20 Tips for Using Kitchen Storage Items All Over Your Home

Top-Shelf Service

Pot lid holders aren't just for the kitchen. The wire organizers also work well in closets to separate wallets, clutches, and small purses.

Tiered Treasures

Multitier serving pieces are ideally suited to stowing the baubles and beads you wear most often. They allow you to store jewelry (in an untangled fashion!) by type or grouping and let you immediately access the pieces that best complement your outfit. A paper towel holder doubles as a place to stack bracelets and rings.

Rethink the Riser

Take another look at those baking racks taking up valuable cabinet space. Set them near your home's primary entry to keep drippy boots and sodden shoes off the floor so they will dry more quickly. Place the racks above a boot mat or a towel, or place them in a pullout drawer, which eases footwear retrieval.

Cream of the Crop

Save pretty glass milk bottles and jelly jars to reuse as practical accents. Ideally suited to hold everything including cutlery, flowers, and candles, the shimmering vessels combine as a striking centerpiece that improves buffet service while setting tabletops aglow.

Clean Cycle

Ease wash-day chores by employing clear glass kitchen canisters to store laundry staples right where they are needed most. The visually pleasing canisters brighten the view, keep work and folding surfaces tidy, and provide convenient storage space for returning reusable items, such as clothespins, to their rightful place.

• Laundry Room Storage Ideas

Cocktail Hour

Handsome serving trays double as storage and art when mounted to the wall with eye-pleasing shelf brackets. This tray-turned-shelf takes advantage of underused wall space to keep glassware within easy reach of a bar station below.

Carton Compartments

Decorative serving pieces meant to display individual culinary treats, like this vibrant egg carton, provide charming compartments for storing jewelry. Keep your eyes open for colorful servers with deep nooks and crannies that can accommodate your biggest gems.

Clever Conversion

Rethink a wine rack's purpose, and you'll come up with a multitude of novel ways to put it to good use. In this kitchen cabinet, a tabletop wine bottle rack now holds waterbottles behind closed doors in tidy grab-and-go rows.

• Affordable Kitchen Storage Ideas

Versatile Vessels

Size up the shapes of things that need storing and match them with clear containers meant for kitchen use. Glass containers allow you to quickly take stock of your inventory while showcasing colorful crafting supplies. A diner-style jar dispenses string just as easily as it does sweeteners. And, check out how cool ribbon spools appear when stacked on the inner post of a French press.

Top-Drawer Pieces

Flatware organizers and baking tins of all sizes amplify dresser drawer function. Use silverware organizers to neatly hold necklaces and bracelets, and muffin tins to stow earrings, brooches, and extra earring backs. Create customized configurations by piecing together organizational inserts of different shapes and sizes to fill out available drawer space and fit your specific storage needs.

Can It!

Vintage (and new!) mason jars aren't just for canning anymore! Take them out of cabinets and closets to enhance all types of storage needs. Here, they join an old-timey carrier to dish up silverware for daily dining and sipping. Set the carrier close to the sink so you can readily return cleaned cutlery to the correct jar.

Tools of the Trade

Take a tour of each room and jot down how you can improve its utility with organizational or storage systems. In this bathroom, a cookie sheet positioned to hold hair dryers and curling irons protects bathroom shelves and surfaces. A silicone baking mat prevents the metal tray from getting too hot. Bracelets stack up on a countertop-style paper towel holder; a candy dish serves up getting-ready necessities.

Chef Quality

If you think of cooking as an art form, it makes sense to use utensil holders to hold art supplies. Designed to keep spatulas and spoons close to stove tops, these contemporary chrome holders are just the right size for setting, storing, and sorting artists' tools on a studio countertop.

Project Manager

Organize the nuts and bolts needed for specific tasks in an ice cube tray that you can quickly grab when it's time to get to work. This ice cube tray contains all the supplies required for hanging artwork and displaying finished pieces. Need more materials for the job? Opt for stackable ice cube trays that you can label and store together.

Overturned Utility

Originally intended to catalog cooking magazines, these flowery organizers turn upside down to neatly store assorted water bottles, which would otherwise take up too much cabinet space. Match the patterned organizers to the hue of your kitchen's linens and wall color.

Art Appreciation

Oftentimes our fanciest serving pieces languish unused inside cabinets until a special occasion occurs. But pretty things are meant to be appreciated; pull out your Sunday-best dishware to enjoy every day. This fetching gilded bowl chicly holds regularly tapped cosmetics and beauty tools atop a bathroom vanity.

Location, Location

There's no way to prevent fresh-out-of-the-shower feet from leaving wet tracks across the bathroom floor. But there is a savvy way to ensure slippers, flip flops, and shoes stay dry and out of traffic's way. Position a colorful, waterproof serving tray near the tub or shower; it will give you a protected place for kicking off and stowing footwear until bath time's over.

Recycled Jars

Transform pickle, mayonnaise, salsa, or other widemouthed jars into pretty canisters that you can set atop your vanity. Coordinate mismatched jars by spray-painting their lids with complementary colors. Drill holes in the lid centers to accommodate glitzy cabinet pulls; finish each canister with patterned scrapbook paper.

Farm Fresh

There's more than one way to recycle. Instead of tossing a colorful cardboard egg carton, give it new life. Set it in a desk drawer to hold workday essentials; pair it with silicone baking cups or a muffin tin to handle other pertinent materials.

Getting Fancy

Whether a family heirloom or a tag-sale find picked up for a song, silver coffee and tea sets serve as refined foundations for creating well-stocked makeup stations. Sans lids, sugar holders, cream pitchers, and teapots provide elegant storage units for brushes and beauty supplies.