Keep Over-The-Counter Medications Organized With This Smart System

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Over-the-counter medicine, whether it's in a blister pack, a tube, or a bottle, can quickly take over your bathroom countertop, cabinet, or drawers. Some medications, such as cold and flu remedies, come in various forms, too. If your stash isn't well coordinated, finding exactly what you need when you're feeling a little under the weather can be challenging. A simpler way to organize over-the-counter medicine is to repurpose toiletry bags and a basket or bin for storage. Choosing to sort and store your medicine in this manner means you can find what you need quickly. Plus, it's easy to move the medicine wherever you need it in the house.

Some medications have special storage requirements. It's widely recommended, for example, to think twice before storing your vitamins in the bathroom, where the excessive heat and humidity can take a toll on them. High temperatures and moisture can also degrade over-the-counter (and prescription) medications, particularly capsules or pills. The medicine may lose potency or expire faster, making it less effective without you realizing it. You can counteract this by keeping your non-prescription medicine cleverly stowed away in small toiletry bags elsewhere in your home. Get yourself several clear toiletry bags in different colors, such as these CarryEpic Clear Makeup Bags, and a durable medium-sized basket or bin. You can use any type of container, so long as it can hold quite a few bags. You'll also need a label maker or some Starliboo Removable Labels and a permanent marker.

Ready to fix the big mistake that's making your medicine cabinet a cluttered mess? First, sort through your collection of over-the-counter medications, removing anything that's expired or empty. Organize your medications by ailment, creating piles under specific categories: stomach issues, cold and cough, pain relief, children's medications, and allergies — to name some examples. Once you're done sorting through all the packages, bottles, and tubes, move on to medical equipment, such as thermometers, adhesive bandages, antiseptic wipes, and inhalers, among other items.

After all the medications have been sorted into their respective categories, you can start labeling the toiletry bags with a large, legible font. Use one bag for one category. Gather the medications — keeping them in their original packaging — into the matching toiletry bag. Consider color-coding the categories to make them easier to spot at a glance. You could use the bags themselves, colored labels, or colored adhesive dots similar to those used to price items for a garage sale after decluttering.

Once you've finished labeling and organizing all of your medications and associated equipment, place the labeled and possibly color-coded bags into the bin or basket you picked out earlier. Arrange them in neat, upright rows so that they're easy to flip through at a moment's notice. Put your new over-the-counter medication organizer in a cool, dry, and dark location, such as the top shelf of a hall closet or tall bookshelf. If you have small children or pets in the home, storing the bags somewhere inaccessible to them is vital.