The Ultimate Household Organizer — Hanging Shoe Sorter

Six people living in a home means our home is filled with lots of stuff (e.g. clothes, toys, bikes, enough food to feed all of us, sheets sets, towels, etc).  For this reason, I am a BIG fan of inexpensive organizing solutions that help us contain the clutter.  In my opinion, the winner in this category is the hanging shoe organizer repurposed for use everywhere.

Hanging Shoe Organizer In The Front Closet

I have used one in our front closet to hold our gloves, hats, and umbrellas for years.  Yet it somehow never occurred to me to expand its use to other areas of the house until I saw a pin on Pinterest recommending one in the bathroom.  I am in love with this concept because it’s sooooo easy and the plastic sleeves are perfect surfaces for my coveted labels!  Did I mention, they’re inexpensive?  To buy online, click here.

Even better, the shoe organizer makes use of space in your home that wouldn’t normally be used—the backs of doors.  And if you run out of doors to put them on, you can always cut the organizer in half and use inside a cabinet door.

• Inside your front hall closet door or mudroom door
  • Winter – Mittens, scarves, and hats, tissue packs
  • Summer – Sunglasses, sunscreen, bug spray
  • All Year – Keys, umbrellas
• On the back of your bedroom door – Belts, jewelry, scarves, dress socks
• On the back of child’s bedroom door or inside closet door:
  • Dolls or small stuffed animals
  • Toy cars or action figures
  • Socks, underwear, hair accessories, jewelry
  • Baby items—pacifiers, teething toys, rattles, lotion, diaper cream
  • Electronics—chargers, ear plugs, games, iPod, DS
• On the back of the bathroom door:
  • Cleaning supplies – cleaning wipes, window cleaner, bathroom cleaner
  • Hygiene items – shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap, toothpaste, extra toothbrushes, baby powder, lotion, baby oil, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, makeup, antiperspirant, perfume, cotton balls, cotton swabs
  • Hair styling tools and accessories – blow dryer, curling iron, flat iron, hairspray, mousse, gel, elastics, hair clips, brushes, combs, bobby pins
  • Medicine – pain relievers, cough/cold medicine, antacids, bandages, ointments, nasal spray, cough drops, aloe, thermometers, vaporub

• Inside the pantry door:
  • Kid snacks – fruit snacks, granola bars, trail mix, sandwich cracker packs, raisins, packs of nuts
  • Spices, seasoning packets, boxes/bags of rice, pasta, gelatin & pudding mix
  • Plastic spoons, knives, and forks, Ziploc bags, straws
• On the back of the laundry room door
  • Cleaning supplies – sponges, duster, cleaning wipes, window cleaner, furniture polish, floor cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, rags, stain remover, air freshener, disinfectant
  • Household necessities like flashlights, batteries, measuring tape
  • To store solo socks until the mate shows up or lost and found items that come out in the wash
• In the garage
  • Play gear – Knee Pads, tennis balls, baseballs, inflation needles
  • Gardening supplies – Gloves, shears, seed packs, weed spray
  • Handyman supplies – Tools, nails, screws, bungee cords, spray paint
• On the back of the office door
  • Homework supplies – Scissors, glue sticks, markers, crayons, pencils, erasers, stapler, hole puncher
  • Office necessities – thank you notes, stamps, envelopes, calculator, address stamp or labels, pens and pencils, stapler, staple remover, tape, sticky notes, rubber bands, paper clips
  • Chargers, wires, cords, small electronics
• On the back of the craft room door
  • Yarn, thread, hot glue gun, pinking shears
  • Craft scissors, punches, die cuts, stickers
• Guest room – Shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, snacks, reading material, air freshener, breath mints or gum
• Travel – Store all of your hygiene items, accessories, and jewelry.  Rolls up easily to pack in suitcase, then hangs easily in the closet or on the bathroom door when you get to your destination.
• In the car attached to seat backs – Crayons, travel games, maps, water bottle/sippy cup, wet wipes, sunscreen, bug spray
• Advent calendar – put a wrapped present or candy in each pocket, use sticker numbers to number each pocket

Assign Rows For Different People/Purposes

One final tip:  Assign each family member his/her own row.  Or, use each row for a different purpose (e.g. in the bathroom top row can be cleaning supplies, second row medicine, third row hygiene items, fourth row hair supplies).