I am always searching for measuring cups and/or spoons. I think I have about 5 sets and none of them are complete. I am always in search of the perfect organization for my measuring cups. So when I was perusing Pinterest I came upon this brilliant idea from Family Handyman and decided to give it a whirl…with an IC spin on it of course.
Supplies:
Measuring Cups and spoons
3/4” cup hooks
two 5-gallon paint sticks
4 wood screws
Spray paint and primer
miter box and saw
fine sanding sponge
electric drill and drill bits
1. I asked my local Home Depot for some 5-gallon paint sticks and they gladly gave me several. These are the perfect rails to hang some cup hooks on because they are solid wood and they are FREE!
2. I cut these to size cutting off the handle part with the miter box and handsaw.
3. I sanded each stick to give it a smooth surface that was ready to be painted. Next I spray primed and painted the sticks. With my electric drill I predrilled my holes through the sticks so the wood wouldn’t split when I screwed it into my cabinet.
4. Then I screwed the rails into place making sure I had enough clearance from the shelves and the bottom of the cabinet.
5. Next I screwed the cup hooks in place making sure there was enough room in between cups/spoons.
6. Because I just couldn’t stop there I applied vinyl to mark where each spoon/cup goes. Perfect!
I hope this system works. It seems like I have a better chance of keeping them organized this way. Tossing them in a drawer just wasn’t working for me…the junk drawer monsters were eating them.
Note: After a day of clanging stainless steel cups and spoons I switched to plastic to reduce the noise.
Click here to see Part 2 of using my cabinet doors as primo organization real estate.
Click here to order the vinyl stickers to complete this project at your home.
Do you want another way to use 5 gallon paint sticks? Hang your jewelry on it here.
I love this idea! Cute and practical!
You have just ROCKED my world with this post! These measuring cups are the bane of my existence in my drawers. The kids can’t manage to put them back, nesting, so that the drawers close AND open…
Now to shift my most-used recipes that I posted on the inside of my cabinet doors around so that I can do this…Oh, Home Depot… 😉
Thank you again, Beckie!
Brilliant! Why have I not thought of this??? I have a basket where ALL measuring cups & spoons get thrown into. It is a nightmare!!! This is just genius! I think I’ll even Pin it. 🙂
I bet you could get a sheet of black sticky back flannel (in craft section) and cut it into strips the same length as your cupboards. Then put it where your cups and spoons were hitting the door when opening and closing. I know the noise would drive me crazy!!!
I bet you could get a sheet of black sticky back felt (in craft section, 8″X11″ or so) and cut it into strips the same width as your cupboards. Then put it where your cups and spoons were hitting the door when opening and closing. I know the noise would drive me crazy!!!
This is a GREAT idea!! I’ve been organizing my kitchen this summer and I am going to do this…THANKS!! I reposted your link on my FB page! 🙂
Hi! I just found your blog and feel I’m going to LOVE It. Question–did you find that the measuring cups once hung take up valuable space inside your cabinet? I tweeted this post!
FANTASTIC! That way my kids won’t be able to reach them! It’s not my junk drawer that eats them, it’s my children!
Great idea I will have to do this one, Need to make more room in my kitchen and I’m sure this will help.
Brilliant!! Love your take on the project, Beckie. 🙂
Wow, this is genius! I will definitely be giving this one a try!
Love it, Beckie! You know I love anything to help stay organized. 🙂
Pinned it! This is awesome, and such a pretty version of it. I MUST do this! Thanks!!
OMG..I am so going to try this. I don’t have much cupboard or drawer space and am constantly trying to figure out the best possible location to keep these (not that I cook a lot ha). They are bulky and difficult to store. Thank you for posting this!
Beth
Brilliant! Our measuring cups are always disappearing. I love this cheap, easy fix to try to keep them in order!
Great idea! I keep my nesting measuring cups & spoons in canisters. I have a set of old metal canisters that belonged to my grandmother. I don’t use them for food, because they’re not airtight any more. The flour canister holds my measuring cups, the sugar canister holds various scoops (the plastic kind from Koolaid or lemonade powder cans), the coffee canister holds my measuring spoons & the tea canister is waiting for occupants.
I am so doing the happy dance right now! I love this idea. I too have about 4 sets and can never find them all. Where do they go?!
Yah I am glad you found it useful. I swear there are monsters who eat them while i am not looking.
That is a brilliant idea too!
You are welcome Beth. I am glad someone else found it useful!
Thanks Amers! Although I am nowhere near as organized as you are I am on a constant quest to streamline and keep my life in order. So it is the the little things like this that make a huge leap for me.
Nope because they back up to the plates and bowls which are not really tall and you don’t really pack them in there. Welcome to my blog April. I am glad you found me.
