Real Life Storage Hacks

Hi there! So do you know what a storage hack is? It’s when you take a problem and solve it with an unexpected solution. So if you have a pesky item in your house–like power cords for example–that’s tough to keep organized, a storage hack can save the day! I’ve implemented a few storage hacks in our house that have seriously been game-changers. So when I say these are “real life” storage hacks it’s because these are all ideas I use in our home with a lot of success.

Take for instance, the aforementioned power cords. I saved some toilet paper tubes and voila!

Next up, our little girls’ tights. How do you fold those things? Ball them up inside out like socks? Fold them in half? No matter what I did, they always ended up in a jumbled mess. Now I use a hanger to keep them tidy. Just tie the feet together then loop the butt end up and over the hanger.

What do you do with your paper towels? I know, you can mount a holder underneath a cabinet, to the inside of a cabinet door, or just get a holder for the kitchen counter. For a variety of reasons (no upper cabinets, too little counter space, etc.), none of those solutions worked for me. Enter the handy-dandy tension rod, an unsung hero, in my opinion. I put one inside our kitchen cabinet and…

Speaking of under the kitchen sink, what a hot mess that was in our house! I had organizational-envy every time I perused Pinterest. So I finally bit the bullet and freshened up the bottom of the cabinet with contact paper and then used wire shelves and baskets to create storage. The two-tier system creates extra space: cleaners go on top, and sponges, rubber gloves and microfiber cloths go on the bottom.

The bathroom vanity in our girls’ bathroom was similarly storage-challenged. The thing doesn’t have drawers! I’d like to replace the entire vanity but until then, a shoe organizer on the back of the cabinet has really helped keep the girls’ toothbrushes, hair accessories, and lip glosses in line.

Next up, wrapping paper. This stuff is so hard to wrangle, isn’t it? There are quite a few storage hacks for wrapping paper out there, but this one works splendidly for us. I use those plastic bag storage thingies from Ikea. A couple of these on the floor of our hall closet, along with some peg board for organizing bags and ribbon, and my life was forever changed. I’m not even kidding. No more running down to our gross basement to dig in the semi-darkness before every birthday, wedding and baby shower.

Last, but not least, kids’ toys. In particular, small stuff like Legos, Matchbox cars, and all that godforsaken plastic food! I saved three drawers from an old dresser that had water damage, put some casters on them, and now we have under-the-bed storage for all those small toys. I figure when the girls get older, we can use them for out-of-season clothes or purses.