Too many keys?
August 2, 2008 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Home & Living
I’ve got about ten keys on my keyring. I use maybe three of them. Frankly, I need to clean it up because I don’t even know what some of the keys are for anymore. I can manage with just the three keys right now. However, when I had a job in the outside world, I had a lot of keys; for file cabinets and such. It was hard to keep track. Keys all look sort of alike. Yeah there are exceptions, but for the most part, grabbing the right key quickly when you have a bunch is tough.
Here’s what to do to get those keys organized for quick use:
Use color:
Use design:
My aunt made my sister and I keys to her house so if we went over, we could get in if she was gone. The keys were so cute. She made me a blue key with little moons and stars on it. She made my sis an orange OSU key (my sis likes football). We were pretty happy, because they were unique. I had no idea, but I guess most key makers will do custom designs now-a-days. You could get a different design for each key.
And then there are key caps.
Key caps rock, because you can get all sorts of cute little caps. OR just go for basic.
Fun stuff!
[color key image via stock.xchng]
I’m lucky. My key “chain” isn’t a chain at all; it’s a key, my car key. I installed keyless combination locks on my house. I’m just sorry I can’t install something like that on my car’s ignition. My work has similar keyless combos on the doors. Any other keys, like those to my brothers’ homes are in my glove box (since I’ll most likely drive there to let the dog out or water the plants.) Those keys are not color coded. I wrote each person’s initial on the key with a Sharpie and then covered the initial with a tiny bit of mailing tape to keep it from wearing off. One key fits nicely into a pocket. I’m thinking of adding one of those tiny lights to it but then I’d have to get a key ring! That might be too much clutter!
Jill – I am jealous of your key non-ring! We replaced both doors on our fixer upper house and added a third, with another door to be added to the garage. Eventually, I will have all the locks rekeyed, but for now I print a label (usually just one or two letters) using the smallest font and smallest tape. I can cut it down to about 1/4″ square and stick it on each key. The labels have been on about a year and half, and are just beginning to show wear.