When you think of organizing, do you immediately think of organizing in rainbow order? Surprisingly, not everyone responds to organizing by color, but if you do, you probably know it. The world just seems calmer and happier when it’s color-blocked. When you can’t figure out how to group things, color grouping is always an option. Here are some fun things to organize by color that go beyond books and clothes.
Fun Things to Organize By Color
Color Categorizing vs. Rainbow Order
Not everything you organize by color comes in all the colors of the rainbow. Just separating white and dark in the same category, for example, can make you feel more organized.
Makeup
Whether you store makeup in a drawer, hanging from a strip, or in a lazy-susan carousel, arranging makeup by color can help you both see what you have AND find the perfect shade for your occasion.
Crafts
Use the bins to create easy grab-and-go groupings, or organize the craft things themselves by color. Either way, it’s a joy. Labels make it awesome.
Filing
There are two ways to color code your paper files: you could buy sets of colored file folders. However, if colors get discontinued, or if you run out of some colors faster than others, you’ll feel stuck. Instead, buy file folders in a favorite color (mine is blue) and use different colors for the label tabs. Section your files into permanent/keep forever, rotating short-term filing, tax files, remove & replace folders, and hobby folders that aren’t time-limited.
*Note, I recommend the FreedomFiler color-driven paper management system, which you can find here on my site.
Refrigerator
Your fridge is begging to be color-coded, and it’s probably already halfway there. Remove fruit and veggies from their store wrappers to expose the rainbow. Fruits tend to be red/orange/yellow. Store green vegetables in another drawer. Root veggies range from orange to white (potatoes and onions should be stored in the pantry, not the fridge.) Breads stored together are usually tan/white. Simplify to one set of preferably see-through storage containers to make leftovers easy to find. If you gather these various categories together inside your fridge, it will look like you’ve color-coded (without hardly trying). That leaves you with condiments to store in the fridge door or on a shelf, but you don’t need to go crazy color-coding these.
Pantry
Pantry staples look lovely when stored in glass jars and organized in rows by color, including beans, past, grains, popcorn and mixes. My secret is Mason jars. Use multiple Mason jars when decanting bags of dry goods, and then store the jars in rows, front to back, like you see in grocery stores.
Seasonal Decorations
If you are lucky enough to have a storage space in the basement, garage, or attic, be intentional about the bin color for different categories. Easily and quickly finding all the Christmas decorations because they are stored in bins with red and green lids is a joy. Spring décor stored in pastel bins makes seasonal decorating easy. Already have bins? Add a rainbow of colored tape or LARGE bin signs in colors of your choice.
This is only the beginning of fun things you can organize by color. And I hope you see that you can organize using color without having to build a perfect rainbow every time.
