One of the lessons my mama still pounds into my head - don't ever have "wasted" space. She's always buying tiered spice rack stands for my cabinets, putting extra wire shelves under my bathroom sinks, etc. She is a master at making MORE space when it comes to storing things. Now that I'm a mother myself, I'm seeing the valuable lesson in that. Even if you're a minimalist (so, basically the opposite of me, lol) your kids still come with excess "stuff" - school supplies, sports gear, etc. That's just how it works with kids.
So, here's my attempt at 'creating more space' using the flat back of a door for storage:
Here's a closer look:
On the right side, I have a bunch of metal dry erase boards - these are two-fold, as I can use them when I need to make notes for my books or upcoming events I have, or I can use them for more storage! I have a bunch of magnetic organizers (pen cups, paper holders) along with magnetic spice/kitchen containers (thank you Ikea) that I can put things in (paper clips, glue sticks, whatever) and I can store all of those on the magnetic boards as well!
Given that nothing is permanently attached to the wood, this project is a simple one: - the wire shelving is an over-the-door pantry organizer I got from Bed Bath and Beyond and the magnetic boards (attached with Velcro command strips) can be found at Target, Meijer, Walmart, places like that. They're very light-weight which was important to me, plus since they're on Velcro, I can take them off if I need to which is fun (if the kids want to draw on them for a road trip or whatever... :)
So here's the lesson - if you have a door in your house, and I'd be willing to bet you do - USE that space!! (OMG, I sound like my mother.) But seriously, it's great unused space that is usually somewhat hidden - you can do this on pantry doors to organize your food/ziplock bags/canned goods, or behind a linen closet door as extra space to organize your extra toiletries, etc... It's amazing how much you can really store on the back of a flat, unused surface like this!
Feeling more adventurous and you want to actually put holes in the door? Put up a peg board! (Places like Home Depot, Lowes, etc have some great options for those...) Or, my original idea, I purchased some metal strips from Home Depot that I was going to attach to the door to use for my magnetic storage organizers (I didn't trust that would hold up with command strips though, but if you're willing to adhere it with something more permanent, that would be a great option and it's a lot cheaper than buying something pre-made - you can get 48" metal strips for about $6.
So while you're spring cleaning and looking for more storage solutions, check the backs of your doors - and get hanging. :)