The Optimal Use Of A Shelf As An Organising Device

The humble shelf is vastly underrated for being tool for organizing. If truth be told, shelves are so prevalent in daily life that many people don’t give a second thought to precisely how handy they truly are. From ancient times when early man discovered that a niche high up in the wall of a cave could be employed to stow foodstuffs and also other items, we’ve been using shelves.

On the other hand, it is not enough to merely make use of a shelf; you need to use it optimally – and correctly – for the thing to be any use as an organizing tool. You basically cannot fill shelves higgledy-piggledy with all kinds of unrelated items and expect to have an uncomplicated life, particularly if the racks are concealed from sight inside a cupboard. Each time you open the cupboard door you will be faced with rows of shelves exhibiting the disorderly detritus of your existence, and even worse, if you reach to acquire anything from the rear of the top shelf lots of junk is likely to comefalling down on your head

Although we have all been responsible for stuffing cupboard shelves with all manner of objects we do not know what to do with at some point or another, this is really not an ideal way to live. One only has to watch an actuality show about home organizing to understand that people frequently generate clutter for subconscious reasons, only to become mentally hampered by the exact same mess in a vicious circle. In many cases, the mess is so terrible that they require the assistance of a professional home organiser to return their homes, and their lives, to a state of harmony.

In view of this, the ancient saying of ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’ suddenly makes sense and describes in a few words how best to organise your immediate environment. This basically means, if you have a shelf then make use of it and also stow something immediately after you’ve used it. The reasoning is not to leave things lying about where they become hazards that can fall and break or end up being tripped over. You’ll also have a lovely tidy home or office if things are organized methodically on racks and it’ll be straightforward to find the thing you require. What’s more, you’ll save yourself a great deal of time since you won’t have to hunt for things.

In terms of arranging specific objects on a shelf, there is a method of doing so optimally as well. Take crockery on a kitchen shelf, for instance. Always stack small containers within larger sized ones rather than side-by-side as they take up less space this way. Large plates should be laid as a group at the base of a stack of dinnerware with smaller sized dishes on the top in ascending order of size. This produces a stable pile with a broad base as opposed to a stack that is made of small and large dishes randomly piled which could easily topple over. Lastly, it’s a good idea to group like with like on the shelf; meaning, all cups together, all dishes together and all the plates together, as you will find it easier to access things when you require them.