3 Ways to Hack Muji’s Best-Selling Organization System

It’s not just for makeup.

Elly Leavitt

Updated Aug 9, 2019 9:46 AM

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Your junk drawer is judging you. The same can be said for your refrigerator, which, following the past few weeks of holiday festivities and copious amounts of comfort food, is currently brimming with leftovers and half-drunk bottles of champagne. It’s time to get organized, and the Internet’s go-to is Muji. The store has tons of basic pieces that look like minimalist decor rather than just utilitarian boxes. The hardest part is picking the right one, so we went straight to the source: the Muji best-seller list.

One series of products stood out: The polypropylene PP Make Box set. While the plastic material isn’t ideal, it is durable and easy to wipe clean—these containers will last you for many spontaneous decluttering sessions to come. And if you’re looking for affordability, they can’t be beat (the collection ranges from $2.50 to $13.25).

“The versatility is what makes them such a popular option,” explains Muji senior interior adviser Shihomi Tonogawa. “The semitransparent finish also helps in identifying the contents without being too see-through.” A quick sweep of Pinterest confirmed it: People are using the Make Boxes in every room of the house, for organization of things way beyond the makeup they’re named for. Here are a few of our favorite hacks:

The Refrigerator Lifesaver

The days of jumbled produce and cheeses wedged into a back shelf are over: Use the larger bins to keep your ingredients classified by type. The unobtrusive handles provide easy access so you see exactly what you have, and you can even use a washable marker to label the fronts.

The Cutlery Container

The thinnest Make case may be best known for housing brushes and tubes of mascara, but it also makes for top-notch silverware storage. At $2.50 a pop, you can snap up a few.

The Travel Companion

The Cotton Bud box doesn’t need to live in your medicine cabinet. Bring a couple along when you travel to compartmentalize your toiletries bag. When you land, the bottles placed in it will still be perfectly upright and the more fragile beauty products blissfully intact.