No more endless searches looking for those pills your child had to take an hour ago! Here you will find 10 safe, efficient, and clean medicine organization ideas for your home. Even if all the members of your family require some sort of medicine to treat medical problems, these medicine organization ideas take all aspects into account.
Managing a house and keeping it in good condition is no easy task. This is all the more true if you have to take care of your home and also focus on your job and career. To wear this many hats is easier said than done. Why not make your life a little easier by handing you some medicine organization ideas!
Why Are Medicine Organization Ideas Important?
If you knew how to store and organize your vitamins or medicines, it would do you a world of good. Especially medicines are important things for every home and therefore they should be arranged properly. Here are a few important and vital things that should be borne in mind when professionally and properly organizing the medicines in your home.
We are living in troubled times and the world is suffering from the worst global health crisis that is known to human beings in recent history. The second wave of this disease has already arrived in many countries as doctors and companies battle it out for a suitable vaccination.
In such a situation there is a need to proactively manage the health of our family members. Hence, it is quite common in homes to see regular use of vitamin tablets, supplements, and of course regular medicines for handling fevers, headaches, pains, and other such problems. Many homes also have medications that are useful for stomach problems, minor stomach upsets, diarrhea, and other such issues.
Furthermore, different family members may have different health challenges and therefore they may have to depend on different types of medications. In a small urban home where space is a big constraint, proper organization is a big challenge, and therefore it needs thinking through. It also requires understanding the various ways, means, and methods of medicine organization.
Safety Rule #1: Store Medicines Out Of Children’s Reach
A home in the true sense of the term includes children in most cases. Hence, when storing medicines safety is the most important consideration. While medicines should be easily available to users without too much trouble, they should be kept away from children. If you have young children in your home, then make sure that the medicines are kept in a drawer or cupboard that is located at a reasonable height. The child should not find it easy to open the drawer and gain access to the medicines. The drawer or other such storage spaces should preferably be locked so that young and inquisitive children are not able to lay their hands on the medicines.
Safety Rule #2: Keep The Temperature In Mind
Temperature is also another important factor to be kept in mind when you are planning to organize the medicines in your home. Some medications require room temperature while others may need to be kept in refrigerators. There are some other medicines that may have to be kept in the deep freeze, though these are very few. As a homemaker, segregating the medications based on storage and temperature is vital. All the medicines that you buy either OTC or from a prescription will have storage instructions, expiry dates, and the various temperatures that they should be kept in. You have to follow them scrupulously.
Safety Rule #3: Keep Medicines Easily Accessible (Mainly First Aid Products)
Though it would always be better for family members to stay safe from accidents and mishaps, minor accidents cannot be ruled out, in spite of the best care. This is all the more true in homes where there are children. Slips and falls, minor burn injuries, and other such things do happen in homes. In such situations, first aid is of extreme importance. Therefore, ensure that there is a fully stocked first aid kit.
More importantly, the first aid kid must be located at a place where it is easily reachable. However, at the same time, make sure that it is away from the reach of children because there could be many medications that may cause immense harm to them should they swallow it by mistake. If you have a medicine cabinet or drawer, please make sure that the first-aid kits can be seen by the naked eye easily. You should be able to open them easily and make use of them without any waste of time. Please make sure that the first aid kit has the right accessories like scissors, tapes, plasters, bandages, and other such things.
A reasonably comprehensive list of the various things that you should have in your first aid kit are:
- Plasters in various sizes and shapes
- Sterile gauze dressings in various sizes and shapes
- Sterile eye dressings
- Bandages, triangular and crepe rolled
- Safety pins
- Sterile gloves
- Cold packs
- Cleansing wipes, alcohol-free
- Sticky tape
- Scissors and Tweezers
- Anti-septic fluids
- Thermometer (preferably digital)
- Calendula or other skin rash cream
- Cream to relieve insect bites
- Antiseptic cream
- Painkillers (paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin, infant paracetamol)
- Cough medicine
- Antihistamine tablets or cream
When I talk about medicine organization ideas, the most important tip is to take good care of your first aid kit and make sure that it is fully stocked and located at an easily accessible place by all responsible and mature members of the family. Therefore, if you have elderly people in your home, you may have to add a few more things to your first aid kit taking into account their special needs and requirements.
10 Medicine Organization Ideas and Examples
These medicine organization ideas have been proven and time-tested. It will help you to organize your medicines professionally and it will also avoid cluttering of your storage space. It could make it easier to access medicines when you need them the most.
1. First Aid Medicine Organizer
You must spend time to choose the right first aid container. Though many of us use make-shift first aid boxes made out of cardboard or other types of plastic containers, it makes much better sense to go in for a specially made first aid box organizer. There are a few things special about these containers. These are made from high-quality plastic and most importantly they are transparent and not opaque. Further, once they are closed after use, they are airtight. They also come with intelligently made dividing trays. These help in organizing the first aid box properly. These dividers are removable. You could choose any size based on your specific requirements. However, the most common sized ones are those having a dimension of 13.2 inches x 9.4 inches x 7.9 inches length width, and height. These types of first aid boxes could be enough for a small home with four members.
2. Expandable Vitamin Bottle Organizer
This is a wonderful and smart medicine organization idea to store various vitamin, medicine, and mineral bottles. This medicine or vitamin bottle organizer is sleek and does not occupy too much space. You should buy only those made from transparent plastic so that you are able to see what is stored. They come with three shelves (three tiers) or five shelves and for most homes, those with five shelves are more than enough. They help in maximizing space and avoid cluttering of your expensive vitamin supplements. They are extremely functional and versatile.