OH GOOD IDEA! I love it! Thanks for the suggestion.
Oooh pinned and everything? THANK YOU SO MUCH!
This is a great idea! Thank you for posting it. Where did you find the white vinyl stickers with the measurements?
I cut them with my Silhouette machine. But they will be available for sale tomorrow.
Genious! Paint sticks! I love this!
Great idea! Mine are always a mess in the drawer… might have to copy you 🙂
LOVE this idea. I am insane about organizing things in my house & created this list called Favorite Organizing Products and Decluttering Tips that includes lots of beautiful organizational ideas.
I added your idea with full credit & linkback to your post. Check it out here:
http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/eden/favorite-organizing-products-and-decluttering-tips
Maybe you can do a whole list of your ideas?! Email me if you might be interested. I would love to see a list from you!
LOVE! ….and so gonna do it! 🙂 i HATE digging around for my measuring spoons! no matter how I declutter those drawers-the cups and spoons always slide around and get lost. Then Hubby puts them in the WRONG place! ugh!
Brilliant!
I will be doing this… but where do I find the labels you used to mark the spots for each cup/spoon?
I know these vinyl letters/numbers are used in a lot of craft projects, but I am such a newbie, I don’t know how to go about getting my hands on what I need.
What a great idea for the RV where space is always at a premium!!
Great idea!!
Katie, on the next days post you can see where to buy them.
Where did you find the “tad,” “dash,” “pinch,” and “smidgen” measuring spoons? Those are way too cute for my collection to be missing them. 🙂
It was part of a collection of all of them from Bed, bath and Beyond.
This is a great idea. I live with two of my sisters so don’t know if the one that owns the house would let me do it but I am definitely going to try it someday when I have my own place again. Very cute idea also…..Love it.
I just wish my Tupperware had holes in the handles.
Sounds like an As Seen on TV idea 🙂
This is great! And I have the collapsible cups, so that’ll save even more room. It’ll be more to benefit my roommates, because when they put away dishes, they never put them away to my liking lol, even though I’m the primary cook in the house
Superb – a good ‘Stumble’. Thanks for sharing.
I am jumping on this project ASAP!! This is such an awesome idea. I can never find a good place for my measuring cups because we have limited storage in our kitchen… they move just about every week. I cant wait to get this done in my kitchen. Thanks for this awesome idea.
I have those same black measuring cups and spoons from Walmart. They are my fave- even over my sets from Williams-Sonoma. I love the 1/2 measurements, which is perfect if you can’t find the one you want/need in the moment!
I have a really lovely set of metal measuring cups that I love! I wonder if you could use a magnetic strip (like restaurants use for storing knives?) and have the cups be stuck up there like that and then for the teaspoons and tablespoons have them on hooks…?
It would be more expensive but you could certainly try it.
One could defiantly add a few layers of felt or maybe a cushion to where the cups hit the door to absorb the noise a bit.
That is true although I have gotten so used to it now it doesn’t bother me. HA!
I loved your idea. I got to work on it this weekend and I’m so happy with the result: Measuring Cup Storage. Thanks so much for the tip!
My baking cupboard is now complete! Thank you for the inspiration. 🙂
http://www.atimeforeverything.net/2011/08/more-baking-cupboard-organization.html
What a great project! 🙂 I’ve featured this post on Craft Gossip here:
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/organizing-measuring-cups-and-spoons/
If you would like a “featured by” button, you can grab one here:
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/
What a perfect idea! The measuring cups/spoons in my house are never where they are supposed to be, always in the wrong drawer. This looks super easy and just looks fantastic! I’ll have to try this. <3
What a terrific idea! I am in the process of ordering the labels, and they ask if you want the measurement chart in landscape or portrait. I see the measurements are 14-7/8″ x 7″. Is that landscape or portrait? What are the measurements for the other choice? Thank you so much. My mother had a small metal bar (part of a set) with metal measuring spoons hanging on it on the inside her cabinet doors as long as I can remember. The sound of that jingle/jangling is still in my memory today. Great memories.
That is landscape.
Great idea! I made this as a surprise for my wife. I would highly recommend if you do this to put it on a cabinet you rarely open. Unfortunately, we added it to a cabinet we get into a good bit. You don’t realize how fast you open cabinet doors until a ton of measuring cups start swinging all over! We have relocated and it works great. Hope this helps! Thanks!
Yah I put mine in a high traffic area. I have gotten used to the noise but it scares the heck out of guests. {giggle}
Lovely, but I’d find a bit of wall space to do this with instead of putting them on a swinging surface.
To each his own. I personally love the hidden factor but a wall would work just as well.
