The Smartest Ways to Put the Back of Your Cabinet Doors to Good Use
Perhaps you remember a little rant of mine from back in 2018? I had just tried a supposedly brilliant organizing hack that’s all over Pinterest — and I HATED it. “Hang your measuring spoons from little hooks on the inside of your cabinet door,” the internet had told me again and again. So I did it. And then I undid it almost immediately. See, the problem was that, when I opened the door, the spoons clanged and banged against the wood and scared the living daylights out of me. Every. Single. Time.
If I had lined the door with cork or maybe just some self-adhesive paper first, it wouldn’t have been so loud, but I didn’t. So I took the hooks down and put my measuring spoons back in a drawer where they belong. But the truth is this: The back of our cabinet doors is some legit good real estate that usually goes to waste. So I’ve spend the last few months in search of the best things to store here.
Here’s what I’ve come up with. These solutions don’t clang or bang. And they all free up some other storage space.
1. The lids to pots and pans
Out of everything in the kitchen, the lids to pots and pans are probably the most annoying things to store. You can’t exactly stack them because of the handles and, if you put them on the pots they go with, you can’t stack the cookware either! I was very skeptical of this idea at first. But all my concerns went out the window once I saw it in person. Just two hooks per lid is really all you need to hold them up and they don’t bang at all!
Read more: The $8 Trick to Miraculously Making Space for Your Pot Lids Where You Thought There Wasn’t Any
2. Parchment paper, foil, and more
All these little boxes can take up some serious drawer or cabinet space. Thread a wooden dowel through the roll and slot the whole thing onto two hooks, though, and you’ve got a smart hack. This way, you free up space and make it really easy to pull off what you need — one-handed, to boot!
Read more: The $8 Hack That’ll Make Storing Your Foil and Parchment Paper a Million Times Better
3. Cleaning supplies
That bronze bar you see? It’s technically a towel holder and it’s meant to go on the door the other way. But it’s flipped here, to make room for a few bottles of cleaning solution. Try this on a cabinet under the sink and you’ll free up storage space for other cleaning supplies. These don’t bang all that much and you probably don’t open this cabinet door as much as, say, the door to your drinking glasses.
Read more: The Brilliant Towel Holder Hack That’ll Save You Room Under the Kitchen Sink
4. Dishwashing tools
They actually make special caddies and holders to go on the inside of your cabinets and hold your dishwashing tools. Of course, you can also just use a basket and some self-adhesive hooks.
Read more: 5 Affordable Organizing Solutions That Solve My Kitchen’s Biggest Problems
5. Paper towels
Clearly, this isn’t going to make a sound and scare you when you open the cabinet! This storage solution frees up space on your counter and puts your paper towels out of sight, which could mean you’ll reach for them less often (a win for the environment!). You’ll just a need a wall-mounting holder like this one.
Read more: Here’s How Hidden Cabinet Hacks Dramatically Increased My Kitchen Storage at Apartment Therapy