Hanging Basket Storage Solution

My home was built in the mid 1960's and is full of quirks. Like, for example, the upstairs linen cabinet that is as deep as my arm. Seriously, it's uselessly deep. Things that get stored in the back are practically lost forever, because it's such a hassle to remove stuff from the front in order to get things out from the back. I realized a while ago that I was going to have to start utilizing the inside of the cabinet doors in order to properly maximize the space in the linen cabinet. In my pregnant nesting phase, I managed to get two wire baskets mounted to the inside of one door, and they have been incredibly useful for storing oft-needed things like washcloths, hair towels (old T-shirts), and hand towels. 

Disclaimer: it doesn't always look this good. My mom was entertaining Scoops when I took this picture, so I had time to take everything out and fold it neatly before putting it all back.

I mounted the baskets simply by hanging them from plastic adhesive hooks. I can't really give a proper tutorial for mounting this kind of system, because, like my cup hook drain cover storage idea, I just eyeballed it. I hung the bottom basket from the hooks and held it as low as I could without hitting the shelf below it, then stuck the hooks in place on the inside of the cabinet door. Same thing for the top basket, I just tried to make sure it wasn't going to hit the shelf above it. I don't have the patience to measure these kinds of things out properly before installing them, so I just kind of guess. The nice thing with these baskets is that the width between the spokes (?) is generous enough to allow for some discrepancies even if you do choose to actually measure this out (and especially if you don't).

Some things to keep in mind when installing a system like this:

1. When you hang baskets on the inside of your door, you make your door thicker. This means if you have two doors on your cabinet (like mine) you might have to open them both at the same time in order to open the one with the baskets on it. If I don't open my left cabinet door first, then when I open the right (the one with the baskets on it) the baskets tend to smack into the edge of the closed left side door. Sometimes they pop the closed door open, sometimes it just looks like they might try to jump off the hooks. It makes for a less-than-perfect system, but it's still better than digging through a too-deep cabinet!

2. These baskets are tapered (smaller on the bottom, wider at the top), so they hang on an angle. If you don't want your baskets to hang on an angle and would prefer the bottom of your baskets be parallel with the floor, don't use tapered baskets.

3. Since these two baskets are hung so close together (necessary because of the shelves above and below them inside the cabinet) I sometimes need to remove the top one in order to get to the bottom one. This is not a hassle, as the baskets lift off the hooks easily and just as easily can be set back on them.

I purchased all of my materials (baskets and hooks) for this storage solution from Bed Bath & Beyond. I will shamelessly admit that I used a 20% off coupon for probably each item I bought, because they send those things out so frequently I've managed to accrue an enviable collection. (Did you know those coupons don't actually expire? They never do! I've used coupons from 2006 with no hassle!) The baskets were about $6 each, and the hooks were about $3 per pair, so after taxes and without coupons I still put this whole thing together for less than $20. With the coupons, it was about $15. Unfortunately I can't seem to find these particular baskets anywhere on the Bed Bath & Beyond website now, but they do have them in-store (see photo). If you're looking to buy online or just from another retailer, the ALGOT wire basket from Ikea is very similar in structure and price, and these freezer storage baskets from The Container Store appear to be exactly the same as the ones I used.

Have you used hanging baskets to organize your home? What do you store in them? In which areas of your home do you find them most useful? What about just general door mounted storage? What kinds of organization projects like this have you had success with? Share your stories and tips in the comments!