Say Goodbye To Countertop Clutter With An IKEA Organizer

Maintaining clear countertops in the home seems to be a never-ending task, especially if you find it a personal struggle. While there are homes with real deficiencies that can lead to cluttered counters — such as little to no cabinet space for stashing items — many of these flaws can be worked around if you have the right tools and perspective. If you're in the market for an affordable resource that can help you say goodbye to countertop clutter for good, there's an IKEA organizer that flies under the radar but punches well above its weight in terms of usefulness.

The STACKSTOD desk organizer ($4.99) is an affordable and handy little caddy, outfitted with a number of organizing compartments as well as a carrying handle. Just like how many other inexpensive IKEA finds could help you get your home organized, it's easy to intuit how a product like this can help. Not sure where the STACKSTOD would be most needed in your home? Walk around your space and take notes as to where your counters are cluttered. Then visualize what items could reasonably fit within the organizer: Pens, charging cables, lip balms, small tools, and the like would all be easy enough to stash within it.

The STACKSTOD is a newer product from IKEA; while purchasing new releases can sometimes feel like a gamble, customers praise its usefulness with a 4.9-star average — giving it a perfect score in the category of "works as expected" and high marks for its "value for money." Based on these reviews, it's clear that this is yet another highly reviewed product IKEA product perfect for home organization.

Customers mention that it is helpful for storing a variety of items from Tupperware containers to cosmetics. It's crafted from polypropylene plastic, making it an appropriate storage resource for wet locations such as bathrooms or kitchens where it might be exposed to water or humidity. The STACKSTOD's gray-blue color scheme also ensures that it's versatile enough to work in many spaces without drawing undue attention. Once you have an idea of what can be stored in the organizer, you can execute your plan efficiently — and it's absolutely fine if you realize you need to purchase more than one, since they are only $5 each.

You likely have a vague idea of how to utilize the STACKSTOD to wrangle your countertop clutter, but as with many open-ended organizers, the sheer versatility of it can sometimes be overwhelming. Thinking in categories can eliminate this decision fatigue. Starting with the kitchen, it's common to have small piles of countertop clutter accumulate, with items of all sorts leading to visual disarray. You can use the STACKSTOD as part of the surprisingly simple hack "basket" hack that helps to keep your kitchen counters clutter-free; place whatever you can into it, then stow the organizer in cabinet space above or below. This works particularly well for small salt and paper grinders, spice shakers, paper napkins, and other items that litter your precious countertops.

Applications for the STACKSTOD extend into other areas such as the home office, especially since supplies like pens, sticky notes, rubber bands, and staplers tend to slowly spread out and contaminate counter surfaces. The STACKSTOD is large enough to corral a substantial amount of clutter, while its smaller compartments help you easily locate what is being stored within. The bathroom is another excellent place for the STACKSTOD, where it can become irreplaceable for keeping your vanity neat and tidy; you can use it for organizing personal care products, makeup, hair styling tools, and even cleaning supplies. You can then stash the organizer in your bathroom closet for easy access.