How to Organize Your Medical Supplies Marie Kondo Style

If you don’t know who Marie Kondo is and what the heck she has to do with organization, then this is your lucky day.

Marie Kondo is the author of the book, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and star of the Netflix Series, “Tidying up with Marie Kondo.” She is an expert at the art of putting stuff away. Her philosophy is summed up by her popular catchphrase, “tidy your space, transform your life”. She believes that by holding onto items that spark joy and getting rid of ones that don’t, you can transform not only your space but all aspects of your life.

She has a unique set of rules for cleaning and organizing which revolve around de-cluttering by category — clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, and sentimental belongings — not by location. She teaches the vertical storage technique where nothing is stacked but rather vertically sorted so everything is easy to see and nothing gets buried.

While the end goal may seem simple–to have a clean and organized space, her methods go much deeper than that and touch on the more emotional attachments we have to our stuff and our spaces. When you begin to think about your space as a source of joy or stress, you become much more discerning about what you allow in your home and how you interact with your belongings.

What does all this have to do with medical supplies you ask?

Alot.

For those of us with disabilities, medical supplies are a necessity and part of everyday life. Catheters, lubricant, rubber gloves, incontinence pads. These things are required for my daily personal care routines and will never go away.

They can either be a source of frustration, a daily reminder that my life is different, or I can make them part of my space in a way that is user friendly and that, while not necessarily sparking joy, doesn’t take away from the joy and flow that the rest of my space provides.

I have been in a wheelchair for over 20 years and for most of those years I shoved my medical supplies in drawers so I could avoid looking at them and so that others wouldn’t see them either. I thought that I needed to hide them in order for my space to look good.

When I discovered Marie Kondo I dug deep and thought long and hard about what would really spark joy in my space. I decided that joy for me was in the ease of use of my surroundings. I wanted to be able to get around easily in my wheelchair and have access to everything I needed without frustration.

This meant getting rid of a whole lot of furniture, maximizing the square footage in my home and organizing things so that they were easy to access and put away.

For my medical supplies this meant not having them shoved in drawers that I would have to rifle through every time I wanted to get something. It also meant making the supplies feel like part of my space.

That didn’t mean I had to make a dining table center piece out of catheters, it just meant that I could stop hiding them and put them where I could grab them more easily. Since my closet is the place I go to every morning to get my outfit for the day, I decided that this was the most logical place to build their new home.

Baskets are both functional and pretty so I set to work making a system for both my wardrobe and my medical supplies that made use of the shelves in my closet as well as the floor space below the shelves.

With a bit of trial and error, I came up with a system that I think is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Steps I use to organize my supplies:

1. Get baskets that fit my space.

I measured my closet and searched for baskets that fit perfectly on the floor under my shelves. These baskets were super affordable and are light and easy for me to lift up off the floor if I need to. They are easy to clean and very durable.

2. Remove catheters from boxes and stand vertically.

I maximize the space in the baskets by discarding all the boxes. I squish the catheters together as tightly as possible so that they aren’t falling over. Standing them vertically makes them super easy to grab when I need them and also allows me to see at a glance when I am getting close to running out and need to order more. Hundreds of catheters fit this way.

3. Put boxes of gloves in baskets vertically.

Putting the boxes of gloves in vertically braces the catheters so they fit nice and snug. I try to avoid stacking the gloves so that I can see how many boxes I have left at any given time. If they are stacked then I can’t see what’s under the top box.

4. Put box of suppositories in basket on its side.

The last thing to go in this basket is my small box of suppositories. I squish the green and white catheters together enough to slide the box in along side the gloves.

5. Open up incontinence pads and put in basket.

I open up the of package of pads as wide as possible so that I can easily see how full it is and can reach to grab a pad when I need one

6. Open blue pads and place beside incontinence pads

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I open up the bag of blue pads on the side with the crease and then fold down the edge of the bag. This keeps the blue pads together but allows me to grab one easily when I need it.

7. Stack baby wipes in basket

This is the only exception I make with stacking things. I know how many packages of baby wipes fit in the basket so I can easily judge how many are left just by looking at how high the stack is.

8. Place lubricant in a bag and put in basket vertically

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I put the tubes of lubricant in a bag so that they stay together and can stand upright in the basket. Having the bag open at the top allows me to easily grab a tube when I need one.

9. Slide into place in the closet

This is what the baskets look like side by side when I slide them forward to grab something.

10. Tuck away when not needed.

This is how the baskets look when tucked away. I am never embarrassed by my medical supplies anymore or worried about someone seeing them because they are neat and organized and fit right in with the rest of the space.

Making the most of your space

I challenge you to find ways to make your medical supplies part of your space, even if they’re in an inconspicuous area like mine are. They don’t have to be a centerpiece of your design but they should be easily accessed and organized in a way that you feel proud of if someone happens to see them.

How do you organize your medical supplies?

Post your great ideas and pictures in the comments!