I’ve been spending WAY too much time lately looking for a well-designed pill organizer. My search history contains embarrassing terms like, “DWR pill organizer,” “Danish pill organizer,” “cutest pill organizer,” and, out of desperation, “non-ugly pill organizer.” And yes, I’ve also tried using “pillbox,” “pill box,” and even “daily medicine caddy” as alternate search terms. Nada.
I currently own two pill organizers: this one from Muji, and this one, available in pretty much every drugstore everywhere. They both suck. The hinges are worn out, they look sad, they’re too long to pack in a small toiletry pouch, and the Muji one doesn’t even have the days of the week on it. Argh!
THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY, I thought. So I started searching. And searching. And I came up with nothing that even came close to meeting my requirements.
But then, as is often the case, something magical happened on the internet! Becca replied to my woeful tweet asking if I’d heard of a company called Port and Polish. I saw her reply at around 6AM this morning, and I admit I kind of rolled my eyes (which were barely even open) before I clicked, figuring it would be something hideous, because I thought I’d seen all there is to see in the world of pill organizers.
Folks, I was wrong. I was so wrong.
YES, YES, YES, YES, YES. That is what I’m talking about.
Let’s talk about a few things here: First of all, the size of the Port and Polish cases is just right. They’re roughy the same dimensions as an iPhone, only a little bit thicker. I don’t know why so many pill organizers are long and skinny, because this wider/flatter shape makes SO much more sense when it comes to travel and packing. Also, there’s a mirror in the case! So if you’re not sure where your mouth is, now you’ll be able to easily locate it when it’s time to take your medicine. Or, you know, just use it as a handy mirror that’ll always be in your bag along with with your B12 vitamins and your flax oil capsules. You know what gets me the most excited, though? THE LIDS ON THE INDIVIDUAL COMPARTMENTS ARE REMOVABLE. This means you can set the start date for the week on any day you’d like. So if you’re a Stendig-owning American who’s trained yourself to see calendar weeks as beginning on Monday because the rest of the world understand that that makes a helluva lot more sense than starting the week on Sunday (which is part of the weekEND, duh) like on our stupid calendars, you’re all set. Or if you forget to load up your pill box until Tuesday, you don’t need to have an empty day at the beginning. Or snap them in all out of order and use it as a daily brain teaser.
Now, it’s only been a couple of hours since I laid eyes on these beauties from Port and Polish, so of course I don’t yet own one (and thus can’t actually give you an in-use review), but based on looks alone? THEY ARE PERFECT. They are exactly what I was looking for, and as soon as I decide on a color, I’m going to order one. I’ll check back in and let you know how I like it once I’ve been using it for a while.
p.s. Port and Polish definitely have the cutest Instagram account of any pill organizer manufacturer. I’m 100% certain of this.
59 Comments
OMG, Anna! This is the thing I never knew I needed- I’m going out of town tomorrow and now I’m mad I don’t own this yet!
I love that your style really touches every detail of your life. As I get older, my minimalistic taste is becoming more refined, and I find myself less likely to purchase something if it’s not well designed and aesthetically pleasing, even for small ticket items. I think my big-box store, bigger-and-better, brand-name family thinks I’m either crazy, or a super-picky brat. But I am much happier for it, and it’s such a good feeling when you’ve been searching for a specific item and you finally find one you like instead of settling!
That being said, any suggestions for a cute contact lens case?!
I have raged about ugly pill organizers for so long! Thank you for this. I’ve just ordered two.
I thought the mirror was for us old school folks who crush our “meds” for nasal inhalation…
just kidding
HAHAHAHA. I’m way too much of an innocent to have even thought of that. HAHA.
The ugliest item in my bathroom is totally our pill organizer. Must get this one. Love it! Thanks for sharing!!
oh so – I may need to migrate my weekend pill popping protocol away from zip-lock snack baggies – very interesting – haha
oh my gahhhhhdddd I’ve been on the same hunt for months now! (my final, most desperate search was for “vintage brass small tackle box”, haha). ordering now! thanks so much for sharing!!
I ordered it! Navy blue for me.
I also have tried every search term out there (and just straight up looked at every single pillbox on Etsy), so this post is a dream come true for me! I ordered a pink one and I am stoked even after the $15 shipping (to Canada – CAD$40 in total, egads!).
