I’m half Dutch. If I can save some coin and be OCD at the same time, it’s a win-win. That’s how Box World was born.

The concept behind Box World is simple: minimize negative space by purchasing raw materials and constructing custom-sized cardboard drawers. This reduces all materials to their absolute smallest footprint and saves in excess packing material. Plus it’s slightly more eco-friendly than bubble wrap and packing peanuts.

I started out by categorizing all my items by relative size. Then determining a standard box depth, began building boxes to house items of similar width and height. Each individual item is encased in separate blocks, labeled, and entered into my universal spreadsheet (which is subsequently organized by item name, box name, and frequency of use). See the picture below for an example.

After adding on some shiny new drawer pulls (80 cents each) and labels to each box, a structure began to emerge. This picture shows Box World’s humble beginnings.

In the end, we were able to create columns of 20″x20″x16″ boxes, all uniform in size and shape in our UHAUL, ready to drive across America.

This kind of peace of mind comes with a price. It will cost you around 400 hours in labor, building boxes, and 250 hours cleaning and organizing your stuff. Most people would think that is ludicrous. But I always say, “if you have the time and energy to do something so perfect that it makes you want to scream with delight, why not do it?”

Many tears of joy have been spilled over Box World. The fact that, on a whim, I can look up every item I own in a single categorized spreadsheet makes me tingle with the greatest satisfaction. No more, “where’s that? I thought we had this, but I can’t find it!” No more scrambling around the house before trips. No more buying more stuff just because we’re too lazy to properly organize the stuff we already have.

And finally, the answer to all the things you may already be thinking: Yes, we have no children. Yes, I’m perfect for the Army life where we have to move all the time. Yes, I am obsessive and loving it.

You may laugh at me and say I have too much time on my hands. But the next time you’re running around your house looking for that one item you can’t seem to find, I hope you get a mental picture of me gingerly sliding out my perfectly placed drawer, finding that item you were looking for and…wait, I’m a chaplain’s wife…

….and nicely telling you to have a great day!