13 alternative uses for common household items

Don’t throw away those used plastic grocery bags before putting them to another use, say, as a trash can liner. In the meantime, store them efficiently in a tissue box that you thumb tack to the inside of the cabinet under your sink.

Want a pretty place to store magazines or cookbooks? Use brackets from a home improvement store, paint them, glue them together and make a magazine rack or mail organizer.

Bathroom sink cluttered with lotions, perfumes, soaps and deodorant sticks? Use a cake stand or tiered plant stand to hold toiletry items neatly.

Another use for an old ladder? As shelving! Turn it on its side and hang; then decorate with meaningful odds and ends.

The next time you come across wire magazine racks, pick up a couple to hang on the wall in your kitchen to store fruit!

That jumble of necklaces can be stored on a towel rack with shower curtain hooks. When hung individually, they won’t tangle!

Need a place to keep cotton balls and swabs handy? Take a mason jar, fill it with cotton balls, then place a votive candleholder on top, and stack in the cotton swabs. Voila!

Create a gift-wrap station in a hamper. Simply stack the rolls of paper in the hamper and use over-the-door hooks on the front to hang bags or baskets for ribbon, bows, tape, etc.

If your kitchen cabinets are a mess and items are always falling on top of one another, use tension curtain rods to organize cookie sheets and cutting boards.

If you have a long commute, you’re probably throwing trash away from your car on a regular basis. Make it easier by lining a cereal container with a trash bag and storing waste there until it’s ready for faster disposal.

Wine racks aren’t just for wine — hang one in your bathroom to hold rolled-up towels and to create a spa-like feel, creating more room in your linen closet at the same time.

Use a magazine rack to store boxes of plastic wrap and foil in your pantry, and if the rack is wider, you can even stack canned goods on their sides inside the rack.