by Susan Lower

Created on: October 19, 2008   Last Updated: October 21, 2008

Plastic storage bins come in a variety of sizes, styles, and colors. They protect the items they hold inside from mold, mildew, and moisture. Without them, we'd all be swimming in a pond of toys, searching for last season's decorations, and buying new sweaters.

There are over a hundred different ways to use plastic storage bins around our homes, inside our garages and sheds, and outside in our yards, but in this article we will address ten, to get you started.

Toys. Large and medium sized plastic bins are great for storing toys. Containers with wheels work wonderfully for this task. You can organize your children's play things by placing different types of toys in different colored, sized, or labeled bins for easy pick up and availability. Keep two bins of toys, one visible, and one hidden for rotation, when a child becomes bored with the same toys after a while, you can trade toy bins.

Clothing. Low lying, flat bins are convenient for storing seasonal clothing, and can be easily slid under a bed for easy access. Deep plastic bins easily preserve children's clothing for handing down to siblings or passing on to a relative or friend. They keep the dust bunnies out, and, if sealed properly, help prevent the clothing from yellowing.

Seasonal Decor. Every holiday, stores put out their colored storage totes. It's easy to remember your Christmas stuff is in red or green, Halloween in black or orange, Thanksgiving in orange or brown, and Easter in pink or blue. Color coding creates fewer hassles when sending your spouse to seek out your holiday decorations. It also makes your bins more visible from high places of the garage or far corners of the attic and basement.

Craft/School Supplies. Tall three drawer plastic bins are perfect for storing craft supplies and school supplies. Each drawer contains important components, and sometimes within a drawer you can place a smaller plastic container holding things that can get lost quick. For example, you might have a drawer for paper, a drawer for writing, painting, and arts supplies, and a drawer for coloring books. In tiny little plastic containers, kits can be made up for keeping things like your needle, thread, and buttons together for sewing. They can hold scrapbooking supplies, photography prints, puzzles, and so much more.

Travel. If you have small children, consider putting together a "Travel Bucket". First, you'll need to go to your local grocery store and buy a 5 quart bucket of ice cream. Once the ice cream has been eaten

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