Organization is in the eye of the beholder.
How much and what kind you need depends on what you have and how you use it. This is especially true of miscellaneous parts. Whether you buy new parts when tackling a job or recycle parts from one job to the next can impact your storage needs.
I have run the gamut. As a boy on the farm, we had boxes of assorted odds and ends, but my dad was more likely to buy the supplies as they were needed.
My city living father-in-law kept coffee cans full of recycled nuts, bolts, screws, etc. Each was painted and labeled accordingly, but finding a size or type, such as Phillips or straight edge screw, was a matter of dump the can and search.
I tend to mix the practices. When tackling a big job, I buy what I need. However, when doing repairs or odd jobs, I turn to my storehouse. For years that consisted of the cans I inherited when my in-laws moved out of their house.
When we moved to the country, repairs and odd jobs seemed to expand exponentially. Finding the right part in a 2-lb. coffee can took too long.
Instead, I opted for plastic storage units, initially open trays in holders that hung on the wall. Later I opted for smaller closed units that catch less dirt and have more options for categorizing.
These work pretty well, but I have plans to upgrade.
In the meantime, I would like to share a nifty idea I ran across years ago. Getting a tiny tack out of a 2-in. deep container or a single washer out of a pile is a pain. Glue a small magnet to the end of a dowel, and the same pain becomes a pleasure. It’s easy! It’s cheap! It works!
