The lowly shelf is actually widely underrated as a instrument for organizing. If truth be told, shelving is so prevalent in daily life that the majority of people do not give a second thought to precisely how useful they truly are. Ever since ancient times when early mankind learned that a recess high up within the wall of a cavern could possibly be employed to store food and other items, humans have been using shelves.
On the other hand, it is not enough to merely make use of a shelf; you have to use it optimally – and correctly – for it to be any use as an organising device. You simply can’t fill shelving higgledy-piggledy with all manner of unrelated items and expect to live an easy life, particularly if the shelves are concealed from view within a cupboard. Every time you open the cabinet door you will be confronted by rows of shelving exhibiting the disorderly detritus of your existence, and even worse, when you reach to acquire anything from the rear of the top shelf a bunch of stuff will probably comefalling down upon your head
Even though most of us have been guilty of stuffing cupboard shelves with all manner of things we do not know what to do with at one time or another, this is really not the best way to live. One only has to see an actuality show about home organizing to understand that individuals frequently generate mess for psychological reasons, only to become mentally hampered by the exact same mess in a vicious cycle. In many cases, the clutter is so terrible that they require the assistance of a professional home organiser to return their homes, and their day-to-day lives, to a state of equilibrium.
In view of this, the ancient mantra of ‘a place for all things and all things in their place’ suddenly makes sense and explains in a nutshell how best to organize one’s immediate environment. In other words, if you have a shelf then make use of it and in addition store something right after you’ve utilized it. The reasoning is not to leave objects lying around where they turn into hazards that might fall and break or be tripped over. You will also possess a beautiful uncluttered office or home if things are organised methodically on racks and it will be easy to find the option you need. What is more, you’ll save yourself a lot of time because you won’t have to search for stuff.
When it comes to arranging specific objects on a shelf, there’s a way to do this optimally as well. Take crockery on a kitchen shelf, for example. Always stack small containers inside larger sized ones as opposed to side-by-side because they occupy less room like this. Big dishes should be laid together at the bottom of a pile of flatware with smaller sized dishes on top in ascending sequence of size. This creates a secure stack with a broad base instead of a pile that is made of small and large plates arbitrarily piled which could easily fall over. Lastly, it’s wise to team like with like on the shelf; in other words, all cups together, all the bowls together and all dinner plates together, as you’ll find it much easier to access items when you require them.