How to Use This Unexpected IKEA Product in Every Room of the Home

IKEA’s Algot collection is a closet system, a modular, budget-friendly alternative to something like the Container Store’s Elfa. But like a lot of IKEA products, it’s also incredibly versatile, suitable for a huge variety of uses that go far beyond closets. Here are some of our favorite ways to use Algot shelves, drawers, and bins in every room of the house.

Algot can be a bit of a lifesaver in a closetless entryway, providing drawers, shoe racks, hanging bars, and shelves. A thing I can’t help but appreciate about this setup is the hanging rod for kids, just low enough for little hands to reach.

All the nifty closet accoutrements are great, but you can also use Algot simply as a shelving system. Wall-mounted shelves are one of my favorite solutions for small spaces, since they have a more minimal look than freestanding bookshelves and can be hung above other pieces of furniture. For this purpose, Algot (seen here in a living room from IKEA) is one of the most budget-friendly options.

The deeper shelves in the system are great for storage, but they can also make a very nice desk, as seen in this image from IKEA’s Woonspiratie. Wall-mounted desks are another great solution for small spaces—they take up less space than a traditional desk, and the lack of legs gives them a pleasing visual lightness.

Besides the shelves, the Algot system also includes baskets that can clip into the wall uprights. The product photos show these used in an entryway, but they’d also be great as a closet catch-all for smaller items, or even for creating a vertical garden, as seen here.

A new addition to the Algot family is the shelves with feet, which are kind of genius as a room divider. The coordinating storage boxes are a good bet if you don’t want to visually clutter up your space.

If you need to fit two rather large workspaces into a small footprint, this setup from IKEA Great Britain would be a good bet.

• Lucy of Life with Lucy used the Algot system to organize her garage. The bottom two rows of drawers are perfect for corralling sundry items but also keeping them within easy reach.
• You can spot Algot shelves hanging above IKEA cabinets in a Brooklyn home on Design*Sponge.
• Another place that Algot is really handy is in the laundry room. In a photo on Homes to Love, you can see wall-mounted shelves provide lots of storage above the machines—something that would work even in a very small laundry room.
• This laundry room from La Escuela De Decoracion makes use of the drying racks that are available as a part of the system.
• The options that Algot offers provide a welcome versatility in the pantry. Mersad of Mersad Photography documented his progress creating an Algot pantry on his blog.
• Abby Lawson‘s pantry doesn’t use any of the fancy stuff, but it is a great example of how you can use the Algot system to create shelves of various lengths and heights.