• Attach a piece of galvanized steel to the back of your medicine cabinet, which lets you make use of otherwise wasted space with magnetic containers.
• Make a sewing binder. This is my absolute favorite idea, and I'm not sure why it never occurred to me. Goodbye, messy box of thread, needles and sewing tape. Hello, everything-at-my-fingertips.
• Hang your brooms and mops. I did this in my basement utility room and it freed up a lot of ground space. I wish my brooms and mops were as nice as the ones pictured, though!
• Create a stain-cleaning kit. I can't tell you how many times I've frantically searched my various cabinets for the proper supplies to remove wine from a blouse or oil from upholstery. The more quickly you get to a stain, the more likely it is to come out. Keeping everything you need in one container makes it easy.
• Use the wasted wall space heading down to a basement for storage of bulk products. Of course, if you're a visual person, you'll have to buy fancy matching cans like Martha does, but it's an adaptable concept.
Other helpful Martha tips include using alfalfa meal on slippery paths to gain traction on snow and ice (I'd never heard of this before!) and using pantry shelves to store shoes. Check out the roundup for more. Happy organizing!
Images: Martha Stewart
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if i had a nice looking mop/broom/duster i would LOVE to display them like this. but alas...they don't match any decor so they get jammed between the wall and the fridge.
i'm definitely in love with photo 1 though. that will be the inspiration for my new bathroom cabinet =)
Interesting tips.
I keep all my stain removal items on a shelf in the laundry area.
a good old fashioned broom has to be ordered online now -- you'll only find plastic and made in china in most hardware & housewares stores. It's sad that something so basic is hard to find in your neighborhood.
Not too keen on the sewing binder idea-- I like my messy box! :)
I think I'll stick to the messy sewing box too. Seems like it just goes with sewing to find random treasures in the middle of a project.
You all act like hanging mops and brooms is a new concept! I hang mine inside my hall closet, on the door with special broom hanging hooks (ACE Hardware)
In fact, even when I was a kid, mom just sort of shoved them in the kitchen closet and I wondered why we didn't hang them neatly.
Anyone know where to find a custom cut galvanized sheet of steel?
@SAzcuy: Any sheet metal fabicator can cut it for you. Just measure the inside of your medicine cabinet. It isn't expensive. My gas range butts right up a wood panel pantry (lots of stains, burns, etc. when I moved in). I got a 2' X 2' piece cut and hemmed (hemming is what fabricators do to fold the edges so it isn't sharp) to cover the offending area for about $12.
would definitely need a matching broom/mop/duster etc. so the display looks pretty.
I like the idea of hanging the booms and mops - But I'll apply it to having a hanger for my shovel
(snow) in my stairwell... would like to hang it widthwise ( like a bike) rather than lengthwise , if possible ...
A basket doesn't cut it for my sewing stuff. One of my plans is to convert the "dog" room (crate/ treadmill and some random boxes) into a craft room so I can reclaim the rest of the apartment. However, I'm losing my "time-out" space for the naughty pup so I'll have to do some serious training.
i love the bulk storage along the basement stairs-but alas i have a slab-no stairs
the brooms should be hanging the other way-the picture shows them upside down-their way you have to be a baton twirler to use it...
i wish i had a staircase....hmmm
magnetic spice jars in the medicine cabinet is a stroke of genius.
Love the magnetic jars, and just the whole medicine cabenet set up, although again, Martha's apothicaries always match and are in pretty bottles. A big red a white Tylenol bottle and gray and green hairspray can don't quite have the same appeal.
For storing sewing supplies pretty canning jars also work well, I have one for a patch-kit (threads, mini-scissors, needles, thimble), the others contain buttons and there's one color in each jar. They look like a rainbow lined up on the shelf and, when I need to patch, I just grab a jar or two and find a comfortable place to stitch & b*tch.
do you think galvanized sheet is safe to be next to your toiletries? some have hexavelent chrome treatment on the surface to prevent it from corosion. hexavelent chrome can cause all kinds of problems including cancer. i wouldn't put it next to a bunch of my toiletries without it knowing that it's safe.