OUT OF THE BOX KITCHEN ORGANIZING – 20 Ways to ReThink, RePurpose, ReUse

I don’t know about you, but in my housethe kitchen is Command Central. It’s notonly where the weekly calendar organizing, cooking and eating happen, but alsowhere homework, after school snack and chats, and impromptu get togethers takeplace – constantly!
Because of this, it’s one of thetoughest – and most important - rooms to keep clean and organized.
Below are 20 out of the box ideasfor implementing efficient storage in and under your pantry and cupboards, manyof which utilize thrifty and re-purposed solutions you may not have considered– Enjoy (then get to work)!

1. Hang a shoe holder to the back of your pantrydoor to hold snacks (by the way the clips from plastic pant hangers makeawesome bag clips).
2. Attach closet rod hooks or rod holders to eitherside of your cupboard/pantry walls, cut dowel rods to fit, slide plastic wrap,foil (anything that comes on a roll) over the dowels for easy accessibility.
3. Magazine holders laid on their backs make agreat storage idea for cans, or stand them upright to store foil/waxpaper/plastic wrap. If shelf space is ata premium, attach the holder to the back of the cupboard/pantry door.
4. Peg boards are not just for the garage! Hang your measuring cups, utensils and spoonsfrom one attached to the back of a cupboard or pantry door - peg board hooks ofall shapes and sizes are available from your local hardware store.
5. Are your sandwich/quart/gallon size plastic bagboxes taking up valuable shelf/drawer space? Open the box and use a push pin to hold them by the flap to the wall ofyour pantry, or back of a cupboard door - simply simple!
6. Lazy Susans and three tier expandable shelfadditions can triple your pantry storage space.
7. An empty tissue box hung on the back of a doormakes for great bag storage.
8. Free up shelf space by storing your spice jarson the back of a cupboard/pantry door using spice jar clips, or mop holder clipracks.
9. An alternative to this is to transfer yourspices to small metal canisters – or better yet, old baby food jars; just addan adhesive magnet to the lid - and attach to the side of your fridge, or hanga piece of metal wherever you want to store them.
10. Install metal towel rods to the inside of yourcupboard door to store pot lids.
11. Repurpose a CD holder stand to make great (andeasy to get to) storage for plastic ware lids, or use a vertical wall-mountedmagazine rack attached to the side wall of your cupboard.
12. If you have enough vertical space in your potsand pans cupboard, hang a wood 1x2 board with hooks attached (facing down)across the width at the top to hang pots and pans for easy access (eliminateshaving to move three pans to get to the one you need).
13. Hang cooking utensils from S hooks on a towelrod attached to a wall, cupboard door, or place them in a decorative canisternext to the stove to free up drawer space.
14. Hang coffee/tea cups from hooks underneath theupper cabinets, or from S hooks on a rod attached to the wall.
15. Attach a magnetic strip to the wall for storinglarge knives.
16. Repurpose an old shutter for bills, cards, mail,and reminders or magazines.
17. Tension rods placed horizontally under your sinkmake a great space-saver by hanging spray bottles from the nozzle.
18. Placed vertically in your pot cupboard, tensionrods keep baking sheets, cutting boards, or pot lids neatly organized and easyto get to, or utilize an office file organizer to stack them in vertically.
19. If you have an island or peninsula with ashallow counter which doesn’t allow depth for seating, build open shelvesunderneath for storage, hang rods with S hooks for towels and utensils, or hanga spice rack!
20. Adhere a clear plastic sleeve or two to the backof a cupboard or pantry door for menu storage.