“So if you’re not sure where your mouth is, now you’ll be able to easily locate it when it’s time to take your medicine”
Straight up laughed out loud.
i’ve never been this excited about a pill case in my entire life! x_x
These are beautiful, although I’m curious how they didn’t come up in any of your searches! Sounds like they could do with some SEO tweaks 🙂 I love that blush pink one tho, and the removable days are such a clever function!
I think they’ve only been around for a few months!
Another great option is nokabox (www.nokabox.co), which also just launched! It has sliding magnetic compartments and a fabric wraparound case. The cork one is my favorite 🙂
Cool! They’re too fussy/fiddly/fancy/overdone for me, but I’m glad there are folks out there thinking about this stuff.
YES! Just ordered one and am so excited I have to go sit in front of my (white) Vornado fan to cool off. Thanks for being my product guru XOXO
Wow Anna thank you so much! I have a couple of friends who need to take daily meds and this will brighten their days!!
Yes! I was looking for one earlier this year and was so frustrated by the options. My search history probably looked a bit like yours 🙂 Thank you!!!
Anna, Thank you for posting about this. I have the ugly drug store variety that I keep out on my kitchen counter to help remind me to take my pills each and every day. I have a medical condition which requires that I take 4 pills a day, every day, without fail, for the last 15+ years. When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy I was really bummed out and depressed. I also found it really challenging to remember to take the pills, and then super stressful to realize that I forgot one. My sweet husband purchased really cute little leather pill box from Coach as a surprise for me. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts he has every given me, and I keep it in my bag so that I always have an extra set of pills on hand wherever I go.
These are amazing! Ordered white, black, and gray!
shit. i didn’t know i needed a pill organizer but now i totally do! so sleek and sexy.
Yes, yes, thank you. I bought one immediately.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! for this post!!! I too have spent countless hours searching and searching for a pill organizer that is not hideous and embarassing!! I’m definitely checking these out!
Do share what pills you take at your young age.Vitamins?
Well, I’m pushing 42, so I’m not sure if I’m at “young age,” but people of all ages can have a need to take medication.
Rude.
Becca has saved the day!
the ability to change the starting day of the week would also be handy say if you were packing one (a separate one of one’s THREE, of course) for a trip, and your trip started on say a Wednesday. Then you could have your pills all set to go for your trip!
When you get one, will you share how much each compartment can fit? My vitamins fit into the same exact pill sorter that you have (the one you linked to on amazon), but just barely — two of the pills are giant. This fancy pill box looks like the compartments are a bit smaller, or just flatter-yet-longer, so it’s hard to tell from the picture.
I emailed the company direct about how many tablets they will fit and they have a picture that I’m sure they’d email to you. The picture I was sent showed 2 fish oil size capsules, 3 smaller size capsultes and 2 tablets.
I don’t even take pills (the occasional allergy or pms pill) but I’m seriously thinking getting one of these now! By the looks of it – you’ve also inspired a whole lot of people to also purchase a new pill box or two…or three! Hopefully Port and Polish sees this post (and notices the spike in orders) and gifts you one or two! (I know that’s not the point of the post but it’d be a lovely gesture!)
Now to go get caught up on the rest of your blog! I’ve missed following along – need to turn my notification on or something…
To add to the semi-attractive pill boxes: Sabi Folio for $20-27 on Amazon. I came across it in a search unrelated to pills (watercolor palettes; someone used a sabi folio and filled them with their colors of choice for painting). Thought of you and this post when it popped up.
https://smile.amazon.com/Sabi-Folio-weekly-p-m-pill/dp/B0079M5PLG
OMG. This was a need that I’ve had for a while…especially the travel part of it. I’ve packed my long one, but the lids popped open and I had to scrounge through all my stuff looking for my pills. Then I bought a two pack of travel ones that have an outer lid that clicks shut, but those only have 6 compartments in each one. SIX!!! What sort of idiot designs something like that?? I thought I was stuck with these subpar options until now. Thanks to you, I now have a pretty charcoal grey one on its way to me right now!
i’ve been on this exact same search! going to take a look at these and wait on your review. like a commenter above, i’d like to know how much you fit in each compartment.
also dreaming of some kind of dispenser thingy where you just push a lever and all your pills for the day pop out. for some reason opening and closing all the bottles drives me nuts. i GUESS i can handle doing it once a week. 😉
I´ve been using the same pill box since i became sick like 13 yeast ago, maybe it´s time to change for a new cute one.. to bad the shipping to mexico is to expensive 🙁
I bought this pill box (in dark blue) prior to a 9-day trip. Works great and I love the slim design. Thanks so much for the tip!
