Use Your Walls for Storage

If you have a limited amount of storage in your house, or your rooms seem to always be cluttered, using the walls is a great way to get organized. Kitchens never seem to have enough storage, so install a pegboard for small utensils and a towel bar with S-hooks for pots and pans. Bedrooms and living rooms are great places to hang baskets or make a hanging shelf. Learn a few tricks for hard to use spaces, as well.

Steps

Maximizing Kitchen Wall Space

1. Hang towel bars with S-hooks for pans. Buy a basic towel bar and metal S-hooks at a hardware or big-box store. Follow the towel bar instructions to attach it to a kitchen wall with available space. Hang the S-hooks from the bar. Hang pots and pans from the S-hooks.
   • The benefit here is that you’ll free up cabinet space and the cookware is easier to reach.
   • It’s best to screw the towel bar into wall studs whenever possible. Since cookware weighs more than a towel, you’ll need the extra support.
2. Switch from a knife block to a magnetic knife strip. Buy a sturdy magnetic knife strip from a department store or hardware store. Hang it on the wall over the counter where you are most likely to use the knives.
   • The benefit of this is that by moving the knives to the wall, you free up the counterspace that the knife block was using.
   • It also saves a bit of time grabbing a knife from the wall rather than from the knife block.
3. Install a pegboard for storing small utensils. Go to the hardware store and buy a rectangular piece of pegboard, as well as some hooks that are designed for pegboard use. Pegboards come in many sizes, so choose what suits your wall space best. Hang cooking utensils or other kitchen items for quick access.
   • You’ll also need a minimum of four screws to secure the board to the wall at the corners.
4. Make a mason jar display. Buy a ½ inch (1.3cm) wooden plank, some mason jars, screws, and circular pipe clamps. Use screws to attach the pipe clamps to the board. Slide the mason jars into the ring clamps and tighten the clamps. Hang the board on the wall over your counter.
   • Use the jars to store utensils, spices, change, batteries, toothpicks or almost anything that fits in the jars.
   • Be sure to screw the board into wall studs so it’s secure.

Hanging Storage Containers

1. Attach wooden crates or wire baskets to the walls. Use old milk crates, wooden boxes, or wire baskets to add wall storage to any room. Hang them open side up like a regular container, or hang them open side out as a shelf. Secure the boxes to the wall by screwing them into studs or using curved wall hooks.
   • This is a versatile option because it works with any type of basket, box, or crate. The material of the basket will determine what hanging method works best.
   • For wooden crates, screwing them into studs is a good option. Wire baskets can be hung from hooks.
2. Hang spice racks in children’s bedrooms. Spice racks are not only for the kitchen. They provide storage for toys, books, school papers, and more. Buy three or four wooden spice racks and attach them in a vertical row to your child’s wall. Try to screw the racks into studs whenever possible.
   • If you want to get more creative, paint each rack a different color. Then use a stencil to paint words. Designate one rack for each child, or a rack for books, one for toys, and one for odds and ends.
3. Make a hanging shelf with rope and a wooden plank. Buy a board that’s about ½ inch thick (1.3 cm) and two to three feet long. Drill one hole in each end of the wider part of the board. Feed a piece of rope through each hole, knotting it under the board. Screw hook screws into wall studs and tie the rope around the hooks.
   • The shelf can be as long you want, but may require more rope and hooks for a longer shelf.
   • Always use caution when using power tools.

Using Extra Spaces

1. Lean a wooden ladder against the wall behind a door. Choose a ladder with plank steps as opposed to rungs. Push the ladder up to the wall, keeping it far enough away from the door for the door to open. Use two small L brackets screwed to the wall and the sides of the ladder to keep it in place.
   • The planks of the ladder function as shelves.
   • Use the ladder to store shoes, car keys, mail, or other things that pile up on flat surfaces.
2. Nail suction cup hooks to the entryway wall for shoe storage. At the store, buy suction cups with hooks. Nail them to the wall near your front door, about one foot off of the ground. Use these to hang shoes that clutter the floor of the doorway.
   • This is great as an organizational tool because it gets the shoes up off of the floor.
   • The basic setup can be moved to any room of the house as a way for extra storage. Nail the hooks higher up on the wall for things other than shoes.
3. Hang cork boards around the house. Go to a craft store or any big-box store and buy some cork boards or cork panels. Nail them by the front door to leave messages, in the kitchen for receipts or reminders, or in the laundry room for the laundry schedule. Stick extra tacks in the cork for new additions.
   • The benefit of cork boards is that it’s easy to take things down and pin new things up. They work great for collecting the various scraps of paper that always accumulate around the house.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Organize a Small Office or Guest Room
• Use Dishwasher Salt
• Organize Your Home
• Be Neat and Tidy
• Deep Clean and Organize Your Room
• Keep Track of Your Keys
• Organize Your Desk
• Organize Your Room
• Organize Your Junk Drawer
• Find Lost Objects

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