apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There are canvas shoe hangers that are better looking than the clear plastic ones. I hung a couple of the canvas ones up in my closet. Rather than hanging them over the door, though, I removed the door hooks and hung the rack on screws in the wall.

I'm not so thrilled with this--if you have a ventilation problem like I do, it seems condensation would occur in the pockets, and it just seems messy. And then there's dust--how do you keep such a system clean?
I think the clear door organizer could work in a pantry for spices and such, but the answer in the bathroom is editing and installing a small wall cabinet of some sort. I have limited storage, so I use Ikea's Molger shelf for towels and some pretty toiletries--it has a small footprint.
Lots of useful Container Store storage--especially attractive are the bamboo boxes.

takes the guess work out of rifling through your date's medicine cabinet...

... haha kidding ;-)

yeah...that looks horrible

These pantry racks from The Container Store would look nicer and serve the same function without the mildew and dust. They're a little pricier than a clear shoe rack, though, so you'll have to pick your battle.

I personally, would rather use something like this under-sink gliding drawer instead.

But the door rack is a great idea for those without cabinet storage!

Will get so dusty and sticky and gross. Looks very 'dorm room'. Holds a lot of stuff, but surely there's a better way!

I just got Forhoja from Ikea (the set of 5 smallish drawers that are actually glass scoops). It's sitting on top of my toilet and filled with the odds and ends bathrooms acumulate, including cotton balls, Q-tips, nail polish, combs, and first aid. I'm going to be adding small, pretty tags as labels when I have time.

I have found that this product is very useful for bills too! Keep the bills filed by due date, and choose your filing method. This works well if you are more visual and the spots are easy to label. You can use a colored index card and slip it into the slot.

- John

Yeah, I'm with the no-go camp on this idea. It makes me think of all the travel toiletry bags I've had and how gunky they get when one of the tubes bursts in flight, and then how impossible it is to feel like it's clean.

I use one of these on the back of the door in my utility closet to keep small tools, sewing kit, lint roller, playing cards. All kinds of stuff you may want to get to quickly. It probably would get gross in the bathroom, but if works perfectly in an area nobody looks at.

I used one in my coat closet to hold hats, mittens, gloves, etc. and thought I was quite clever. Then I went to visit my mom and found she had done the same thing. It must be genetic.

I have two of these in my laundry room. I call them my "vertical junk drawer." The pockets contain things like birthday candles, bendy-straws, small hardware, sewing stuff -- all the things that don't have a clear-cut place

You can get these in mesh, which can work well IN the shower, hanging from shower curtain hooks, to hold shampoo, soap, sponges or whatever. They can get gunky over time, but some of them are washable.

The solid, clear plastic ones might look good holding small plants, too.

Bluelines has a cute idea for bathroom storage here: http://blogs1.marthastewart.com/blueprint/2008/01/hanging-fruit-o.html.

I've seen a clear plastic shower curtain with pockets like this, but it had colorful flowers printed on it. I just don't like the idea of showcasing all my bathroom junk.

Hmmm. I had one hanging on the back of my bathroom door for a year (we had no other bathroom storage), and we never had problems with condensation, stickiness, dust or any other gunky malady.

In other words, it never got gross. Perhaps others who have also tried this storage method can weigh in?

i do this in a closet i have. i use it for my art supplies & odds & ends like tape measures, tape, screw drivers, & blades.
chance are, you don't need that much crap in a bathroom anyway. if you do, you use too many products! so, do it in a closet area. what i do for my bathroom w/ no cabinets is i have a box/cube that i put products & my hair dryer in. i put the products i use EVERYDAY in my medicine cabinet & some in a wall mounted dispencer in the shower. easy

I wouldn't be able to stare at that all the time.

It may not be especially easy on the eyes, but this was an absolute lifesaver for my husband and I during our apartment days. We only used it for a year, and we didn't have any kind of gunk issues. Even if you did, though, they're cheap enough that you could just buy a new one every so often.

I like it - I currently have a million bottles of bubble bath and shower gel clustered around the bath and this would store them all nicely within easy reach of me in the bath/shower - excellent idea

I have on the inside of my bedroom closet that houses tights, trouser socks, light scarves, and fabric belts. I also hang my umbrella and fabric refreshed from a couple of the pouches. Love it.

Lisa H. - that's a good idea! I've been wondering what to do with all my random little bitty things...

I have one on the back of my closet door to hold all my socks. How do such little things take up an entire drawer? Ok, the real question is, why do I have so many socks?