Pocket storage
Hang-up shoe organizers are the fastest way to add easy-access storage just about anywhere. Find them at discount stores.
Like all homeowners, readers of The Family Handyman magazine fight a never-ending battle against clutter. And when they find a winning strategy, they share it with fellow readers. Here are some of their best tips.
Hang-up shoe organizers are the fastest way to add easy-access storage just about anywhere. Find them at discount stores.
If you see an old golf bag at a rummage sale, grab it. It will make a great tote for lawn and garden gear.
Screw a couple strips inside a cabinet door, add some hooks and you’ve got a perfect roost for measuring cups. Just make sure your cups won’t bump into the shelves.
Most people hang ladders high on the wall. But often, lower is better. It makes ladders easier to grab and, since ladders are skinny, leaves floor space open for parking cars, bikes or the mower.
Wire pantry shelves aren’t just for pantries. They’re perfect for any wall where full-depth shelves won’t fit: garages, laundry rooms, utility rooms….
Don’t let the recessed space at the ends of a closet go to waste. Install wire shelving to hold blankets, towels or bedding.
Those shelves that hang from a shower pipe are fine, but you have only one shower pipe. To hang more shelves, mount cabinet knobs on the wall using No. 8-32 hanger screws and screw-in drywall anchors.
Pick up a pack of S-hooks at a home center and turn wire shelving into a rack for cleaning gear.
Plastic junction boxes for electrical work are cheap and easy to mount anywhere. Get them at home centers.
Buy a deep “shadow box” picture frame at a craft store, paint it if you’d like and hang it around your toilet paper holder.
Those plastic crates sold at discount stores make great (and colorful!) shelves. Mount them on walls, using screws and fender washers at the upper corners. Screw to studs where you can; use screw-in drywall anchors where you can’t.
Heavy-duty zip-top bags are a versatile solution for miscellaneous junk. Unlike a drawer or coffee can, they let you instantly find just the thing you’re looking for.
Wire shelving installed upside down in a cabinet makes an easy-access rack for canned goods. No more digging through cans to find the cream of mushroom soup.
Eye screws, carabiners and a couple chains let you hang a second closet rod from the existing rod. Everything you need is available at home centers.
A door that opens into a closet or utility room provides a handy surface for hang-up storage. The trouble is that most doors don’t offer a flat, solid surface for fastening hooks or racks. The solution is to screw 3/4-in. plywood to the door. (On a hollow-core door, use screws and construction adhesive.) Then you can mount as many hooks or racks as you like.
Cookie sheets and pizza pans are easier to store and easier to access if you store them standing on edge. To create vertical space, install a vertical panel and shorten the existing cabinet shelf.
Brackets designed to support closet rods make a brilliant bike rack. Add some adhesive-backed felt or hook-and-loop strips to prevent scratching your bike.
Cut up cardboard to make handy spools for holiday lights, string or cords.
Don’t file away the manuals and spare parts that came with your kitchen and bath fixtures. Instead, put them right where you’ll need them, in zip-top bags hung on hooks at the back walls of cabinets.
Screw flowerpot trays to shelves so balls can’t roll off. Cheap plastic trays come in sizes to suit all kinds of balls.
Stick strips of adhesive-backed foam weather stripping to the inside of the drawer. Then cut 1/4-in. plywood strips and wedge them into place.
A rarely used ladder doesn’t have to take up valuable storage space on the wall. Build simple racks by screwing 2x4s together, then screw the racks to the ceiling joists. Be sure to position the racks where they won’t interfere with the garage door. Secure the ladder with an elastic cord so it can’t fall off.
Mount a section of wire shelving to the undersides of joists and you’ve got a row of neat storage nooks. Unlike solid shelving, wire lets you see what’s up there.
Need to hang a bike but can’t reach the ceiling? Bike hooks meant for ceilings work on walls, too. Just drive the hook in at 45-degree angle.
Lawn products like seed and fertilizer soak up moisture in damp garages. To keep them fresh, store them in giant zip-top bags (available at discount stores).
A metal file organizer is perfect for storing flat kitchen gear like cutting boards or cookie sheets. To keep it in place, set it on a pad of rubbery shelf liner.
