Dwelling

SmartJars

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Organized storage for small items

Somehow our work bench keeps getting taken over by a crazy mess and our current organizational system, the one left to us with the house, was just not cutting it for how we use the garage (aka Halloween Craziness takes over). We found SmartJars in May 2013 at the Bay Area MakerFaire and were impressed with them. Basically a build-it-how-you-need-it solution, with containers that can be popped on and off a standard peg board for use.

You attach SmartJars’ colored jar holders to your peg board, organize and color code as you like. Then you snap the plastic jars into the holders for storing. The jars can be removed and returned to their holders easily, but are held securely when snapped in place. The jars are clear so you can see the contents; you can also add labels to the front for more specifics. You can rearrange the jars if you choose. Color coding my jars has helped let me tell other people where things are. Such as look for rubber bands in the Yellow household goods section. Or Nails are in white and screws are in blue. And the color coding also helps me put the jars back in the right areas if I have taken more than one out at a time. The jars are big enough (2.5″ in diameter and 4.5″ tall, or 10 fluid oz.) to hold some larger bolts and other items that tend to take up a bit more room than many organizing systems have, but more of that room is in the length that sticks out from the peg board, so the footprint on the peg board doesn’t take up too much space and you have room for lots of the jars.

We bought a bunch during their pre-release promotion and have reorganized our garage work bench. We aren’t quite done with the reorganization, but its working well so far. There have been several times this year during our haunted house build when someone has needed something and I have been able to produce the jar with that item right away.

We have seen photos from people who have used them under kitchen cupboards to organize spices as well. They are very versatile.

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-- Rachel Lea Fox 06/13/14

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