i found these big bins a few years ago at Costco and found they fit perfectly inside our bathroom cabinets. at the time we didn’t have medicine bins, so i created 1 bin for the kids and 2 bins for adult medicines and other first-aid supplies….
the bins held up great and are very sturdy, but after a while the inside began to look like this…
and for a mommy that loves an organized home, that wasn’t going to fly much longer!
so i gathered up my supply of small bins that have been set aside for repurposing…
then i got to work emptying the old medicine bins. as i emptied each bin, i checked expiration dates. anything to keep was placed in one pile and anything expired went into another pile….
when i was finally done, here was my stack of keepers…
once the bins were emptied, i gave them a quick wipe down (there was a bit of sticky medicine in the bottom of the kids bin) and set them aside for future repurposing…
the next step was to sort through the keepers and place them into their new bins. we now have one bin for the kids medicine…
one bin for bandaid’s and other first aid items…
one bin for pain relievers…
and the final bin for cold, cough, and flu…
once everything was put together, i added a simple label…
done!
not only was i able to recycle these extra dispensers…
but check out my stack of expired medicine!…
many of those were well past their expiration dates too. i loaded them up into a big bag and will dispose of them safely our doctor’s office…
as i mentioned above, one additional perk of this project was being able to create a medicine shopping list…
since i know what we need or are low on, i can be sure to purchase these the next time i’m at the drug store. meaning we will be prepared for anything on the horizon.
now that i the project is complete, it was time to find these little bins a new home. i had just the spot for them. in our kitchen we have a cabinet with an empty shelf. it’s the middle cabinet here, above our bread storage cabinet…
that middle shelf was the perfect spot for medicines. this area is not exposed to steam or heat, like it would be in the bathroom. and it’s far away from kitchen cooking services where there may be heat exposure….
if you notice there are vitamins on the bottom shelf. i chose not to put those into a bin because we use these every day. personally, i find it easier to grab the bottle i need off the shelf, instead of opening a bin each day. but if you have a large supply of vitamins, and you like the idea of putting like items into bins – go for it!
all 4 of the new bins fit perfectly in their new home…
have you gone through your medicine supply lately? it’s the perfect time of year to cross it off your list!
[…] in our previous home i shared our medicine organization and that system worked well for quite a while. but i admit the smaller bin size was beginning to […]
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