3. Medicine Storage Countertop
This practical and space-saving countertop organizer is perfect for medicine organization. This could be a smaller version of any common vitamin supplement organizer. They come in compartments of various sizes and you could choose the number of compartments based on your specific needs and requirements. The transparent plastic vanity countertops are durable, versatile, and are also long-lasting. It does not take too much time to clean them and you can identify the medicines and first aid items easily when you need to make use of them.
4. Medicine Bottle Storage Shelf
To organize medicine bottles and packages in a cabinet, these multi-layered storage shelves are perfect. They are light, sturdy, and keep your commonly used medicines and vitamins firmly in place. They are also cost-effective and have long durability without too much maintenance and upkeep.
5. Divided Storage Space First Aid Kit
To have a dedicated storage box to organize your medicines has its advantages as I mentioned before. However, this variation is perhaps smaller in size and could be useful for storing bandages, crepe bandages, tincture iodine for first-aid use after cuts, and other such light and small items. You can buy them with four compartments or more or even less, again depending on your needs and requirements.
6. Over Door Hanging Medicine Organizer
This over the door hanging organizer is a smart and efficient way to organize medicines and even cosmetics with minimum loss of storage space. They are perfectly suited for small homes where space is a big constraint. These hanging organizers can be fixed on the wall and they come generally with four or six compartments. They are suited for storing small medicine kits and disposal of medical items. Please make sure that they are affixed at a reasonable height so that they are away from children.
7. Over Door Shelf Rack Organizer
These organizer racks come in handy for homes and rooms that are small in size. While they are mostly used for keeping towels, shampoo, soap, and other toiletries and cosmetics, many homemakers make use of it for storing medicines in a bedroom or kitchen. These racks are extremely light and can easily be fixed onto the doors. You can buy them with two storage spaces or more. Always choose these shelf rack organizers carefully. Make sure that they are made from high-quality material that is waterproof and rustproof. They should be easy to install. Also, make sure that the railings are tall enough to keep the medicines safely. However, on the whole, there is no doubt that these shelf rack organizers help in preventing cluttering and assist in organizing your medicines quite well.
8. Recess Mounted Mirror Medicine Cabinets
If you are really serious about the proper arrangement of medicines in your home, then it makes a lot of sense for you to spend money on a good mirror medicine cabinet. You can mount them on recess and they come with a wall opening. You can choose the size as far as height, length, width, and depth is concerned. Normally for a home with four members, it may be a good idea to go in for a mirror medicine cabinet having 14 inches in width and 24 inches in height. You could choose the number of shelves based on your needs. These mirror medicine cabinets are available with a left or right-hand opening facility. Make sure that you choose cabinets that are made from high-quality material. Stainless steel is the best option because of its long life and its ability to withstand corrosion and rust, especially in a bathroom.
9. Oval Medicine Cabinet with Mirror Door
This is a classy-looking mirror door that can work wonderfully well as a medicine cabinet too. You can use it for keeping your cosmetics and also some important medicines that you may need to use daily. It comes with shelves that are spacious enough to keep your emergency medicines and for keeping your first aid box and other such things. Without any doubt, this is one of the best options for those who wish to have a discreet solution for organizing their medicines without wasting space. You could buy them with a 90-degree hinge. If fixed at a reasonable height away from children, there are many reasons to believe that they could make excellent solutions for those who want to organize their medicines clutter-free.
10. Conventional Medicine Storage Cabinet
If you have a reasonably big family and a number of medicines to store, you may have to look for a large-sized storage cabinet. You could look at plastic cabinets that are compact and come as one big unit. These can either be fixed on the wall or could be placed in a rack in your living room if you have the required space. They come in different sizes, shapes, and heights. You could choose these cabinets with five shelves and there are twin storage cabinets that come with ten different shelves (five on each side). They are transparent and you can label them accordingly so that they are easily identifiable. They are not very expensive and therefore you can be sure that you will be able to get the right value for money. Yes, they go a long way in making your home clutter-free as far as medicine storage is concerned.
Labeling Medicines: Safety First
Labeling is very important as far as the storage of medicines is concerned. Proper labeling enables all the users in a home to get access to the right medicine without any searching and struggling. The label should be clearly written and must be visible even for those without the best of eyesight. This could come in handy if you have elders staying with you. There are different types of labeling solutions for medicines. Here you will find my two favorites.
Chalkboard Labels For Medicines
These chalkboard labels are versatile and extremely useful. They look pretty in your cabinet or drawer, due to the black backgrounds. They come in different sizes: small, medium, and large and you can choose the right one depending on the size of your container, drawer, or medicine organizer.
Transparant Labels For Medicines
These transparent self-sticking labels are classy and sophisticated and will look really pretty, even if you only use them to label your medicine bottles or shelves. They are available in different sizes and these labels can be cut into specific sizes. They come with perforations making it easy to tear individual labels, write and then stick them. The labels can be erased and you can write on them again. They are a must-have for those who would like to keep their medicines well-organized and free of clutter.
Conclusion
Medicine organization is an essential part of keeping your home safe and healthy. Fortunately, it is not as difficult and tough as we often think it to be. It is about gathering the required information and then choosing the right option. Hopefully, these medicine organization ideas will give you a reasonably good idea about the different options you can choose from and how you can make the best use of it.
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