldn’t tuck your router away in a cabinet and call it a day—that’ll affect your connectivity. Instead, our experts recommend a number of aesthetically pleasing options that won’t slow you down, including a sleek, modern crate.
