18 Dollar Store Organizing Ideas
We all have excuses for putting off organizing, like, “I don’t have time,” and “I don’t know where to start!” But after today’s post, at least you won’t be able to use “I can’t afford it!” anymore!
While scouring the web for inexpensive organizing ideas for my home office recently, I was blown away by all the creative ideas I came across that used items from the dollar store. It doesn’t get much more affordable than that, right?
Related: 24 Easy Ways To Get More Organized In Under 5 Minutes
Today I’m sharing just a small fraction of the genius tips, tricks, and hacks you can find are out there for getting organized on a budget. Check out more details about each project by clicking on the associated link!
Check out a cheap and simple fridge organizer idea at the end of this post.
1. Corral Hair Appliances In A Metal File Basket
Idea Details: Dream Green DIY
2. Pantry Makeover Using Dollar Store Containers
Idea Details: The Social Home
3. Under-The-Sink Mess To Organized Storage For $15.00
Idea Details: New Nostalgia
4. Baskets-Turned-Bathroom Shelving
Idea Details: Good Housekeeping
5. Linen Closet Makeover For $10
Idea Details: A Bird And A Bean
6. Spice Cupboard Makeover For $9
Idea Details: The Social Home
7. Dollar Store Laundry Room Makeover
Idea Details: Do It On A Dime
8. Organized Bathroom Drawers
Idea Details: Summery Umbrella
9. Craft Supply Organization And DIY Chalkboard Labels
Idea Details: Kelly Elko
10. Garage Update And Outdoor Toy Organization
Idea Details: I Heart Organizing
More Ideas You'll Love
11. Chest Freezer Organization System
Idea Details: Practically Functional
12. Dollar Store Portable Homework Station
Idea Details: Simple Made Pretty
13. Junk Drawers No More
Idea Details: I Heart Organizing
14. Storage Solution For Feminine Hygiene Products
Idea Details: Lemons Lavender and Laundry
15. Organize Container Lids With Cooling Racks
Idea Details: Hometalk
16. Space-Saving Kitchen Pantry Transformation
Idea Details: Lovely Little Life
17. Maximize Closet Space With Dollar Store File Sorters
Idea Details: The Real Coake
18. DIY Wall Mounted Mug Rack
Idea Details: Simple Made Pretty
Now that you know how easy and inexpensive it can be to organize every room in the house, let’s get to it. Meet you at the dollar store!
Have you ever completed an organizing project with stuff from the dollar store?
More Ideas You'll Love
Here’s another surprising and inexpensive organizer to try!
Jillee,are you a Virgo by any chance? You seem to have the same organizing style as my fiance…lol!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Lori, I am actually a Pisces.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you, JIllee and team! These are all great ideas. I would have never thought to put a suction cup anything inside my fridge. So many small things can either get pushed to the back or on the bottom of the bins, making them hard to reach or even remember that you have. I’m excited to try those!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks Wendy! Hope these tips help. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The Hubster Muncher loves the peanut butter filled pretzel bites. I love the square plastic container in which they are sold. They are perfect to store rice, barley, etc. in my pantry and they are clear and stackable. If inclined to do so, they can be decorated with nice labels or embellished lids. Cheers!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hello, everyone in “OneGoodThing” land! Jillee I love your posts. I come here every day and read this just as diligently as my mother read Ann Landers in the ’50s and ’60s!! :-)Anyway, I have used those metal dividers in my kitchen for quite a while, they are so sturdy and easy to clean. They hold up and last forever!! And they worked wonders in my drawer with utensils like spatulas, large, spoons and even some pretty strange “tools” that are not often used. You can buy different sizes for your particular concoction or arrangement that suits you. As far as my closets or anything fabric, that folds in squares, I am too OCD and have to find something square so they stay perfectly folded. (the older I get, the crazier I get!) As for under my sink in the kitchen! A mail-order company that I frequently use has these two-tier sliding drawers that are wonderful. They have 6″ wide ones for $9.99 and 9′ for $12.99 and come in gray or white. They work great…really cleaned that area for me!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use an empty onion mesh bag to put old bread scraps and other items in that the wild birds can feast on, especially in the winter time.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am in love with the file sorter used to divide towels and linens!!! That is absolutely genius!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee,
I agree with the writer above that sometimes organizers can take up, and take away, more space than I have in some areas, but anytime I can control a little patch of chaos I’m in.
We have old-fashioned kitchen cabinets with inaccessible corners… ugh! The bottom shelf we can rearrange to find things, the top shelf we can’t reach but the middle shelf is the worst tangle. I put a dollar-store basket of the right size on the middle shelf and filled it with “sweet stuff.” It’s perfect for bags of brown sugar, powdered sugar, other sugars, sweeteners, chocolate chips, and more related baking ingredients that aren’t used daily. Smaller air-tight canisters keep brown sugar and powdered sugar at hand, but most of the clutter is pushed out of the way.
