There are two types of people in the world: those that roll their eyes with no understanding of the power of a label and those that treasure its magical abilities. This post is for both, and I am the latter in case you were wondering.
Labels can help you find items easily and get them back to their spots after a mess has ensued. There is no guarantee that the eye rollers will read the labels, but hey, we tried.
Here are some tips to decide what is worth labeling, and not.
1. Do you or your housemates have difficulty putting things back where you found them? YES. Autopilot is a gear we all have from time. When deciding what to label, take this into consideration and decide if the container needs labeling or the shelf/space where the container belongs. Both never hurts, but can be time-consuming! The pantry is a space that can get out of control – fast. You can see what our pantry looks like after a week or so of living in it and things found their spot again quick – it took me less than a minute to put the items back – don’t worry, I timed it! Remember: your space doesn’t need to be perfection, it needs to be able to function!
2. Did you just downsize OR clean out an area and need to control the amount of stuff coming back in? YES. Most of us respond to visual cues and even those people who learn rules and directions easily, tend to forget sometimes. Giving yourself a visual boundary and space of what you already have can help control the stuff and prevent you from over buying. No one needs 3 ketchup bottles at one time unless there’s a diet of french fries. Sign me up!
3. Does the area you’re considering, only have one person using certain items? DEPENDS. This one can be tricky and the best example is the bathroom linen closet. This area has multiple functions for us. I’m the only one who really uses the shelves with hair, makeup, etc and they are open bins allowing me to toss things into it for ease. I can also take the container to the sink area when using. For me, the visual reminder is the items themselves. The towels, washcloths, etc are pretty self-explanatory. If you need the accountability, or someone else is helping put away or using the items – label it. I considered labeling the top bins, and still may. If you aren’t sure – just wait until you are! It’s okay to shift things around after living with it for a bit.
4. Do the items or area change or shift often? NOPE. Some examples would be the junk drawer, nightstands, laundry rooms (minus specific containers). My laundry room isn’t labeled because it has an open shelf and fabric containers with a pattern describing what’s in it. If you can see what is inside, or things are easily identified you probably don’t need to waste the labels. The laundry room has items moving in an out of it, so we have a laundry system in place instead of labeling. If your housemates are having trouble putting things back where they go when doing laundry, then by all means – label way!
5. Are you trying to make a change and need some directions? YES! This one is a stretch because if friends come over and got something out of the fridge they’d think I am a little bit controlling. While trying to make better food choices, I grouped things by how healthy they were instead of trying to micromanage each meal’s nutrients and could grab and go without thinking too much! If we have a gathering or people over, we just turn the containers around so you can’t see the label đŸ™‚ This would be a helpful idea for families helping kids make their own healthy food choices!
The Messy Polka Dot 
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