Saturday, May 10, 2008

The Many Uses for Over-the-Door Shoe Organizers

over-the-door shoe organizer filled with shoes

Over-the-door shoe organizers are available everywhere, from The Container Store to Storables to the Martha Stewart version at Target to John Lewis in the UK, where it's called an over door shoe tidy. (That picture above comes from Storables.) Update on Oct. 20, 2010: I no longer see these at John Lewis. And Kmart has over-the-door shoe organizers, but I don't see the Martha Stewart one.

While they certainly work for shoes, they can also be used for many other purposes. Here are just a few places you can read about alternative uses. Note: The clear vinyl versions would probably work better than the prettier canvas versions for these uses.

Real Simple writes about using them for gloves, spices, and office supplies.

Apartment Therapy writes about using them in the bathroom.

Lifehacker writes about using them for gadgets, cables, and wires.

CasaSugar writes about using them for amenities for a house guest.

Image Source shows them being used for cuddly toys.

Momready writes about using them for tickets, invitations, coupons and other such stuff - as well as for wrapping paper. And there are pictures showing them being used for Barbies, racing cars, stuffed animals, train tracks, art and crafts supplies, socks and underwear - and more.

Parent Hacks writes about using them on the coat closet door for gloves, scarves, hats, dog leashes, and more - and also notes they could work for sun glasses, swim goggles and such.

AL on Associated Content writes about using them for hair supplies, bath supplies, computer items, office supplies, small toys, and more.

eHow writes about using them for winter stuff (such as hats and gloves), gift-wrapping supplies, cleaning supplies and more.

And Thrifty Fun has a wealth of ideas about what can be stored in these shoe organizers: beanie babies, dog supplies (sweaters, leashes, bandannas), socks, jewelry, and much more.

Update on Oct. 24, 2010: For even more ideas, see this post.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I too am a HUGE fan of the over the door shoe organizer. I have yet to use it for shoes though. Great post Jeri, lots of super ideas!

Jeri Dansky said...

Thanks, Megan - glad you found it useful!

Anonymous said...

I used to not be a fan of over the door organizers because they all looked so tacky and never seemed to hold up very well. My mom found Simply Stashed online and thought I may like it because of the super cute designs... She was sooo right! I absolutely love it and actually purchased more myself. They come in all different styles and colors and have so many uses. I have become a little ocd now and have them in just about every room in my house. I'd have to say my favorite, is in the bathroom... for all my beauty products! Oh and maybe the play room for organizing all their toys and art supplies! Check it out, I'm curious what ideas you'll come up with, that I haven't thought of!?

Anonymous said...

I use the show organizer that are like cubbies (from Ikea here http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90154559) for lunchbox snacks for my daughter. I even put napkins and fun stuff I want to sneak in the lunch in the top one. Makes filling lunches fast and she knows where to find them herself!