Containerizing done right.

Yesterday we dealt with the seven most pervasive containerizing myths, not least of which is that clutter control will make you a happier, leaner, cleaner, richer person. In brief, we concluded that stuff management will not save your relationship, make you a best-selling author, save the world, simplify your life or containerize your sanity.

Buy all the bins you want: once your hoarding habits threaten to send you to the loony one, not even Oprah’s organizing guru will be able save you. These solutions, on the other hand, just might.

1. Bin Alternatives

To wit:

“Clear plastic or neon bins carry with them the prospect of an organized life, one in which the bills are always paid on time and days unfold in containable, sterilized batches of predictability…”

Solution: Don’t become Bin Laden. Containerize with old soup cans and buckets.

2. Consume Mindfully

We wrote:

“A garlic dicer will not simplify your life, it will clutter it. The same goes for more storage.”

Solution: stop buying so much crap.

3. Rethink Space

Our suggestion:

“Plastic bins aren’t always the answer; consider shelving in your future.”

Solution: Amend shelving to ceiling storage, the new vertical.

4. Store Creatively, Cheaply

“Who says storage has to be transparent, neon or pretty? It just has to function.”

Solution: Invest in functional, creative and cheap containerization.

5. Containerize Don’t Consume

“Avoiding the Container Store will lead to a debt free lifestyle. Buying less stuff will guarantee it.”

Solution: Repeat #2.

6. Containerize Efficiently

“The reason you haven’t written your first novel is not for lack of desktop organization. It’s because Office Max is selling you too many writing blocks…”

Solution: For this, we turn to the containerizing blog called I’m An Organizing Junkie, to deal with this affliction we’ve all been able to relate to at one point or another. The site asks us to consider process as an anagram: “P” as in planning your attack; “R” for removing items; “O” for organizing said items. But before moving on to “C” for containerizing, add a “Y” for yard sale (see I’m an Organizing Junkie for the rest of that anagram).

7. Don’t Store: Clean

Yesterday’s final myth was: “containerizing will make my space a cleaner place.” Today’s biggest busting truth is this: that is simply not true. Containerizing really just means shuffling an item to a pile and then moving that pile into a box because you don’t know what else to do with all that crap in the pile that is now in a box – which is now containerized for what?

Excessive containerization is like a contagion, a rotten apple, a bundle of bad berries. Bad berries are bad. Bad berries = dirty, slimy goo in an otherwise clean refrigerator. You wouldn’t hoard the berries. You’d compost them. Then clean the refrigerator or the storage container the berries rotted in.

The point is, only cleaning will make your space clean. For everything else, there’s Oosouji.

Images: Rubbermaid Products; The Kitchn; HGTV.com; The Family Handyman; Apartment Therapy;  Kibogaoka

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Stockholm-based Jantze Brogard Asshoff studio produces thoughtful, elegant designs. Founders Moa Jantze, Hanna Brogård and Johanna Asshoff strive to simplify their surroundings to improve everyday life.

“We create sophisticated, useful products with a poetic soul and playful character,” they explain. “Our backgrounds from different parts of Sweden will always be a great source of inspiration. We like to mix modern with traditional, folklore with decadent luxury and regional Swedish handicraft with industrial production.”

The results are apparent in the well-balanced red Bloom Chair with folksy flowers embroidered on felted wool. The little seat with steel and pipe construction was  inspired by the rich ornamentation of  past Scandinavian folk traditions by Moa Jantze.

Another innovative design is the upholstered felt Pinecone Pouf, a pouf with wool scales by Moa Jantze.

In recent weeks, the group showed off its Greenhouse container at a curated group show called Kitchen Ecology exhibited during Dwell on Design event in Los Angeles.

The modern designs of fresh international eco designers were featured, including Greenhouse by Jantze BrogÃ¥rd Asshoff, a paper house-shaped bin (think Monopoly houses where the porches are  pedals). When you step on the porch the roof opens up. It comes in different sizes to fit different types of garbage boxes and sorting.

“Greenhouse is a beautiful way to store and sort your garbage and fits both at home and in office spaces,” says the designers.

Look for more innovative green solutions from this upcoming Swedish team!

Images: Jantze Brogard Asshoff

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