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Top-Shelf Idea
Cure cabinet chaos on the cheap with a storage solution borrowed from your workspace. Stash an off-duty office organizer inside a deep cabinet to provide a perch for pots and pans, lids, and other tools of the culinary trade. As an added bonus, this organizer can be transferred to the countertop to store your favorite recipe books.
By Hook or by Cook
Steal a few hooks from the entryway, add a dash of inspiration, and you have all the makings of a baker-friendly cabinet. Start by mounting a key rail or self-stick plastic hooks to the back of a cabinet. Then, hang measuring cups and spoons, whisks, and mixer attachments to create an organizational oasis fit for a pastry chef.
Rule with a Rod
Rescue your under-sink cabinet from clutter by enlisting help from a bathroom basic. Secure a tension rod to the sidewalls of the cabinet to create hanging space for any cleanser that comes in a spray bottle. With the floor of the cabinet clear, you’ll have plenty of room to stash baskets filled with brushes and sponges and other cleaning staples.
Related: How To: Clean Your Cleaning Tools
Room for Boards
It seems there’s no good way to store cutting boards. They’re sometimes too tall to be stored vertically on a shelf, and when laid flat, they take up valuable real estate that could be used for cookware. This bespoke behind-the-door organizer offers an elegant solution to the problem. Here, scrap wood is secured to the inside of cabinet doors with screws and L-brackets—just the right size for caching a collection of cutting boards.
Never Bin Better
Left on shelves or in drawers, heavy kitchen essentials like cast-iron pans and ceramics can topple over or even crush more fragile items in the vicinity. Stash them instead in bargain baskets and bins on the floor of a cabinet to keep them safe and secure—and out of sight.
Related: Buy or DIY: 8 Clever Solutions for Storing Pots and Pans
Soup’s On
Why splurge on a commercial can stacker to stem the avalanche of soup cans in the cabinet? You can make your own bargain version at home from an empty soda-can box. Cut a hole in the top of the box large enough to fit a soup can, then glue decorative paper to all four sides of the box to conceal its humble origins.
Think Outside the Box
Those boxes of pasta, rice, and dried goods in the cabinet may hold the makings of home-cooked comfort food, but they can also make already crowded shelves too cramped for comfort. Transfer their contents into space-smart glass jars to bring visual order to a pantry cabinet.
Related: Storage Sanity: 15 Ways to Make Your Pantry Perfect
Stick to It
Even a cleverly conceived pantry organizer isn’t complete without labels. With stylish stickers made from adhesive vinyl letters, you’ll never have to guess what’s in stock. Adhere the labels to the front of each storage canister to identify foods in a jiffy and avoid “oops” moments during your next baking session.
It’s a Wrap
If bulky boxes of plastic wrap and aluminum foil are adding to the chaos of your kitchen cabinets or jam-packed drawers, transplant them to the back of a cabinet door. Secure two self-adhesive hooks to the wall for every holder, then slide the ends of each box around the hooks to keep them in close reach for wrapping up leftovers.
Related: 11 Surprising Uses for Aluminum Foil
Spiced-Up Storage
Variety is the spice of life—so why not change up your storage with a new behind-the-door spice rack? Assemble scrap wood, a wooden dowel, and a few screws into a lightweight shelf. Secure the rack to an interior cabinet door lined with decorative contact paper to store your aromatics in style.
Group Mentality
How you arrange items in your cabinets is as important as what you choose to store in them. Take stock of your pantry and categorize items by type—for example, baking supplies, dry goods, spices, and canned goods. Once everything’s been sorted, stash like items into designated bins to make searching and scavenging for ingredients a thing of the past.
Related: 18 Tiny Kitchens We Love