The Kitchen Pantry Item You Could Be Using To Organize Mugs

Mugs can be tricky to find storage for. Not only are they bulky and difficult to stack, but it's also too easy to accumulate a massive collection of coffee and tea mugs over the years. Some people may turn to creative ways to display mugs outside of their cabinets, like hanging them under a kitchen shelf with hooks or building a beautiful coffee mug rack on their wall. While those are great storage solutions, not all of us have the space or desire to display our mugs outside of the cabinets, and would rather have them neatly tucked away out of sight. A great way to maximize your mug storage space inside a cabinet is to utilize a tiered spice rack.

It's easy to organize and declutter your mugs with tiered spice pantry organizers. All you need to do is slip one inside a kitchen cabinet and then distribute the mugs onto the shelves. To fit them all, place them on the racks with the handles facing out or to the sides. This will also make it easier to grab your favorite cup come morning coffee or tea time.

Using a tiered spice rack in your kitchen cabinet is a great alternative to stacking your coffee mugs, and it can help you utilize every inch of cabinet storage space. For one, it will look far neater and better organized. Additionally, you won't have to do any major unstacking to reach the mugs in the back corner of the shelf. Plus, stacking them is a good way for chips and other accidents to happen, which are the last things you want to befall your favorite coffee mug!

However, it's not a perfect fix. To reach the mugs furthest in the back, you might still have to unstack a few from the lower shelves. A possible solution is to only place a few mugs on each level. That way, you can easily slide them apart to grab the one from the back. Or, if you have adjustable cabinet shelving, you can raise the one above your coffee mug shelf up another level so you can reach in from above to pull the mugs out. Additionally, tiered spice racks available in stores may not have shelves that are wide enough to fit your mugs, since they are typically designed to hold much smaller spice bottles. Fortunately, there are some spice racks available for purchase that have slightly wider shelves, like the HOMCENES Wood Three-Tiered Display Shelf that has 3.15 inch deep shelves, which will have more room for mugs than the smaller options.

If you like the idea of using a tiered spice rack to display your coffee mugs but are having a hard time finding one big enough, another option is to go the DIY route. And, it doesn't have to be difficult — you can easily DIY a tiered spice rack without any tools (besides a measuring tape). To start, measure the width of your cabinet. Next, purchase six 2-inch by 4-inch pieces of wood, and have the hardware store cut each one to the width of your cabinet shelf. Then, stack three of the 2-by-4s in the back of the cabinet to make the highest tier, two of them in front of that to make the middle tier, and then place the last 2-by-4 in front of those for the shortest tier. To customize it, give the wood a nice coat of paint to match your cabinets before you put them in place.

Additionally, you don't have to stick to using three tiers with this DIY. If your cabinet is a little bigger, you can add additional tiers for more storage, or only use two tiers if you have a smaller shelf. Another option, if you have the space for it, is to tweak the DIY and use five 2-by-4s for the back tier, three for the middle, and one for the lowest one. This way, there is more of a difference in height between levels and it should be easier to grab the mugs in the back.