My cupboards are very large and deep, so it's difficult to reach or see and then retrieve what is on the shelves toward the back. I found that medium to large cardboard box lids, plastic lids up to 4 inch depth and even containers of all sizes can help a lot.
Place the items on the lid that you have placed on the shelf and pull the front edge of the lid toward you. Voila! You now have a sliding, pull-out shelf that costs next to nothing and you can see and retrieve items with greater ease!
Try a few sizes and settle on the one that works best. I found sizes that use up most of the shelf space, or only what you want for that shelf. I used this technique with smaller lids and containers when we were full time RVers.
By Eileen from Big Bear Lake, CA
This page contains the following solutions.
When it comes to making shelves not look so cluttered and stacked up, think out of sight, out of mind. Even the most organized shelves can look really full and cluttered.
You can do this with pretties, or in a craft closet/shelf unit for keeping cords out of the way, for yarn or thread, or just about anything that hangs, with or without an "S" hook.
I bought a bookcase really cheap off of craigslist, but you can watch your free cycle for one as well. The backing was just cardboard and I wanted to put the bookcase in so the side was against the wall to create more storage without blocking another shelf.
I have two old TV/small appliance carts on wheels that have two open shelves on the bottom. I wanted to use them to store items on the shelves, but I did not like the idea of the open shelves since things would tend to get dusty/dirty.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Tips for organizing shelves. Post your ideas.
My husband and I just ordered shelves from a carpenter. We had him add a divider every 2 feet or so on each shelf. This way the shelf always looks neat and the books can stand up straight.
Tip: Add dividers on the shelf (it will look like an upside-down T.)
By Tali
Can you re-submit this tip with a photo so I can see it. I plan on doing some shelves in closets and I'm looking into everything. It would be greatly appreciated. :) Jennifer,CA
I also installed dividers on my closet shelves to keep stacks of sweaters neater. At Home Depot, I bought Depot some little wooden shelves intended for corners (sorta shaped like a wedge of pie.) I attached one of the two flat edges to the shelf, the 2nd flat edge faces the back wall of the closet, the remaining curved edge is what you see pointing outward. (Hope that's not clear as mud!)
in our bathroom, we have a cabinet that goes above the toilet. It only had 3 shelves in it. The shelving spaces were about 18". Who has a 18" tall container of deodorant? or cough medicine? Most toiletries are only 5-8" tall. so we have all these aspirin bottles, after shave bottles, etc on the shelf with all this wasted space above the bottles.
I made a 3 sided shelf. The 2 legs are about 5" wide x 5" tall and the top is whatever length you need it to be. Screw it together and cover with contact paper and you instantly have another shelf for all your toiletries. Of course, you can buy these small plastic, wire shelves for probably $5-10 at Walmart or Thrift store, but since we were remodeling our house, we had lots of scrap wood laying around which works perfect (and recycles the wood).
