There’s no better time to organise than the start of a new year. I tackled my loft last year and it was the best decision for both me and my family.
Am I the only one or isn’t there a sense of peace and clarity you get when your home is organised and you know where every single item is?
Well let me help you take that a step further and use the power of technology to create some organisational MAGIC!
In this step by step guide, I will walk you through how to organise your home with QR (quick response) codes, specifically how I organise my loft – and you don’t have to be a techie.
You’ll never wonder what’s hidden in the piles of boxes in storage ever again. I’ll also show you other genius organisation ideas with QR codes.
This post is sponsored by Adobe Express. As always, all opinions and ideas are entirely my own.
How To Use QR Codes For Storage In 5 Easy Steps
When we moved into our house, I promised myself that our loft and shed would not become the place where things go to die. If you have ever done a house move, you know exactly what I mean.
So if we were going to store anything there, we had to know exactly what was in each box. There is only one way to do that and the QR Code technology (which is free by the way) has made this accessible to every single person. You don’t even have to have any technical skills.
Before we get into the steps, here are five things you’ll need:
- A QR Code generator
- Printer and paper
- Glue or Tape
- Online storage system like Google Drive or Evernote
- Phone or laptop (Preferably a laptop)
Step #1 – Organise the items into boxes
You want to start by purging any items you don’t need. I get it, I have been there. It’s easy to hold on to items that have sentimental value. Take my advice, if you know that you won’t need the item in 6 months to 1 year, give it away to charity or sell it.
The only exception in my opinion are expensive baby items that you might want to reuse for your next baby or Christmas decorations.
Now that you’ve purged and they are all in separate boxes, you want to make a note of all the items in the box in the next step.
Step #2 – Take a picture and upload to any online storage system
Take a picture of the contents of each box or if you have the time, take photos of individual items in the box.
As long as you can see what each item contains, do what works best for you.
I know it can be such a pain to take photos so you can write a list instead if that’s easier.
Just create a note that is housed anywhere online that you can get a link to. I personally use Google Drive but you can use Evernote as well.
I love to organise my different boxes into folders, if that works for you, do it. It might seem like a lot of upfront work but trust me when I say it gives you incredible peace of mind.
TIP: You can create a household email and Google Drive account to store all your household needs, passwords, paint colour numbers etc.
Step #3 – Find a free QR code generator
Now that the difficult bit is over, in order to organise your home with QR Codes – of course you have to find an application that can generate QR codes.
Adobe Express has a completely FREE Custom QR code generator that’s easy to use. Log on to Adobe Express and click ‘Generate QR Code’
Grab the link from your online storage (like Drive) and pop that into where it says ‘Enter or paste website URL’
The beautiful thing about the Adobe Express QR code Generator is that you can customise the style and colour. You might have a household colour that you want to match. You might also prefer the circle style QR codes instead.
Whatever your style, adjust it till it’s just perfect and download as a png file to your device.
Step #4 – Print and Paste
Almost there! It’s time to print. I don’t like wasting paper, so I prefer to print several QR codes at the same time.
When I sit to organise, I would typically be organising several boxes at once, this makes things even easier.
If you have downloaded your QR codes to your computer, all you need to do is create an A4 size graphic and resize your QR codes to fit on that page.
On the Adobe Express home screen, under ‘Create a new project’ click ‘Custom Size’
Insert the pixel numbers and click ‘Next’
TIP: A4 in pixels is 2480 x 3508 pixels
This will take you to an A4 size graphic that’s ready for you to customise.
When you are done, simply download as a PNG file and print.
Tip #1: When you are resizing your QR codes to fit on one page, double check that the QR codes still work by doing a quick scan with your phone whilst still in Adobe Express.
Sometimes when resizing QR codes they might not work anymore.
Tip #2: I find that you get more pixels on your QR code when the link you use is long. Sometimes when you use a link shortener, the QR code has less squares in it.
Step #5 – Scan and Use
I can’t believe we are finally here! It’s time to use your cute little codes. Honestly, nothing comes closer to magic!
Cut out your tiny little squares and glue them to the corresponding boxes – check first, you don’t want to glue the wrong code to the wrong box.
Now all you need to do is scan with your phone and enjoy your newly organised space. Aaagh – that’s me breathing a collective breath of fresh air on your behalf.
Most phones can scan QR codes but if yours doesn’t there are several QR code scanning apps available to download.
The level of sanity you will get from taking this tiny piece of action is unmatched. I promise you!
Look at you! I am so proud of you for doing this. Now let’s explore other ways we can use this same concept in other areas of the house shall we?
Other Ways To Use QR Codes For Storage
Although I prefer to use QR codes for larger items that have to be in storage e.g Christmas decor. Here are some other ways you can organise with QR codes around the house or even the office. Once you start using QR codes, you are not going to stop!
- Idea #1 Photo album:
Instead of lugging around large photo albums that take up space in the house. You can organise all your albums digitally and have one book with QR codes pasted in. This way you have a digital book that houses all the QR codes you need to access your precious personal and family memories.
- Idea #2 Recipes
I don’t know about you but I get some amazing recipe ideas from grocery store items like pasta and flour. You want a system to quickly store them and keep them organised.
To do that, take a picture and upload it to your online storage system. Generate a QR code and pop that QR code in any of your recipe books. You can upload as many recipes to the same folder link so that you have all your ‘random’ recipes organised in a sustainable way.
- Idea #3 Instruction manuals / Instruction videos
If there is an equipment or device in your home that has a complex step my step method, why not record a video of yourself doing said thing and generate a QR code for it.
The QR code can now be stuck to the back of the device. This makes it so easy for anyone to follow because they can watch the video step right on their phone.
- Idea #4 Organise Office
With QR codes, the possibilities are endless. You can organise files in your office and never have to rummage through drawers and cabinets anymore.
Do you know how freeing that is? You can create a list online with all the items in that file/folder/cabinet and anyone with access to your office can immediately know what’s in each cabinet by simply scanning. When I say the possibilities are endless, I truly mean endless.
- Idea #5 Organise Pantry
Finally, QR codes could come in really handy when organising pantry inventory. You can keep a list of all the things you have, and know when to restock items.
You can also use it to keep track of expiry dates for items in the both the pantry and the fridge.
This will take a bit more organisation and keeping on top of your list but it is absolutely doable if you dedicate some time to it.
Final Thoughts On QR codes For Storage
It’s time to make your own unique QR Codes and start tackling your organisation project. Try not to overwhelm yourself, take it one step at a time.
Follow the steps highlighted in this article and create a free account on Adobe Express to generate not just a QR Code but other creative designs.
Let me know if you have any questions or ideas to share with me.
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