I bought it as well. Obsessed!!
I’ve been using a cute pillbox from Sanrio of all places (it has a black and white panda on it), but it’s time to upgrade. I almost bought this on Amazon (http://amzn.to/2uqcLLj), however, I like this one better!
Do you like it so far? I might order one next week but would love your opinion on it!
Anna, any recommendations for snazzy pill apps? I’m using Medisafe, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Thank you for finding this, Anna! I ordered a grey one and love it. It looks so much better when I take it out of my purse than the mini tupperware container or plastic baggie I was using…!
Great find! … but nowhere can I find the dimensions. Tiny pills, sure, but what about big ones… i.e., more than one?
THANK YOU! I’m sick and tired of looking like a ninety year old with my chunky plastic pill box. I just ordered one of these in black. Now I can go back to just being sick (and tired).
Y’all are giving me life with these pill box options! YAS!
I am so excited to throw out my sad drugstore pill organizer. I use it for my various supplements, and hate so much that lately I lug around 4 different vitamin bottles in my bag. No more! I just ordered the blush and I am super excited about it. These are gorgeous, I’m so glad they exist and you told us about them.
This post was a lifesaver. I just started a new vitamin regiment, and was tired of opening every bottle after day one.
If anyone is hesitating about the size, I can easily fit 4 full-size pills, plus 2 fish oil capsules, plus two tiny pills (think claritin size). I did have to rearrange the tiniest bit, but the lids are raised, and I could still fit more small pills if I really wanted to. Now I’m set for the next 21 days.
YOU ARE A HERO. I have literally been conducting the same search because I’m coming off my year of active cancer treatment and now onto endocrine therapy – my med schedule has finally settled down enough for me to actually just have AM/PM meds. This is amazing.
Thank you for this article! Just ordered my guy the black pill box. Not I won’t have to watch him freak out when he can’t remember if he forgot his pill or the days when he thinks he might have taken two.
i realize this was posted over a year ago but THANK YOU!!! i have been in search of the perfect pill box and this is it! please excuse me while i basically go binge-read this fantastic blog now!
Hey! Great post, thank you for bringing this into my life. I can’t find a picture of any of the openings…open? I need to know if there’s an AM and PM compartment… some pills need to be taken with food and without and I’d like to know if this gorgeous organizer would satisfy. Thank you much!
I just had to say thank you for posting about this. Like you and many others who have commented on this post, I’d been searching for something like this for ages to no avail. And now I’m ordering three of these. So glad my Google search found this post of yours! And now to go wander around your blog and see what other gems you have…
Anna, thank you SO much for finding this beautiful pill organizer! I’ve been searching all over the place for something like this for months and happened to stumble upon your site today. I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog!
Does anyone know how many pills fit in each day?
It depends on the size of the pills, but the capacity is about the same as a standard pill box.
Thank you so much for sharing! Finding your article cut my searching time way down! I purchased the gray and can’t wait to receive it. Thank you!!!!
Yes, the form/fit are great. However, I’ve used mine for over a year now, but I’m disappointed that the lid stopped latching about 9 months ago. It just keeps popping back open again, which requires me to use a rubber band to keep it sealed/closed. Anyone else having such a problem? I don’t see how it could get bent, since it appears to be made out of plastic.
I bought the blue and have been using it for a good while now. I know what would make it perfect.
One of my tablets I take one and a half of, every morning. Seven half tablets leaves an annoying half tablet spare to look after for next week. I’ve been sorting them in eight day cycles, the spare tablet today and the pill box for the week starting tomorrow. An extra compartment would help. The only problem would be what to label it.
But wheeeerrrre’s the one divided into AM and PM?!
Great idea but are they secure/child proof?
Nope! I don’t have kids, so that’s not an issue for me. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a child-proof pill organizer? I’m sure they exist, but the vast majority function just like this one.
Thank you so much for this! I am a long-time follower, but ended up on this page after doing numerous searches today for well-designed pill cases. I had also been looking for Danish ones, as I suspected the Danes would be on this. Anyway, I’ve just placed an order for the one you’ve profiled above. The postage is a lot to me here in the U.K., but the alternatives seem too depressing to use. I’ve recently been diagnosed with something that has made my medication use a bit more complex, and this will really help.