Use This for That

A big part of turning your home into a House That Cleans Itself involves creative problem solving—and sometimes the best solutions may be right under your nose. That's why I'll occasionally be featuring "Use This For That" posts where we talk about alternative uses for various items around the home. 

Today, let's discuss those clear, pocketed hanging jewelry holders, like this one:

I have two of these in my house, and they each serve an important purpose, but neither one is used for jewelry. Instead, I have turned them into mini "stations" for specific necessities.

Fastener Station

You may have a place where you store all the screws, nuts, bolts, picture hangers, washers, anchors, rivets, etc., that you might ever need, but how much trouble is it to access them when you're in a hurry and only want one or two items? I keep my fasteners in divided containers in my tools and hardware closet, but I used to make such a mess going through the entire collection, wasting time and energy, just to acquire two screws and a nail. 

Then one day it struck me that I should assemble a little sampling of every fastener I have and keep it in a handier place. At the time, I had an extra one of these clear pocket hanging jewelry organizers on hand, and it struck me that it just might work for this very purpose.

Voila, I "used this for that" and ended up creating the perfect fastener station, as shown.

This organizer is two-sided, and each pocket is filled with anywhere from one to twenty similar items such as ten little picture hangers or four large cup hooks. There are so many pockets in this thing, I haven't even used them all.

The organizer hangs in my most convenient closet, one that sits right off the kitchen at the very center of our home. If I decide to hang a picture, add a screw to something wobbly, or tighten something with an Allen wrench, all I have to do is open this closet door, look at the little pockets to find what I need, and take it out. As long as I replenish the items periodically (usually about every six months or so), this thing continues to serve me well, saving time, effort, and trouble all over the house.

Isn't it too heavy? I will admit that when the pockets are all full, it is fairly heavy, but I've been using this thing for about 10-12 years now, and it's still hanging strong.

"Junk Drawer" Station

Almost everyone has a junk drawer somewhere in their house, into which they toss all sorts of miscellaneous household items that need to be kept handy. Unfortunately, my house is a bit short on drawer space, especially in the kitchen, so I've never really had room enough for everything I wanted to put in there.

My solution? A second one of these clear pocket hanging jewelry organizers, this time filled with everything from tape and post-it notes to glue sticks and white-out. I hang it in front of my ironing board inside a convenient closet, this one in the living room, and it's my handy go-to for all sorts of household necessities.

I keep a larger supply of most of these items in other places, for example office supplies are in cabinet in my home office, lens wipes are in my "landing zone" near the main door, and safety pins are in a container in my bedroom closet. But I save a lot of time and trouble by keeping these small samplings here, and it works great as long as I replenish them as needed (again, usually once every six months or so.)

I hope this post inspires you to think outside of the box and "Use This For That" throughout your home.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links. That means when you make a purchase I earn a small commission, which helps offset the costs of this blog.