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Before we dive in to the various ideas for storing medicine, let’s get the elephant in the room settled first.
Is it okay to store medicines in the bathroom?
Answer: NO.
Why?
Because bathrooms are humid, and they get hot. Meanwhile, medications should be stored at room temperature or a few degrees below that. So the bathroom is a weak spot for your medicines.
For further details, read this explanation from Webmd.
Now where’s the best place to store your medicines then?
I have two suggestions.
One is the bedroom. We keep ours in the bedroom and it has worked well for us in years. No plans to change that.
Find a good place in your bedroom. It could be a cabinet or a drawer – perhaps the one in your nightstand so it’s easy for you to get your medicine when you need it.
Another good place is the kitchen pantry. Just make sure that it’s far from appliances that get hot. This is probably the best place when everyone in the family may find the need to access the medicines any time – like first aid kit.
Whichever place you choose in your home to store your medicines, it should be:
- dark (receives very little to no sunlight)
- cool, low humidity and the temperature must be stable
- secure and out of little children’s reach.
Now that we’ve settled that, let’s dive in to the various ways you can keep your medicine safe.
1. Keep your medicine in mini organizers.
Small organizers like this have small drawers too, which make it very appropriate for storing capsules and tablets because well, these medicines are also small. It’s a good match!
Putting labels as to what medicines are in each drawer makes locating things easier. So don’t forget to add that!
Here are other samples using these plastic drawers.
Here’s a similar plastic drawer from Amazon.
Shop for other options at Amazon.
2. Use clear containers.
Clear containers makes the stuff inside them visible. So when your medicines are neatly arranged in it, it looks great!
Purchase clear containers that are high enough to hold even the medicines in big bottles.
It’s really helpful when medicines are categorized. So just like with the mini drawers above, group your medicines according to their purpose, or according to who drinks them. Use as many containers as needed and again, label them.
Here’s a set of clear plastic containers from Amazon.
And here are more container options from Amazon.
3. Store your medicine in a clear plastic bin with cover.
Aside from protecting your medicine from dust and other unfriendly elements in your home, what’s great with bins with covers is that you can stack the bins. And that maximizes your medicine cabinet space!
Here’s another sample.
And by the way, you can combine the different ideas for storing medicine that you will find here. It works so much better!
Here’s a clear plastic bin with lid from Amazon.
This image is a set of 5-quart bins. Other sizes are available. Just choose the best size for your medicines.
And here are more options for bins with covers also at Amazon.
4. Shallow bins will do too.
Little trays like this is another cool idea for storing medicine. Again, categorize your medicines and arrange them into the bins.
Personally, I prefer the tall clear bins, but this works too. So, just choose what works best for you.
Here’s something similar from Amazon.
More options for shallow bins can be found here.
5. Keep a dosage chart and emergency numbers readily available.
I love this idea!
You don’t have to memorize the dosage of each medicine. It’s there for you. All you need is look at the chart.
Also, when you have an emergency and you’re anxious and you just don’t know what to do, there’s the numbers right there. Just dial and you will reach help.
6. Use a recipe box for your boxed medicines.
Here’s how to keep all your boxed medicines in just one place in the medicine cabinet. Use a recipe box.
Cut the part where there is the dosage, expiration and instruction for the medicine. Then clip that to an index card. Slip it inside the recipe box together with the medicine.
And that’s all organized!
7. Use pill organizers.
The cool thing about using a pill organizer is that it’s arranged on a per day basis.
What medicine are you going to drink on Monday? Put that in that little space for Monday. Do the same for the remaining days.
Fill it up once a week and you never have to worry about forgetting one or two medicine each day. All that’s really left for you is to drink the medicine!
Not just that, if you’re going camping or traveling, it can be your mini medicine cabinet. No need to bring all your bottles with you! Less baggage.
Here’s our favorite pill organizer.
You can also shop from Amazon.
Here’s a 5-compartment pill organizer.
They also have a round pill organizer, in case you prefer circles.
And of course, there’s always room for more options! See more choices here.
8. How about an over the door storage rack?
Hmmm… you’re going to appreciate this! It saves you a lot of shelf and cabinet space.
Do you have an underutilized door in your house? Is that a good place for your medicine? (Remember the criteria for a good medicine storage.)
If it’s a good place, then that could be just the right home for your medicine!
Here’s an over-the-door storage rack from Amazon.
See more over-the-door solutions here.
9. Use a shower caddy.
Here’s another way to hang you medicines. Instead of using a shower caddy for the shower… well, use that for medicines!
Before placing the medicines in the caddy, cut a piece of wood and put that on the shelf. Then add a contact paper on top.
Doing this will prevent the medicines from falling through the shelving. And just in case meds spill, you have the contact paper for that.
Here’s a shower caddy from Amazon.
Shop for other shower caddy options here.
10. Keep them in baskets from the dollar store.
Oh don’t you just love ideas for storing medicine that are so affordable and functional? This is one of that!
With just a few bucks, you can shop for baskets (like these bath caddy totes) at the dollar store and that could be just all you need to organize your medicine cabinet.
