Uses for over-the-door pocket organizers

Michelle's "big bang for the buck" storage hack works all over the house:

My best organization tip: I have a hanging shoe organizer on the back of almost every door in my house, including the closets! They can be used for ANYTHING. [Funny, I find them useful for everything except shoes. -- Asha]

Pantry: Microwave popcorn, granola bars, applesauce "crusher" packets, single-serve snacks

Bathroom: Band-Aids, ointments and creams, extra toothbrushes, hair accessories, bottles of medication, nail polish (store questionable items out of kids' reach)

Office: Electronic gadgets and their associated chargers, headphones, cables and adapters

Hallway closet or downstairs bathroom:  Seasonal accessories (gloves, hats, scarves, goggles, sunscreen, sunglasses, bug spray, lip balm)  

Kids' rooms: Small toys, stuffed animals, special trinkets/collectibles, watches, jewelery

Laundry room: Stain stick, fabric softener sheets, clothespins, lint roller, spray bottle for the iron, lingerie bags, stray socks

I always buy the organizers with clear pockets so we can all see what's inside. Items the kids need get stashed in the lower pockets so they can get reach them and put them back themselves!

I love this hack because it's so easy and cheap to implement yet it makes such a HUGE difference to your home's usability.

There are any number of over-the-door pocket organizers; those designed specifically for shoes and others with smaller or larger pockets. Stroll around your house, take note of the persistently troublesome categories of clutter, and consider if a pocket organizer might be part of the solution.

Anyone else have a clever use for an over-the-door organizer?

It's a new year...the year we succeed in getting organized! What's your best organizing tip? Email it to me with the subject line GETTING ORGANIZED and I'll fast-track it!

More: Tips for organizing your home

Comments

[Katherine]

My mom says over-the-door organizers, which she only discovered a couple of years ago on a tip from my husband, are why she can finally keep a reasonably clutter-free house after 40+ years of trying. They add an incredible amount of storage, so all that little stuff can have its own home. Plus you don't have to waste any mental energy remembering where anything is because you can see it all.

[Kay]

Just did this in my home this past weekend. One for the pantry (also great for baggies and tinfoil) and one in the girls' bathroom where clips, barrettes, head bands, and pony tail holders are all separated by color! So much easier to find what I'm looking for when we're running late for preschool!!

[Synthia Weires]

Video game accessories! Controllers, wires, cables, those little weird nunchuck thingies. My drawers used to be a muddled mess before I adopted this technique. Now.... no more tangled controllers!

[Yamila]

I use it to organize my bills. But I need to start using only the upper pockets, otherwise, my daughter can do her own re-organization!

[kirsten]

i know you said small toys, etc. but it works SO well for my daughter's American Girl doll clothes/accessories! And we hang it from her loft bed, so it's right in her play area. I think AG sells one, but we bought one from Target - cheaper + more pockets.

[Jean]

We use one with clear poskets in my daughter's closet for awkward-shaped things that are hard to organize or get lost in drawers: tights, sunglasses, swim goggles, her taekwondo belt, gloves, scarves... she even uses one of the pockets for all of her silly bandz.

[Patti]

I used one for those teeny little baby socks, tiny wash cloths, babylegs, tubes of orajel, gas drops, Tylenol, nail clippers, and all those teeny things for babies that get lost in drawers!

[Chrissy]

I always pack one in my luggage when we travel – there is never enough counter space in hotels/condos, so this holds all manner of things, from sunscreen to hairbrushes, cameras to toys!

[adrienne]

Game closet- great for holding small games like card games, cribbage boards, decks of cards, poker chips, etc..

[elizabeth traub]

So many uses and great ideas already. In a pantry: beverages that kids could choose and presorted snacks. "Yes, you can have anything on the door." Acrylic paints: Those smaller bottles. One pocket can contain the various hues of a specific color. No more digging through the box to find the colors. Inside the front hall closet: Mittens, hats, (larger families like mine, this is a dream)

[Renee]

I just did this last weekend. I organized my daughters' crazy hair bow collection and tights. Of course, I also organized the bathroom items for my hall closet with over the door organizers. I fell it has changed my morning routine because I know I can find things.

[Jo]

Can you see the hooks, it hangs from, on the other side of the door?

[Asha Dornfest]

Jo: I think you can. Different models have different hooks, though. Keep in mind that in old houses there sometimes isn't room between the door and the moulding for the hooks. Worth buying from a local store for easy return possibilities (keep those receipts).

[Pamela]

The over the door hooks ALWAYS make my doors squeak... Which is annoying and can be troublesome for my baby who is a light sleeper.

[Laura]

I have a hack for this hack. For those of us where the hooks over the top of the door is not feasible or too loud, I removed the hooks and used some Command hooks to hang these on the inside of a door. The same hooks have been holding for 6+ years!

[GenE Shockley]

I live in an apartment, and use one for holding all manner of household tools like hammers, nails, screwdrivers, tape measures, hooks, exacto-knives, etc.

I have a small pullman style kitchen. I hang one from my pantry to hold all my cooking spoons, spatulas, cookie scoops, whisks, pizza cutter, cheese cutter, etc. This frees up the limited drawer space and keeps me from having to use valuable counter space to hold a "tool bucket".

[Boston Mamas]

Love, love, love these ideas!

[CM]

We have an old house that doesn't have room at the top of the door for the hook. The Command hooks haven't worked for me -- they fall off after a while (I've heard such mixed reviews of these, some people say they last forever, some people say they fall off quickly. My experience has been the latter). But I have two shoe organizers attached to my walls (just drilled holes for the hooks) -- one in the back entrance that we actually use for shoes, and one in the hall closet for seasonal accessories as suggested. We also keep shoe polish and extra shoelaces in there.

In the bathroom, we found a shower curtain that has mesh pockets in it -- same idea (except for storing shampoo, etc.), and it has been a great addition to our clawfoot tub which has to be completely surrounded by curtains!

[Kristi]

OMG I never thought to use it for organizing papers. Yamila and Asha, thanks, you may have just solved half of my office clutter problem.

(I'll try to remember to report back in a few weeks and let you know how it's going!)

[Asha Dornfest]

WOW. Between here and the Facebook page (27 comments and counting at http://facebook.com/parenthacks) I can't believe the volume of great ideas. Thank you!

[Asha Dornfest]

Laura! I love Command hooks! More ideas on how to use them here:

http://www.parenthacks.com/2011/09/3m-command-hooks.html

[Asha Dornfest]

Chrissy: using one for travel, that is absolutely inspired.

[Carey]

We have them, one in the front hall closet for my twin girls shoes...one in my closet for my shoes...but love the office idea for sorting bills...totally going to buy more of these! I love the idea for hair accessories too...my bathroom counter is over-run with hair bows, clips, headbands, etc...

[Alicia C.]

I have one in my craft area for my tools!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/6870386065_ee411e6221_b.jpg