Tip for Tuesday: Over-the-Door Shoe Organizers!

I've decided to make Tuesdays the day that I offer you tips.  Not that I'm so wise or clever.  I'm clearly not.  However, you maybe aren't as obsessed with Pinterest as I am, and therefore maybe haven't seen all the clever things I have on that delicious site.  So here you go: Tuesday's tip.

Over-the-door shoe organizers.  I shall type it again: OVER-THE-DOOR SHOE ORGANIZERS!!!

You might ask why I'm so excited by something so seemingly mundane.  Oh, you'll see in time.

Just take a gander at some of the possibilities afforded by this little friend of mine:

Store your bathroom tools and products and keep them within easy reach... no more rummaging around in drawers!

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Organize your child's car toys in one central and easily accessed area!

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Put herbs in each slot and grow your own vertical herb garden (but let's be real here-- you should probably do this outside or at least on a balcony, and you probably shouldn't use light colored canvas if you don't like the way mold and dirt look)!

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Store medical supplies and first aid supplies within quick and easy reach, so your child won't die before they get their Transformers bandaid!

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Store often-used pantry items in easy reach, or put individual portion sizes in each section, ready for quick consumption!

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Whether you homeschool or not, whether you're a teacher or not, whether you're an artist or not, you may have need to store art/office/craft supplies.  Do it easily in this!

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And my personal favorite, for it was a big victory in my own life: use it to store your cleaning products!

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I think this was probably the most practical, most wonderful tip I've ever gotten, and it has restored some of my sanity. 

Let's think about this: we all have too much stuff in our typical storage areas-- drawers, cabinets, etc.  And we all have doors, right?  I must live with the regrettable accordion closet doors in my apartment that are useless when it comes to using shoe organizers, but YOU-- you probably have some actual doors on hinges.  If so, you can do this with ease.

I have an aesthetic problem with using them over doors to the bathroom or somewhere it might be visible in the general living space.  It wouldn't match my decor, so I'd eye it with disdain every time I saw it.  BUT, if you have a pantry door or a closet door, they are ideal for this organizing piece of heaven.

I had an unusable space on the wall between the dryer and washer in my laundry "room."  They faced each other, so nothing could be set up against that wall.  SO, I simply took an over-the-door shoe organizer, didn't put the hooks up, and nailed it into the wall.  Still counts, because I now have twenty cleaning products easily accessible and not taking up valuable closet and shelf space in my little apartment.  I just love it so much. 

Let me encourage you to find a place in your house for at least one of these.  You will absolutely not regret it.  They cost anywhere from about $9-$30, depending on the materials and construction.  Mine was the cheapest plastic one I could find, and it's held up like a champ.

Go forth and organize.

xoxo, A