Keep Cluttered Cabinets Organized With A Smart IKEA Hack

There are two types of people when it comes to storage: those who love closing the door to hide the clutter, and those who love knowing everything is in order, even if no one ever sees it. Kudos to those of you in the first group. Your laidback approach is aspirational. However, something tells us that you'd likely still appreciate a way to achieve organized cabinets with minimal extra effort, which is exactly what this IKEA hack offers. The Swedish furniture giant's VATTENKAR desk organizer, which is essentially a portable storage unit, makes a great insert for cabinets that need a little structure. Use it as storage space to easily slot in cleaning products, toiletries, and more.

Designed to tidy up your office desk and solve the problem of a cluttered, shifting workspace, this organizer uses a split-compartment system and a mini pegboard, which is compatible with the various add-ons included in IKEA's SKÅDIS accessories series. There are hooks, containers, shelves, clips and so many more — you can see why the product lends itself to various uses. It's basically an office caddy, and whilst it excels at transporting office essentials between rooms, the clever layout has invited DIY enthusiasts to reimagine its purpose (including turning the IKEA desk organizer into a planter). That's a fun twist, but arguably its real superpower is bringing modular order to cramped cabinets. All you need to do is take stock of what's in your cabinet and then customize the caddy to your needs.

This is the fun part: The VATTENKAR's modularity makes it feel a little like LEGO or some other plug and play toy. Again, your organization needs depend on your storage but for most cabinet projects, we recommend grabbing a few specifics. Start with a set of SKÅDIS containers ($5 each), which are perfect for sorting loose items like tea bags in a pantry or hair ties in a bathroom. These bins clip directly onto the center board, allowing you to utilize the vertical "dead space" that usually goes to waste in deep cabinets. Adding a pack of SKÅDIS hooks ($3 for a 5-pack) allows you to hang measuring spoons or jewelry, keeping them from getting lost at the bottom of the bin. If you're organizing a spice cabinet or skincare collection, a SKÅDIS shelf ($5) provides a flat surface for smaller bottles to sit.

What's particularly nifty about using IKEA's VATTENKAR desk organizer as cabinet storage is that it's portable and not permanent. If you're renting, you can alter the interior of available storage to suit you without having to revert changes at the end of your lease. Whatever you have stored away, the handle design means you you can also quickly lift it out and take it with you. Finally, it's also extremely adaptable — a cabinet that needs to store DIY tools one day might be better used to keep extra supplies for the bathroom. After all, there's nothing more satisfying than being able to say goodbye to the eyesore of cleaning supplies with a DIY storage solution. With this caddy you can do it all. It's the caddy that can.