Never Store These Items on a Windowsill

Photo: Augusta16 (Shutterstock)

Keeping your home tidy and organized is a chore regardless of where you reside, but it poses a particular challenge to those living in smaller spaces. While people with larger houses may have spare closets or even entire rooms to dedicate to storage, the rest of us have to get creative when it comes to finding places to stash our stuff.

It may seem like every flat surface is fair game, but sadly, that’s not true. Take windowsills, for example. They may seem like the perfect spot to store and display a few aesthetically pleasing household items, or objects you couldn’t find another place for, but that’s not the case. Here are a few examples of items you shouldn’t store on a windowsill.

Books

It may be tempting to create a cute little vignette on your windowsill that includes a few (or many) books, but that’s a bad idea. Books can fade or deteriorate if they’re stored in direct sunlight. Plus, the fluctuations in temperature and humidity can make the windowsill prone to moisture, which could make your books damp or eventually moldy.

Medications

Depending on when and where you take your medications, the bathroom medicine cabinet may not be the most convenient place to store them. If that’s the case, you may consider stashing them on a windowsill in your bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen. But medicines may lose potency if kept in direct sunlight, so it’s best to keep them away from the window.

Food

As a general rule, don’t keep food on a windowsill. It makes sense to want to utilize this flat surface for storage—especially in a small kitchen—but most foods don’t tolerate the direct sunlight and temperature fluctuations well, and can end up going bad ahead of their expiration date. This includes fresh fruits and vegetables, which may also attract fruit flies if left too long.

Cleaning products

Like medications, cleaning supplies—including dish soap—may lose their potency and disinfecting properties if stored on the windowsill, or anywhere else with changing temperatures and humidity levels.