18 Unexpected Organizers

Karen_Perea · **Posted:** 13 May 2008 15:56

A bit of ingenuity and a fresh look at everyday items are all it takes. If you’re like most of us, the last thing you need to do is buy more cartons and totes for getting organized. Instead, take a look at our list of everyday items—you probably have most of them around the house already!—which you can use to get organized, save space and find things more easily.

1. Hangers with bars meant for hanging several pairs of pants are great for keeping your winter scarves and shawls visible and wrinkle-free in your coat closet. Use the multiple-skirt hangers with clips to hang your silk scarves. Or loop scarves over the crossbar of a wooden hanger—the result may be attractive enough to display.

2. Tiered hanging wire baskets (intended for storing fruits and vegetables) have another use in your kids’ rooms. Use them to organize toys or stuffed animals or in the closet for socks, belts and underwear.

3. Styrofoam egg cartons work great for storing extra golf balls. Just don’t get confused and put them in the refrigerator!

4. Cassette tapes may be practically obsolete but their plastic cases are still good. In fact, they’re ideal for keeping headphone cords for your cell phone or MP3 players safe and tangle-free.

5. Old album covers are perfect for storing 8-by-10 photos (like class photos), certificates or your children’s artwork—items you want to keep, just not keep on display. Slip your more valuable documents and photos between two sheets of archival quality acid-free paper first.

6. Lucite recipe boxes are just the right size for storing and displaying photographs. You can even open the box and choose to spotlight a favorite photo in the recipe holder.

7. Cardboard wine boxes from your local liquor store or grocery have compartments that are great for storing fragile holiday ornaments.
Place small and extremely delicate ones in Ziploc® Brand Sandwich Bags first to keep them from scratching each other.

8. Canvas shoe bags designed to hang on the back of a closet door are ideal for storing mittens and knit hats in the front hall or mudroom.

9. Plastic hanging shoe bags are also great organizers for your kitchen. Hang one inside your pantry door for all those small kitchen items—from corkscrews and tea strainers to corn-on-the-cob holders and measuring spoons. They’re just the right size for cake decorating tools too!

10. An acrylic makeup organizer is a great way for the junior Picassos in your household to organize their art supplies. Damp paintbrushes stay neat in dividers meant for lipsticks, and the other small compartments can keep crayons, chalk and watercolor sets nice and neat.

11. Foldout fishing tackle boxes make great jewelry boxes or storage boxes for crafts projects. Art students and makeup artists have relied on them for years for easy accessibility to their brushes and supplies.

12. Silver flatware chests lined with tarnish-resistant fabric are great for organizing and storing your silver jewelry. They’re usually attractive enough to display and most have dividers that can be used for necklaces.

13. Who doesn’t love to get those perfume and beauty-product samples? But the tiny bottles and containers can create some serious clutter. Minimize the mess by storing them in Ziploc® Brand Containers with Snap ‘n Seal Lids in a bathroom closet or drawer. Next time you have guests, pull out some samples to put in a pretty dish in your spare bathroom.

14. Empty suitcases are a missed opportunity! Remember, there are some things you just don’t need to unpack, like your travel hairdryer, electric adapters, sleep mask, neck pillow, earplugs and your restocked travel makeup kit.

15. Little metal candy tins make terrific emergency mini-sewing kits. Fill them with needles, spare buttons, hooks-and-eyes, snaps and a few yards of white and black thread wrapped around a small piece of cardboard. Toss one in your handbag and another in your office desk drawer.

16. The plastic containers for mints can be reused to store straight pins. Just be sure to store the pins point-side down.

17. Empty Saran™ Premium Wrap paper rolls are stronger than paper-towel rolls and can take on a second life as portable storage. Ball up empty plastic grocery bags and stuff them into a roll. Then toss a full roll of bags into your glove compartment, beach bag or gym bag so you’ll have a supply of bags whenever you need them.

18. Everyone’s heard of storing shoes in clear plastic boxes with a photo affixed to the outside. But who has time to take and print those photos? Instead, use adhesive nametags and write a description for each box; for example, “brown suede loafers” or “black patent slingbacks.” Label larger plastic storage boxes as well and be sure to put stickers on two or three sides so you can read what’s in them no matter where or how they’re stored.

Disney Darlin' · **Posted:** 13 May 2008 19:12

Karen_Perea wrote:

8. Canvas shoe bags designed to hang on the back of a closet door are ideal for storing mittens and knit hats in the front hall or mudroom.

We actually do this, it works great!