I’ll be pinning some of these pix for trying myself.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jan
I find the suggestions you offer take up more space that just keeping things organized. I tried the containers in the freezer and had to take everything out of the bins and put it in the freezer. My pantry has more stuff in it than the one you showed. And even after you had everything in containers there was space between those containers. You also could not readily see what was in most of those containers. Sorry, I was disappointed in your suggestions.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sorry Sharon! Hopefully you like tomorrow’s post better :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I, too, have found that containers take up more space and I have to take them down to remove items and see what is inside. Would like to see ideas that don’t use containers
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love your ideas . I share them with my friends and family all the time. I’m having trouble with your videos. They come on and then come on again and again layering over each other. Any ideas how to stop that?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks
Sorry Susan, we are working on that issue! For now, I would just turn off the sound on your computer. You can watch the videos without any issues over here: http://jillee.co/2iyA8OF
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Having same problem. Had to turn off speakers.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.So sorry Linda and Susan – we should have this issue resolved shortly!
Thanks for the warning about the leak detectors. I’d be freaking out too. I never heard of Dollarama.Then again you guys in Utah have some chains we don’t have. I do love your Dollar stores. They vary so much as to what certain chains carry in different areas.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I wish we had a Dollar Store that sold decent things like in this post. The ones near me don’t sell anything near what is on here. I guess that’s one of the downfalls of living in a rural area. Good ideas though!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I alphabetized my spices. It sounds obsessed, but it has helped with quick search.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.i have always done the same thing
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Saw a program about leak detectors just last night on This Old House on PBS. Very interesting. Showed one that shuts water off in the whole house if there is a leak. Technology is amazing!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My leak detector went off while I was asleep and hubby out of town. Had no idea what the ear drum splitting siren was. They REALLY work. One other place to put one could be your AC pan if you have an upstairs unit. Not sure the best way but our pan filled in our old house and started leaking into the attic. Much damage by the time we discovered it. The drain was disconnected or clogged or something. We moved to another state years ago so I can’t remember the details. Here our units are outside on slabs. Could have used one back then though.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas. Some areas have better dollar stores than other towns. Nice to know about the water leak detector idea. Nothing worse than discovering it after putting stuff under the cabinet.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Where do you get the sliding containers for the freezer?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Those sliding ones on top actually came with the freezer!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas! I will have to check out the dollar store for drawer baskets! Thanks!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.For the William Sonama spice reorganising idea, I would put tiny labels or write spice names directly on the lip of the lids.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.THE PROBLEM WITH THE LIP OF THE LID IS IT WOULD RUB OFF. The label would be okay, but very small to see (I’m blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other (just kidding). Best to put the label on the bottom or middle of the jar…………………….
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I would love to know which dollar store your finding the spice containers and jars. Great tips
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I found mine at Big Lots in the section with the kitchen utensils.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Dollorama :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.for years I’ve been buying spices I like because of their containers – and then when expired or empty, clean out and reuse the bottles. I do the same with prescription bottles with easy to take off lids. My dad and I used to make Christmas ornaments with beads so we got in the habit of collecting and recycling any little container which might be good to use for beads. I now have my small birthday candles in what once was a vitamin bottle – they don’t break in there like they did in the box. :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.While not exactly an organizing idea, it is a helpful tip… Go to Home Depot or Amazon and pick up a little water leak detector to keep under your sinks. There is nothing like a secret water leak ruining your stuff AND possibly your vanity/cabinets. The one I have is about the size of a hockey puck and I keep it under the vanity of a rarely used bathroom that could leak for days before I’d ever notice (and did once!). I keep an indoor/outdoor rubber backed rug under my kitchen sink so a leak detector wouldn’t work there, but if I didn’t have that rug, I’d have a leak detector there also. Also if you don’t have a drain near your water heater, it’s a good idea to have a leak detector there too, in case it starts leaking 40+ gallons (or however big your water heater is) of water. They are around $10-$15, so well worth the investment.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you for the information about water leak detectors
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes! Did not think about kitchen sink. Pipe out of garbage disposal has leaked several times. What a mess! Great idea! Already have one by hot water heater.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We use a leak detector, and it workded saturday morning! I also use a “boot tray” I got several years ago. Its a shallow tray that everything else sits on/around, and detector is in middle of it. When there is a leak that tray will hold about 4 cups of water, so it gives plenty of time to catch the leak and get it cleaned up! I recently saw that HD and Lowes finally sell a tray to put under sinks just for leaks! Even a dollar store COOKIE SHEET would be better than nothing!
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