I preach about the importance of having a solid organizational structure for your home a lot, relying often on the guiding rules of the Organizational Triangle—that similar items must be stored together and have a designated spot—and Core 4, which outlines the value of putting everything you own into containers using a categorization system.
While any containers will work, it's much more beneficial to choose the right ones. Here's what you should consider for different types of items.
If you're storing things in a cabinet
First, consider the way you store things inside cabinets and cupboards. Technically, those spots are already adhering the rules by being a designated place for stuff—but without internal organization, they can get cluttered fast.
Your best option here is to get a set of smaller storage containers, ideally all the same size and shape. Uniformity is key, as is stackability. You want everything to fit together. Try something like this:
With these, you can spruce up a medicine cabinet, kitchen cupboard, drawer, or any relatively small spot that is meant to hold a variety of item categories, all while keeping them separate.
If you're storing items openly on a shelf
If you have a visible shelf that could serve as useful storage space, you might not use it if you think it's going to look ugly. That defeats the purpose of having the shelf at all, but it makes sense: Plastic bins like the ones above aren't exactly material for the cover of an interior design magazine. In this case, you still want uniformity, but you want it to be appealing, so anyone who sees it might think of it more as decoration than functional storage. Try boxes like these:
If you're storing semi-frequently used items
When I say semi-frequently used items, I mean your cleaning supplies, tools, or other necessary things you use but only in certain circumstances. These are maybe the most important to keep organized because you want them to be accessible when you need them. I recommend a storage container with wheels so you can bring it with you when you're using the contents. Something like this:
If you're storing seasonal or bulky stuff
When you're storing things you use every day, like spices or makeup, the goal is to keep it all accessible and well maintained. But you also have to store stuff you might not touch for months at a time, like seasonal clothing, bedding, dishes and clothes for special occasions, and specialty tools. In these cases, you should try to store the items away from higher-need ones, so consider under-bed storage like this.
General storage bin guidelines
No matter what kind of bins you're getting, try to align the sizes with the amount of things you have in each category. Especially avoid getting bins that are too big, as that can encourage you to keep filling them up instead of decluttering. Generally speaking, you really only need one of everything, like one flathead screwdriver of various sizes, one pair of hefty scissors, etc., so having extra space in the tool storage box doesn't serve you in terms of maintaining tidiness. This is the final tenet of another great cleaning and organizing method, Decluttering at the Speed of Life. You can only keep things you have space for, so plan accordingly.
I'm also a big believer in really digging in on your categories. Instead of a large box for hair accessories, for instance, try smaller boxes for headbands, claw clips, barrettes, and ponytail holders. It's easier to dig through a smaller bin for what you need than to have to push a ton of stuff to the side in search of the one small item you're looking for. The more well-defined your categories are, the easier it is to access what you need in a given moment. Some storage containers, like these, come with dividers inside, which makes them perfect for this kind of strategy.