We also take one of these when we go on family vacations (5 of us). Hang them over the bathroom door of your hotel, store all your toothbrushes, hairbrushes, toiletries you bring from home, baseball caps, misters, glow sticks, whatever you take w/you on vacation that would clutter up your bathroom countertop. We have used one row of pockets for each family member, with younger kids on the bottom row so they can reach their stuff.

SnorinLauren · **Posted:** 08 Feb 2009 10:27

Karen_Perea wrote:

3. Styrofoam egg cartons work great for storing extra golf balls. Just don’t get confused and put them in the refrigerator!

We also use these at Christmas time to store our smaller, but breakable ornaments. They fit perfectly into each slot and are less likely to get smashed.

looking4bargins · **Joined:** 01 Nov 2007 12:29 **Posts:** 62

I store future Christmas presents and other gifts I pick up durring the year (at bargin prices of course), in our luggage. The kids see it all the time, and never think of looking inside. It works great for hidding! :lol:

SnorinLauren · **Posted:** 08 Feb 2009 23:02

OOooo! Good idea about hiding the future presents! I will definatly remember that one for this coming christmas!! Thanks!

SnorinLauren · **Posted:** 09 Feb 2009 10:21

I just thought of something else I do, thought I would pass it along. I have a 5 month old and we buy both her diapers and wipies at SAMS. When you buy the box of wipies there, each box comes with a new plastic container for holding your wipies. Well, after 5 months of buying wipies you can imagine how many wipie containers I have collected. I didnt want to throw them out and thought I would try to find a way to recycle them. So, I have used them in my laundry room and in my garage to hold random items. I have one to hold batteries for all of my little one's toys. Another to hold bits and nails of all shapes and sizes. Another one to hold pens and pencils that I had been collecting in a junk drawer and now they have a place all their own. There are tons of other ones I have with various items in them but it's a good way to store things that are kindof small in size that you may have alot of but not specific place for.

couponprincess · **Posted:** 27 Feb 2009 23:54

I use those baby wipe containers to hold plastic walmart sacks, to reuse for trash bags!

2babies1momma · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 00:29

OOOoo good idea couponprincess, I never thought of that.

Consumer_Queen · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 00:35

ok this is a good post look at all you savvy chicks LOL!

saversmurf · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 02:04

okay i swear i thought i already posted here thats weird. so i will again...

my hubby dips i know its horrible and disgusting but the more i nag the more he want to do it. anyway those little plastic containers are great. they hold everything paper clips, thumb tacks, screws,rubber bands, the one in the car holds quarters just in case. they make great soap molds. ive used them for cookie cutters before. you would be amazed there are a million uses. so thats the only good thing that comes from that nasty stuff.

SnorinLauren · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 10:51

im sure im not the only one who does this, but I just thought I would post it anyways :lol:

I save my daughters baby food jars, both the glass ones and the new plastic ones. I do alot of crafty type sewing, like Christmas stockings and things like that. The jars work perfectly for organising all of the sequins and beads. I can keep them seperated by color and type and since they are clear I can easily see which one I need. They do take up some space, but instead of paying for the containers at a craft store why not just recycle. I also keep buttons in them in my laundry room. Anyone else have any good ideas for using these jars?

Consumer_Queen · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 10:58

LOL Kristy I just love your avatar

saversmurf · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 11:20

OUchick182703 wrote:

im sure im not the only one who does this, but I just thought I would post it anyways :lol:

I save my daughters baby food jars, both the glass ones and the new plastic ones. I do alot of crafty type sewing, like Christmas stockings and things like that. The jars work perfectly for organising all of the sequins and beads. I can keep them seperated by color and type and since they are clear I can easily see which one I need. They do take up some space, but instead of paying for the containers at a craft store why not just recycle. I also keep buttons in them in my laundry room. Anyone else have any good ideas for using these jars?

when my hubby and i first moved in together we were REALLY broke. we actually lived off babyfood, ramen noodles, and mac and cheese with hot dogs. well i saved all those jars and when we had our first apartment with out roomates i used them to put my spices in. and he made me a cute little rack to put them on. i know kinda dumb but hey it works.

Consumer_Queen · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 11:25

you could also decorate those jars, get creative make them your own.

dsnylvr97 · **Posted:** 28 Feb 2009 23:48

We share and exchange coupons at church. To keep them all organized, we use a 13 pocket shoe holder that hangs on the kitchen door. I have it labeled with categories, and everyone loves it. Not practical for a single person to store their coupons this way, but for this function, it works great.

18 Unexpected Organizers

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