The Slightly Obsessive Storage Thread

[whatashower]

By popular request from the Property/DIY section, a new thread on smart and possibly ingenious storage solutions from kitchen drawers to cupboards and beyond. Post your storage problems and inspirational solutions here. Thank you.

That's a library picture not my cupboard!

NotMe

No need to clarify, no one has a cupboard like that (awaits deluge of perfect cupboard photos).

I use the Godmorgan acrylic boxes from Ikea - they are really for bathrooms but are great in kitchens:

www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/storage-furniture/bathroom-storage/godmorgon-box-with-lid-set-of-5-transparent-art-70177477/

The problem with a cupboard like that is that you'd never be able to use any of the stuff.

And there's all that wasted vertical space!

Oh I love this thread - I have recently had a massive huge declutter and my last room to do except the playroom again is the kitchen and our kitchen is the worst designed kitchen ever so I really need to make the most of the space I do have. I will be back ...

Deep pan drawers - in mine I have a vase and a water jug both holding spatulas etc vertically, and some tall thin cardboard boxes which hold my stacks of teatowels and dishclothes. Also you know those tall rectangular tupperware containers designed for cereals, or to fit in the fridge door with juices etc? I have some tablecloths which are rolled into cylinders are stored vertically in these.

Great thread idea.

Re the very shallow huge drawer, ikea sells some very large cutlery trays, I think sized to fill a 60cm drawer. They have quite big compartments - I think they're designed for utensils rather than knives and forks. Wouldn't work to store baking trays but might work to help store something else in that space.

I love this thread - I have found my people. I am currently planning my new kitchen for when our building works get done next year.
Diy kitchens have lots of cutlery tray inserts for all sorts of drawer sizes if you need them
www.diy-kitchens.com/accessories/cutlery-inserts/

Great thread

We currently use our own drawer underneath the cooker and it includes a lot of odd things and always ends up in a mess!

The bottom drawer has pots and pans with spatulas thrown at the back which is fairly organised.

The top draw contains plastic tubs, bread, burger naps, cakes, biscuits etx.

Is there a better way I can utilise the drawer.

Also I only have one slim drawer which is where the cutlery goes.

I have a constant problem of papers loitering around the kitchen and because I have no drawer they end up scattered around the house.

Advice please

@Busybee how about:

• a4 basket on top of the microwave
• magazine file with the cereal boxes - get a nice sturdy wooden one preferably
• bit wacky, but you can get monitor stands with space for storage underneath. Could any of your appliances sit on one?
• undershelf retrofitted drawers - I'll try to get a pic hang on...

undershelf drawer

I am looking for waterproof boxes with lids for bathroom - tall enough to house loo cleaner, shower spray etc ... any ideas?

I think Really Useful boxes are waterproof? Not the most stylish but I do love them. I'm sure they do a tall enough one.

With regard to waterproof storage in bathroom is this because it is a wet room with occasional shower spray stray? The alternative approach if you need a sizeable piece, would be a weatherproof plastic storage cube intended for outdoors, widely available, the one below is by Allibert, £28.99

Along the same lines IKEA do outdoor/indoor storage cabinets which by definition surely have to be weatherproof, although steel may rust with excessive humidity.

I really like this one, not too expensive.
www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/storage-furniture/outdoor-organising/hindö-cabinet-in-outdoor-grey-art-10290278/

mandrawer solution
madesmart interlocking 9 bin pack
Various colours, got this in tkmaxx (bless them) £6.99. white one on Amazon for £9.99
I will let you know the feedback from the owner of the drawer - who hasn't actually seen this yet 🤣

Love the man drawer. Thanks for the bathroom cleaning box ideas - you are right - just weather proof required not waterproof.

Like this stuff: www.curver.com/gbr/catalog_category/storage/

Would I look mad to label my fridge and freezer shelves - have 4 teens and sloppy husband and it pisses me off that they just shove everything in willy-nilly.....

Another i sympathise hugely re fridge. My dh incapable of orderly common sense, or throwing out as you go, and I find 3 month old houmous and half used red peppers rotting away merrily in the oddest corner. I know boxes aren't the answer for us because I tried them and failed because they require a certain degree of compliance 🤣

You think they will read the labels? worth a shot. Mine would be full of unsubtle expletives!

Another affordable but robust deep drawer solution, this time for baking trays and/or chopping boards and yet again from tkmaxx (I should be on commission). Would also work to clear worktops.
Marie Kondo has seizures at the notion of buying more crap to declutter but I think anything that better utilises vertical space is entirely legitimate.

Seville Classics grey vertical organiser £5.99
13x26x22cm

another20 if you like the curver knit collection you will be delighted to know that 11 baskets from the range are on offer at wilko.com. The 18l basket is £2.50 (was £4) the 30l £4.50 (was £7) and the 13l boxy tray is only £2! Wilko also have great linen tote boxes I am trying to work out how to use 😁

Oh thank you God for bringing me here! I have had my own home for thirty years and I STILL have no clue what to do with that deep pan drawer. Why does it not have a back to it?? What is it meant to be used for? And I'm sure this will have been asked and answered a hundred times but how do you keep pans in this drawer and ensure they don't fall out at the back??

Loving this thread - I have found my people!

My two best "hacks" are this vertical lid/frying pan storage rack from aplaceforeverything (pic attached) - it wasn't cheap but I couldn't find it at all anywhere else, let alone cheaper (when the box came it was all in Japanese which may be why).

Anyway it's great, and we keep it in a cupboard rather than a drawer, but the only problem is it moves around when you pull out a lid/frying pan so if you can get something similar actually built into a cupboard it's probably amazing.

And the other hack is using a big hook for an outdoor garden hose for our Hoover - we keep it inside a cupboard and the long tube bit was always in the way so now we drape it over the hook which is attached to the side of the cupboard inside!

Deep drawers - they have skimped on installing a deep drawer box if it's just like a tray behind. You can buy them off ebay and install with a few screws. They should have a high back, rods front to back and then a metal side clips over the rod to give you a complete box.
here

Ikea do those white boxes for kitchen drawers, they are very good for stacking full of packety stuff like pasta.OK I know full well they are called VARIERA.

my pan drawers are even worse than that - no side rails, either! Just the front is tall. And none of the boxes I've found yet fit enough to take up most of the space - I don't want to get ones that leave space around the sides that doesn't then end up getting used, so I'm still on the hunt...

I find cardboard boxes fine as tall storage. If they don't fit, cut them. Works on a smaller scale in cupboards as well. My icing colours, vanilla essence etc all live piled up in an old icecream cornet box stood on end. Detergent boxes are particularly strong but any cardboard food packaging or parcel box can work. There's something pleasing in how little space they take up on the shelf

whatashower thank you so much for that link to the tool chests/workbenches. Homebase were out of stock but I found a British company that makes similar. I've just ordered two 😁. I'll now have 30 drawers to put everything away in! Clutter free!