Less Mess, More Yes

A Clean and Organized Desk Space

By Kevin Loria of Sterilite Corporation

A college dorm room is much more than just a room. It is a common hang out spot, study area, late night snacking location, video game haven, and night out preparation destination. With all that activity, the room can rapidly turn from clean and pristine to looking like a tornado just tore through. I can tell you from experience, no college freshman wants to clean or organize their dorm room. They will do as much as they can in order to do as little cleaning as possible. This list includes, but is not exclusive to, re-wearing dirty clothes, ignoring homework, and creating The Leaning Tower of Pizza Boxes. The best way to combat this is to ensure that the room is prepped for success from day one. The key to staying organized and not letting the room get out of control is setting up systems and smart storage solutions to make staying neat easy.

One of the best ideas that I have seen to help keep school work organized makes great use of our Small 5 Drawer Unit. All over the internet you can find free printable custom label templates for the drawers. This allows you to label each drawer by day of the week or by class, so you never have to forget worry about where to store your work and handouts again! If you are someone who could really use drawer labels to help stay organized, but you plan on changing what you store in each drawer often, try out our ID Drawers. Each drawer has a whiteboard space in the middle, so you can easily write and erase what you are keeping in the drawer.

ID Drawers are awesome for organizing different papers and thanks to the  dry-erase feature I was able to adjust the drawer labels to better suit my needs.


The most important part of keeping your study place organized is making sure everything has a logical place where it belongs. If you just throw everything in a drawer, things will inevitably get lost. And the problem I’ve found with that, is that things only get lost right when you need them. I like to use a couple Storage Baskets to store things I use frequently, such as pencils, pens, a calculator, and a pad of sticky notes.


And if all else fails, and somehow your room does end up turning into a mess, go study at the library. It may seem intimidating, or like a hassle to walk there at first, but I promise that it is worth it. It may not be as nice and cozy as the comfort of your own room, but there are significantly less distractions and it’s a really great place to strap down get work done.

Studying Pro Tips

• Don’t pull all-nighters – it is scientifically proven that you perform better with a couple hours of sleep then a couple hours of studying.
• For every hour of studying, take a 10 minute study break – this gives your brain a chance to process the information you just learned instead of constantly cramming it with information.
• Invest in a planner – you will be amazed how easy it is to forget homework assignments and test dates while still getting used to college life.
• Go to office hours – your teachers do actually want to get to know you and see you succeed, if you take the time to meet with them they will notice.
• Study with someone – the expression exists for a reason; two heads ARE better than one.
• Don’t procrastinate – Just because you can write a 2,000 word essay in an hour, doesn’t mean it will be a good 2,000 word essay. You may have gotten by with this in high school, but you’re in the big leagues now.
• Use other resources – If the way your professor teaches the class doesn’t agree with you, try using another resource such as Youtube or Khan Academy to look for other ways the material can be taught.

Fun Tips for Your Fourth of July Celebration

By Kevin Loria of Sterilite Corporation

The smell of the grill, kids running around with sparklers, everything decked out in red, white and blue … it must be the Fourth of July. Personally, July Fourth is one of my favorite holidays. There’s nothing like spending time with family and friends on a beautiful July day, enjoying good food and good times. From grilling up a nice barbecue to watching spectacular fireworks, there really isn’t anything like the day that we celebrate our country’s independence. Everyone knows things do not always go exactly as planned on the holidays, however, with the appropriate tools and a positive attitude, this Independence Day could be the best one yet. Here are a couple of my favorite Fourth of July activities with some tips on how to make them even better for you and your family.

My ideal day starts out with a trip to the beach. Every year, my friends and our families head to Cape Cod. I love waking up to the sound of seagulls and the smell of the ocean air. Of course, if you do not live near the ocean, a lake is just as much fun! We hit the beach early to avoid the rush later on. Everyone enjoys some swimming, tubing around in the waves, relaxing in the sun, and playing various games and activities in the sand. Of course, a trip to the beach is never complete without building a sand castle.


Sterilite’s 5 Quart Handy Pail, 10 Quart Spout Pail, and 12 Quart Spout Pail make for awesome sand construction tools. One of the most important things to remember when starting your sand castle is that it is better to have sand that is a little too wet than sand that is too dry. Mix sand you’re about to use with some water in a bucket, and then draw from there when you need more sand.


Periodically mix the bucket to make sure the sand stays sufficiently wet. If it starts to dry out, don’t be afraid to add more water!


Sandcastles aren’t built to last forever but it is always disappointing seeing your hard work ruined by incoming waves. To prolong the life of your castle, make sure you build a mote for any water to get caught in. It’s fun for the kids to play with the little mote of water, especially if you build a pathway going up to the moat so they can watch the water flow in and out. If for some reason the sand just doesn’t want to stick together how you want it, try a drip castle instead! Scrap what you have and try something new. Get a pail full of extra wet sand, grab a handful and let it slowly drip out of the crease of your hand, piling into a tower. I personally think they can come out even cooler than a traditional sand castle.

Now of course, the Fourth just isn’t the Fourth without fireworks. The kids all grab their sparklers and run around lighting up the yard as we all look upwards to watch the show in the sky. If you have really little children who want to try out the sparklers for the first time, you’re going to want to make sure they are safe. Try poking a small hole in the bottom of a disposable plastic cup and sticking the handle of the sparkler through. The spot you would hold is protected by the inside of the cup ensuring flying sparks can’t come in contact with your skin.

I have found in past years that fireworks time also happens to be a great time to serve dessert. A great hack I have discovered to assist with serving is that you can fit a 12 cup muffin pan perfectly inside the Large Ultra™ Basket. You can then stack multiple baskets together which really makes bringing dessert out to the yard much easier. The basket is also ideal for storing any spare sparklers you may have.

I hope these quick tips help you and your family fully enjoy the upcoming holiday. When it comes down to it, the most important part is being surrounded by people you care about. However you spend the Fourth, I am sure it will be incredible! Head on over to our red, white and blue inspired Pinterest page to check out some more fun activities and recipes to try out this Independence Day!