Our garage and basements have been filled with mismatched storage tubs. Purchased and stacked over the years and many moves. Some were cracked, broken and sagging.

We are a family of 6 in our 10th house. My girls have grown and flown but live close enough to store things here too.

We have plenty of storage space {thank goodness} but I wanted a streamlined look and an organized method of finding things.

I use storage tubs for all of my holiday decor, memorabilia from my kids when they were young, family pictures in frames and basically anything we are NOT using in every day life.

My boxes were clear, labeled but messy looking and chaotic.

STORAGE TOTES

I decided to replace my totes with solid matching heavy duty stackable storage totes. I found these 27 gallon containers for $11.98 each at Home Depot. They are on sale further right now.

Link for storage I used is https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-27-Gal-Tough-Storage-Bin-in-Black-HDX27GONLINE-5/205978361

I ordered 12 online then picked them up. I wasn’t sure how far 12 would go or how large 12 would be in my vehicle.

ORDER QR CODE LABELS

Order your QR code labels online.

Each label has a unique QR code on it. Using the app you can add descriptions of every item in a box. When you scan the QR code for a box or type in key words the app will pull up the to show you which box contains it.

There are several QR code companies. Here is my link to the one I chose on Amazon because it’s very user friendly https://amzn.to/3wvIQyH.

DOWNLOAD APP

Go to your App Store and download the ToteScan app.

Once you’ve ordered labels and downloaded the app it’s time to organize. My 40 unique codes took about a week to get here.

I began moving like items from the previous storage containers into my new totes. Holidays were pretty quick and easy to consolidate but I did do some purging. Temporarily I added sticky notes to keep me straight!

For every item moved into the new storage containers I did ask ….

Do I “need” all of it? Do I “use” all of this stuff?Can I donate any of it? Is it worth storing?

I made a 2nd order for 12 and picked them up. At this point I had 24 totes and started reusing salvaged totes other places in the house.

HOW DO CODES WORK ?

1. Place a QR code on a box.

2. Use the app to scan the code. You will then be promoted to add WHAT the box contains- key words and phrases in as much or little detail as you want.

3. Next you can chose WHERE the tote is being stored. You can edit at any time. Keep going!!!!

BONUS FEATURES

You can have family members download the app as well so they can self scan and find items. Have them use the SAME email to log in that you created it from. You will send totes and they will receive totes to their device.

You can either scan the QR code to find out the contents or type in a key word and it will tell you which QR code box to go to.

You can also get Alexa in on it and she can tell you which box items are stored in. My mind is blown.

You can also get a printed directory.

You can put the bins in sections to help you know where they are too. For example the left side of the wall is all Christmas. Center is Easter and other holidays then military uniforms/memorabilia. To me this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!

You can use QR CODES on moving boxes, storage boxes, the deep freezer and so much more!

What are you waiting for?

Go get organized- Kristen