11 Medicine Organization Ideas

If you've noticed vitamins, Bandaid boxes and cough syrup bottles taking over cabinets, drawers and surfaces all around your home, it may be time to get your medicine and medical supplies organized. A good organizational system will mean that they're stored away safely, are easy to access and quick to find when needed. The first step to organizing everything is to gather it all in one spot. Next, go through all the assembled items and check their expiration dates — you may be surprised at how much room expired bottles and boxes have been taking up!

Once you have done so, divide the medicine and various supplies into categories that make sense to you. This could be vitamins, medicine that is used every day, children's medicine, first aid items, pain relief and so on. Depending on how many categories you have and how large each is, you'll be able to determine what storage system or containers will work best for your needs. Here are 11 of our best tips and ideas for medicine storage and organization.

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Organizer With Hard Exterior

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If you don't have a huge amount of medicine or storage space for that matter, consider using a compact hard-exterior organizer with tiers and dividers. It usually has a slot for bottles and boxes, as well as other items such as thermometers, tape or gauze. You can also easily grab it if you're traveling instead of having to go through and pack all your medical supplies, take the whole organizer (that usually has a handle) and you're good to go.
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Medicine Cabinet

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A medicine cabinet doubles as a mirror in a bathroom, and is a good place to store medicine that is used every day. The cabinets tend to be narrow, so a good way to divide items is by shelf. If there is more than one person using the medicine cabinet, assign a shelf to each person, or alternately use different shelves for different types of medicine, or for morning versus evening pills.

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Drawer Dividers

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If you want to store medicine in a drawer, to prevent it from becoming a cluttered junk drawer you can never find anything in, use expandable drawer dividers or plastic containers to create individual compartments. This will allow you to quickly see and access what you need or what needs to be replaced, and every item or category will have a designated spot.
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Wire Baskets

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For items such as cotton balls, ointments and lotions, consider using decorative wire baskets that are not just a good way to corral like-products together, but look nice when displayed on a bathroom shelf or inside a linen closet. Some wire baskets have handles for easy carrying and others have a spot for a label, choose what best suits your needs and style.

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Clear Plastic Bins

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Clear plastic bins such as these used by Chelsie Moody-Home Organizing are a good option for taller items such as cough syrups and other liquid medicine as well as bulky boxes. You can easily stand the bottles inside them and pull the basket out to find what you need, instead of rummaging through a crammed cabinet or shelf. One of the main benefits of using plastic baskets is that they are lightweight and easy to clean — if something spills, simply wash it with warm soapy water and it'll be as good as new.
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Stacking Organizer

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A clear stacking organizer is an excellent way to divide and store medicine. The organizers are available in various sizes and number of drawers, and can generally hold a large amount of medicine. Label each of the drawers so that everyone in your household can easily find what they're looking for. The labels could be anything from cold and allergy medication to first aid supplies and stomach pain relievers.
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Can Risers

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Clear plastic risers aren't just for your pantry, use them to stack and organize medicine bottles of various shapes and sizes the way that MAC momorganizing did. You'll be able to see exactly what you have thanks to the back bottles being elevated which will make everything look neat and tidy, and provide faster access to what you need.
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Clear and Red Organizer Bins

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Divide medicine bottles and boxes into categories and place each in a clear labeled bin like Sorted. Victoria did. Use a red bin for medicine needed for emergencies — this will make it easier to spot it quickly and you won't need to rummage through multiple other bins to find what you need in an emergency.

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Photo Organizer

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Use the photo compartments to organize the small first aid items that tend to get lost at the bottom of the box. Items like BandAids, antiseptic creams, and sealed individual pills can each have their own home.
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Lazy Susan Turntable

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Use a lazy Susan turntable, such as this two tiered one used by The Tidey Home, to hold medicine bottles. Not only is this an efficient way to declutter and organize a cabinet, it'll also make it much easier to grab what you need quickly.
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First Aid Kit

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You can either assemble a first aid kit by yourself and include all the essentials, or purchase a ready made one. It's a good way to have all emergency supplies organized, on hand and easy to access at all times, instead of having to go through multiple cabinets, bins or drawers to find what you need.