Spring Cleaning Tips - Get Organized with Apothecary Jars

Spring cleaning: the daunting battle of tackling the messiness of home seems to be an annual tradition for many people in the western world. But if annual spring cleanings were as effective as they could be, would we even really need to engage in this endeavor every year? Vase Market has always been about offering the best decorative and utilitarian items for the modern home, but that will mean very little if untidiness is an issue you struggle with. Fortunately for our lovely newsletter followers, we would like to offer some inspired tips and tricks to reorganizing you home in a more permanent fashion, particularly through the use of our famous vintage glass apothecary candy buffet jars!

Getting Organized Can Change Your Life

I recently read this inspiring book called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.  It taught me that thoroughly cleaning, organizing, and tidying can have an amazing impact on every component of living, including your work and your relationships. The KonMari method of tidying and organizing involves recognizing which of the things in your life bring you joy.

Decluttering

What amazed me about Kondo’s approach is the spiritual animism of her approach. She talks about treating the things in your life with respect as if they were sentient. Respecting objects seems to be about recognizing your relationship with the items and knowing whether it’s even worth it to continue that relationship (much like with real people). If you can realize that the item has already served its purpose, then it’s easier to let them go.


Think about what's important to you. What are your passions? Once you clear out the things unrelated to what you need and care about, you'll find that you have a lot more space to reorganize what you have.

Sorting by Category

Once your space is cleared up, it's time to start sorting things out.  For me, that meant starting with the kitchen.


The dried edibles and spices that cluttered my kitchen drawers and cabinets were overwhelming. Every time I came home with another box of pasta or cereal, or another small jar of paprika, it wound up becoming another thing that took up more space than it really needed to. It wasn't as if I didn't have the space, but I knew that I wanted a better system. There had to be a way to clear out the things I didn't need, while keeping the spices I used most often accessible.



(Images above feature: GAJ003, GAJ006, GAJ118S, and GAJ115)

When I narrowed it down, it came down to just four or five items that needed to take center stage on the counter. The great thing about allocating space for these glass apothecary jars is that they can stay as a constant piece of storage that is organized and easy to see. Once I bring home the groceries, I can empty the pasta into apothecary jars and throw away the box. I can do that with almost every dry ingredient I bring home: cookies, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, sugar, cereal, etc. These apothecary jars not only keep everything organized, but it allows for these things to be displayed in the open space on my kitchen counter, which frees up my cabinets for other items. I no longer have to force all my dining cutlery into one cramped drawer, and I can acutally sort them according to their function. And to top it off, these apothecary jars of food brings a vintage farmhouse style to the space.

Fashion Meets Function

The next space I wanted to work on was my craft room. I'm a hobbyist and I like making things (have you seen my latest post on DIY Sea Glass Jewelry Making?). I have an entire room for every craft hobby I dabble in (sewing, scrapbooking, woodwork, jewelry making, and knitting). But my workspace was too cluttered. I have a big room with each corner allocated for a specific craft. Despite this, I was running out of space.


After I followed Kondo's method for clearing out the stuff I didn't need anymore (which included old projects, unneccesary plastic and wood drawers and selves, and even some furniture), I was able to breathe for the first time in a while. I kept my most important tools and materials, and pretty much threw everthing else away. After replacing my work tables, I proceeded with the same organizing principle used for the kitchen.

(Images above feature: GAJ003, GAJ005, and GAJ111)

Before I got organized, I used to dig through what felt like a thousand drawers just to find what I was looking for. Even if the drawers were organized or labeled, things were not always put away or in the right place. Keeping only the most important items around, I decided that storing them in these clear apothecary jars was a wonderful way to organize visibly. Having now developed a strong need to keep the tables clear, I found that with these apothecary jars, I had an obvious space for my tools and my spools of every type. I knew exactly where things needed to go, and if I was looking for something, a breif scan of these apothecary jars showed me exactly what was where.

A Truly Clean Space

Now, a space like your bathroom ought to be clean, considering it is the place where you expect to clean yourself, right? Trust me when I say that keeping things minimal is best. Before I got to my spring cleaning binge, I had a huge clutter of bottles and miscellaneous bathroom objects (combs, Q-tips, cotton balls, etc.). Things seemed to flood out from the drawers an onto the bathroom counter, and there were never enough space for anything, not even on the little shelves next to the bathtub.
Once I figured out that I didn't need six different kinds of cleansers and moisturizers (most of which were probably gifts from my mother), I found that I could continue that pattern I've created for the rest of my home.

(Images above feature: GAJ002, GAJ005, and GAJ111)

And just like that, the place was transformed. I had an apothecary jar for everthing: gauze, towels, cotton balls, soap bars, bath salts, etc. Each had a respective place either out where I needed them, or away in the cabinet beneath the sink.

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Vase Market is a wedding vase, apothecary jar, and home decor wholesaler from City of Industry, California servicing weddings and events throughout the local area, including Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, as well as throughout the United States. Vase Market is a professional direct importer that has been part of the Southern California glassware industry since 1998 specializing in high-end glassware.