Mounting Over the Door Shoe Organizers in Unexpected Places

This is a guest post by Amelias Drawing Room.

No matter how many cabinets and closets exist in your house, you are probably looking for more
storage. We all either need more places to cram our abundance of stuff, or – and this is really
more ideal – we are looking for more space to make ourselves a little more organized. If you have
ever begun looking for wasted space in your closets, it has probably been suggested that you look
up and add another shelf.

That’s a great idea. For Yo Ming.

Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately, because who really wants to duck every time they enter a
door) I am not 7 foot 6. I am not even 5 foot 6. Really, I’m on the short side of things. Which
means I can barely reach the top shelf that’s already in my closet, much less one placed above
that. So how do I find more storage for everyday items?

Look to the Door

Several years ago, a friend suggested that shoe organizers could be used for
something other than shoes.

In the Coat Closet

It started in my coat closet. I went to the store and bought the least
expensive over the door shoe organizer they had. Then I filled the pockets with gloves, hats,
scarves, and other little odds and ends that we kept in the coat closet. No longer did I have to
reach for the basket of gloves on the shelf above my head. No longer did I have to pick all of the
gloves up after they rained down on my head because the basket tilted as I pulled it down.
Suddenly, I could open the door, grab my coat, grab my gloves, close the door, and leave – all in
thirty seconds flat.

In the Garage

It sounds like such a simple thing, but it completely rocked my world. I had suddenly found seven
feet of wasted vertical space that was incredibly easy to organize. There are now shoe organizers
on the back of every closet door in my house and on the door going into the garage. Only two of
these actually hold shoes.

For Accessories

In my clothes closet it holds scarves, belts, deodorant, static cling spray, and all of those other
wonderful little things I like to have handy when I get dressed.

For Cables

I also have one that holds various computer cables. My husband builds and works on computers,
so we always had boxes upon boxes of cables stacked in the corner. Now they are not only up off
the floor but organized as well. Bliss!

In the Laundry Room

The door to my garage is in my laundry room. That one holds dryer sheets, stain pens, lingerie
bags, sunscreen, bug spray, bubble bottles for the kids, and a myriad of other laundry/outside
related items. No more running down the hall to grab the sunscreen out of the bathroom or having
the dryer sheets fall behind the dryer. Everything is right there, within easy reach.

Mounting Over the Door Shoe Organizers Without Hooks

You don’t even have to put up with those annoying hooks over the door either. Half the time they
actually keep the closet door from closing. I actually mount these to the backs of my door. If you are going to be hanging heavier things – like the one in my laundry room – you can place a board across the top and screw through the holes into the door. For lighter things, all you need is something you can screw into the door with a large enough head to keep the organizer from sliding off. In my coat closet I use the eyelet screws made to tie picture hanging wires to. It works beautifully.

This method would also let you put one straight on the wall in a kid’s playroom or in
a craft room.

Voila! Instantly organized previously wasted space.

Take a look around. Do you have shelves, cabinets, or table tops cluttered with baskets or small sets of plastic drawers? Take it vertical. You’ll free up your space and make everything a lot easier to find.

Kristi Ann Hunt lives in south Atlanta with her minister husband and three beautiful children. She
is an aspiring novelist which makes juggling time to write with keeping a clean house an
interesting struggle. Her cyber home is AmeliasDrawingRoom.blogspot.com where every Friday
you can participate in Free Fiction Friday – a weekly installment story where the plot is driven by
reader suggestions.

If you’d like to guest post, please see the guidelines here.

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iDreamOfClean

I’m a wife. I’m a mom. And I don’t like to clean! With a house full of boys, though, cleaning is inevitable. That's why I've made it my mission to find the best organizing and cleaning tips. Hopefully, those tips will help us spend less time cleaning and more time with the ones we love.