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You have purchased a bunch of plastic storage totes, and you are now setting about coming up with a system for using them. You do not want to simply shove all your stuff inside the boxes and put them up. If you do that, you will quickly lose track of what is located where. So you need to come up with a labeling system which helps you find everything.

There are two aspects to how to label plastic containers which need to be considered:

• What system you will use for the labeling (names, numbers, etc.)
• How you will physically label the bins

I want to start by talking about some common labeling systems. In Part 2, I will delve more into how you can physically label your cheap totes for storage.

You can use any system you desire to label your bins, but if you are stuck, here are a few guidelines:

• Start by thinking about colors. Yes, colors—not labels. Why? If you buy bins in different colors, you already have one easy visual distinction that helps you find what you need. You can assign each color to a different person, a different holiday, a different room in the house, etc. This takes care of your top level category, and you can now subdivide each of those categories with the labels.

• Figure out the most intuitive system for organizing. You might want to label each bin with a different person’s name, depending on the use (this works well in the mudroom for example). Or you might decide to label boxes with rooms and numbers, i.e. “Living Room 1, Living Room 2,” etc. This works well for long term storage or moving. Some people choose to come up with much more detailed labels that actually directly reference specific contents, for example, “Dave’s Christmas Tree Ball Ornaments.” Whatever system you come up with, be as consistent as you can.

• Correlate your labels with a master list which tells you everything inside your bins. You can write up this list as you pack. This allows you to keep labeling simple. So if you look up “Living Room 1” in your master list, your list may tell you later that this box contains a lamp, a spare set of remote controls, three specific coffee table books, and an afghan. A really great idea is to save this list in an electronic format like an Excel spreadsheet—not just a physical binder. That way you can use the search function to instantly locate any item you need!

Now that you have done some thinking about what you will write on your labels, you will need to figure out how you will create and attach the labels to your bins! This is a topic I will jump into in-depth in How to Label Plastic Bins, Part 2. Once you have read both sections, you will know everything you need to about how to label plastic totes!