The Vintage Item You Can Thrift That Instantly Declutters Your Kitchen Counter

Whether your kitchen is large or small, finding enough space for all of your utensils and gadgets can sometimes be a challenge. Putting all your utensils in drawers can also be a pain because you have to dig through to find exactly what you want, often making a lot of noise and mess, and sometimes not even seeing what you're looking for (perhaps you put it in a different drawer?). While you can purchase utensil holders that stand on counters, they take up precious space and can get cluttered with too many items. Instead, why not utilize some empty wall space in the kitchen to leave the counter open for preparing fabulous meals? This way, you can keep your kitchen counters clutter-free while still keeping frequently used items easily accessible.

Not sure what to put on your walls to hang utensils? Well, Instagrammer lifewliztoday shares a video that shows a unique way to use a vintage thrift store find as a functional kitchen upgrade. It's the perfect spot to store items and hang those utensils with holes in the handles. It's a simple way to declutter your kitchen without going overboard, and it's super affordable. We loved her idea so much that we knew we had to share it with more people. Aside from space-saving in the kitchen, this unique project may spark your creativity when it comes to kitchen decor.

To use this solution in your kitchen, you'll need an old-fashioned mail organizer and key holder that people used to hang by the entry door of the home. It has a space to place and organize mail, along with hooks at the bottom to hang your household keys. You don't have to do much to this vintage find to organize your kitchen better and make it easier to keep track of utensils. Simply hang it on the kitchen wall, as is, to use it as an organizer for measuring cups and other items. In the pocket that would generally hold mail, arrange a small vase of flowers, a cutting board, salt and pepper shakers, a cookbook, or other decorative and functional kitchen items.

You can hang other utensils from the hooks, such as your whisk collection, wooden spoons, or spatulas. As for what you display on the shelf portion, use it for herbs and spices, and place part of your vintage salt and pepper collection there — the sky's the limit. You can also hang multiple organizers to keep all sorts of kitchen utensils within easy reach. Another fun upgrade would be to change the look of the organizer by painting it a different color to match your kitchen, or sanding it down and staining it in a new color. If you don't love the hooks, replace them with something new. When you can get to what you need without searching through clutter, it will help your kitchen run more smoothly.