Here’s another sample using baskets from the Dollar Store.
If you prefer to shop at Amazon, they also have bath caddy totes. Here’s one!
And they have cheaper options too, like this one!
See more plastic baskets here.
11. Use plastic bowls.
Plastic bowls are great for organizing medicine dispensers that do not have their own containers like dosage cups and nasal sprays.
Simply place them in a basket together with the other medicine. They won’t get lost in there anymore with the big medicines because they now have their own container too.
Here’s a bowl set from Amazon.
See more options for plastic bowls in this page.
12. Using a small vase will work too.
Apart from plastic bowls, you can also place your medicine dispensers in a small vase. This sample uses a white vase but you can use any color you want.
Here’s a simple acrylic vase from Amazon.
And here are more options you can try!
13. Keep your emergency kit in a first-aid kit bag.
Always be prepared for any medical emergency by gathering all your first-aid kit supplies in a bag.
When something happens, you don’t have to keep searching for what you need because they’re all right there in the bag. Just grab the bag and go!
Here’s a first-aid kit bag from Amazon.
More options can be found at this page.
14. Use a riser for your bottled medicines.
You may be familiar with using risers for spices and canned goods.
Good news! You can use that to organize your medicines too! You’ll see all your bottles in just a glance.
By the way, here’s the over-all outcome of combining three ideas for storing medicine – using plastic bowls, first-aid kit bag and riser.
What a really organized and functional medicine cabinet!
You will find more risers here.
15. Add fun with a lazy susan.
It’s so easy to find what you need with a lazy susan. Just rotate it and you get what you need! Great for your medicine and supplements in bottles.
Here’s using a lazy susan, together with covered plastic bins.
Here’s a lazy susan from Amazon.
If you want a two-tier lazy susan, here’s one for you!
See more options for lazy susan in this page.
16. Use wooden craft boxes.
Aside from bins and baskets, you can also use wooden craft boxes.
They’re sturdy and pretty. Again, always put the labels.
Here’s something similar from Amazon.
17. Hang a spice rack inside your closet door.
Here’s another idea for hanging and storing medicine. Use a spice rack! Just like the over-the-door storage rack, it saves you a lot of shelf space which you can use to store other things.
This sample here uses the linen closet to store the medicines. But you can do this in any other vacant closet that you have like your kitchen cabinet or pantry door. Again, just make sure that it’s a good place to store medicines.
Here’s a spice rack from Amazon.
Look for more spice rack options here.
18. Does a pull down spice rack sound cool?
Here’s another spice rack that you can use for medicine. But this time it’s a pull down spice rack.
Here it’s just a simple medicine collection inside the cabinet.
But pull it down and here’s what you get!
Here’s a pull down spice rack from Amazon.
See more pull down spice rack choices in this page.
19. Use a utensil caddy.
It turns out that a utensil caddy is not only for utensils. So if you have excess at home, don’t throw that away! Use that to store your medicines.
The handle makes it super easy to bring your set of medicines to the table or when you need to relocate it.
Here’s a utensil caddy from Amazon.
More utensil caddy may be found here.
20. Keep everything safe in a tin box.
Aside from bins with lids, you can also use a tin box to keep your medicine safe. With it’s handle, it’s also easy to carry around.
Oh, and feel free to decorate it according to your heart’s desire!
And here’s how it looks like when you both use a utensil caddy and a tin box in your medicine cabinet.
It’s on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet… well away from your kiddos curious little brains… and hands!
Here’s a tin box for storing medicines from Amazon.
See more tin box options here.
21. Use a tool box for first aid kit.
Usually you arrange your first aid kit in a first aid kit bag. Here’s a little twist to that.
Instead of using a first-aid kit bag, use a toolbox!
Just keep that toolbox… I mean first-aid kit box accessible so you’re prepared for any emergency.
Here’s a toolbox from Amazon. Just transform that into a first-aid kit box!
See other tool box options here.
22. A bucket for first-aid kit is also cool.
Okay maybe a toolbox first-aid kit is really not your thing. How about a bucket?
23. Go vintage!
If you still have these old medicine boxes from your parents or grandparents and those are still good, you can still use that for your medicines today.
It’s so unique because it gives you a feel of the 70’s and 80’s era, something you don’t get from the other ideas for storing medicine. If you think you’re cool with that, well… why not?
24. DIY a photo box.
If you have some photo boxes, with a few cute labels, you can turn these into medicine storage boxes! It’s cheap, simple and literally takes just 10 minutes! How’s that?!
25. Use a bread box for medicine storage.
Here again is one of the ideas for storing medicine where you will react like… huh? really? that’s cool!
You use a bread box for a bread, but as you can see, it works well for medicines too!
Here’s a bread box from Amazon.
See more bread box options here.
Choose what works for you.
When organizing your stuff, it is always important to consider your needs and your space. And when it comes to ideas for storing medicine, you have lots of options.
Feel free to combine different ideas. Tweak things until you arrive at what works best for you and your family.
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