Advice for Compacting Items in Photograph?

December 5, 2020 9:22 PM

I have a number of bins that take up a lot of surface area on my 'bathroom' dresser. Photo.

I think I am looking for something that would let me stack them vertically as drawers, although I'm open to other ideas. They are supplies related to two injectables and a glucose meter, and also glasses wipes. I think the bins are 7"x7". The main goal is to have them be convenient but not be as spread out, and the main problem is a temporary lack of spatial/storage imagination.

Linking to products that could accomplish the above would be appreciated..

posted by metabaroque to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Best answer: Could you just get a small set of drawers like these? Finding something that accommodates that exact set of bins might be hard, unless you built it yourself or customized some stacking letter trays.
posted by MadamM at 9:30 PM on December 5, 2020

Response by poster: Yeah, you got the theme of it. I wasn't looking necessarily for something that would outright take those, just advice for stackable drawers. My brain seems to have been misfiring on this problem.
posted by metabaroque at 9:40 PM on December 5, 2020

Best answer: Floating shelves

or

Wall Cabinet
posted by artdrectr at 9:49 PM on December 5, 2020

Best answer: I have a couple of sets of these drawers, which are available in a stack of 1 to 10 drawers. Nice to look at and solid quality.
posted by homesickness at 10:09 PM on December 5, 2020

Best answer: Something that was a revelation for me was realizing I don't actually need to keep all 100 of the thing from the package on display at all time. I can stow everything in a drawer and decant enough for a week at easy reach.

Another perk of this method: I'm a person who needs drugs every day, and sometimes I can't remember if I've taken them yet. I can't tell at a glance the difference between 50 and 49 if I'm trying to guess from what's left out. But I can tell between 6 and 5.

Even if you do switch to a vertical method you can still reduce the overall footprint by simplifying what you have out.
posted by phunniemee at 10:16 PM on December 5, 2020 [8 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm going to go ahead and mark this resolved -- and I thank you. Phunniemee gave a particularly inspired rethinking of the issue (thank you), and you others started me off by sending me along the lines of desktop organizers, which for some reason was a solution my brain was just not originally processing.
posted by metabaroque at 10:40 PM on December 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

I keep stuff like that in canning jars, and it seems prettier, mostly. Larger quantities in dome sort of storage, usually those small 3-stacked wheeled wire baskets.
posted by theora55 at 10:03 AM on December 6, 2020

Like this, but I have found them cheaper
posted by theora55 at 10:09 AM on December 6, 2020

To free up the dresser surface entirely, there are clear wall-mount organizers; putting up a space-saver pegboard with acrylic organizers is an option, too. (I have a narrow shoe organizer hanging from removable hooks to corral small items, but it lives on the inside of a closet door.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:11 PM on December 6, 2020