BRILLIANT — this is the answer I’ve been looking for for SOOOOOOO long!
I LOVE THIS IDEA…I repined it and I am doing it right now…except I am using a thicker board since I live in an apartment this makes it more portable to take with me when I move to my next place…love love love this…thank you! Dana
Becky, I was inspired by this idea. I featured you in my blog on January 8 here. But I also implemented it with a new twist. I used PVC pipe instead of hooks. Check out my results here. Thanks for the inspiration. Marji here
I must let you know that you are the reason, I joined Pinterest. I saw this, and thought I really like that, and wanted to know more about it and how to do it. So thank you for your creativity!
Wow now that is a compliment, thanks!
what a great idea it amazes me I never thought of this I am going now to do this to my cabinet
I purchased measuring cup & spoon set and the conversion chart I love love love them!! I had just gotten it (wasn’t even put up yet) & my husband was making a dish that called for 2 cups spag. sauce, he looked at the jar which was ounces —he looked at my conversion and knew exactly!! sooooo easy!!! now he loves it as much as I do–can’t wait to paint my paint sticks and get it on my cabinet! 🙂
Brilliant idea! I can’t even begin to tell you how much time I spend searching for the right measuring size!
Hey there! Just wanted to let you know we featured you in our Favorite Find Fridays post over at Whimsically Homemade. We used one of your pictures. If that’s a problem let us know and we’ll remove it immediately. Thanks for your great inspiration!
What a fantastic and useful idea. I think that will be my next project. Thanks for sharing.
How really, really neat is this? I’m definitely going to utilize this idea… and the conversion chart as well! Thanks for the thought!
Where did you get the vinyl?
Thanks!
If you scroll and re-read the post down at the very bottom you can order it.
I was thinking craft foam. It has a more wipeable quality to it than felt. Although both come in enough colors that you should be able to match the kitchen without any trouble.
Oh good call! Thanks Lisa!
What size wood screws did you use?
I can’t remember I am sorry. Just make sure they aren’t too long.
What a brilliant idea! So simple, yet such a time saver 🙂 No more digging through kitchen drawers to find the right measuring cup! Genius!
Love this idea! I am going to put it up this weekend. While I was out buying the stuff to do this I found collapsible measuring cups and spoons!
Wow even better! Let me know how it goes.
This looks like a great system for cups and spoons. LOVE the jewelry storage. I’m already looking for a place to put this.
So every time I try to click the link to order the combination vinyl stickers, it goes to a page that’s no longer available….what can I do? Btw loooooooove your blog!
For the noise I used a strip of window weatherstripping cut to length. With one side having a tape adhesive, it solved the problem perfectly.
Great thinking, Rick! Although then you miss out on the shocked look on people’s faces when they open the cabinet and are greeted with banging. Ha! 😉
Having spent way to much time this afternoon looking through my kitchen draws for a 1/3 cup measure (and not finding it) I can really appreciate this organisation idea.!
Ha! Let me know if you give this a try!
Love this idea! This is now on my to-do list. I’m always getting mad at my husband if I can’t find the measuring spoons or cups (although I’m 100% sure he hasn’t used them for anything). Now I won’t have to blame him anymore for missing pieces.
Ha! I hope it brings harmony to your family then as well as organization to your kitchen. 😉
I think this looks like the solution for my measuring cups and spoons. Now for a trip to Home Depot!
Yay! Do it!
I have a question about how do you do the labeling. I like the nice and neat measurement labels.
There’s a link in the post to purchase all the vinyl to DIY at home. Let me know if you need any more help.
From where did you order your vinyl lettering?
I cut mine, but you can order it from Say It On the Wall. If you look in my post, you will see a link that will take you directly to it for ordering. Hope that helps, and please let me know if you need any further help.
These would swing/flop all over the place when I open/closed my cabinet door, most likely falling off. This would work better if attached to something that doesn’t move.
Hi John, They do rattle around a bit when the cabinet door is opened and closed; however, they do not fall off. I did switch to plastic cups and spoons to reduce the noise. You could certainly use the same idea on a surface that doesn’t move if you have it. Thanks for reading!
I love this idea! Another thing you could do is screw on a bungee cord or elastic in the same length of the wood stick, a couple of inches below, and stick the measuring cups/spoons in there, so that they are not just hanging. That way there will be no noise, and they will be extra secure.
That would definitely work. You just might have to finagle them a little to get them off of the hooks.
Was wondering where you found the measuring spoon for a dash, smidgen and pinch
They are from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Florence. 🙂
LOVE this, but I can’t get rid of my metal measuring cups (LOVE them, more reliable measurements, no odor absorption & more sanitary). However, you’re right about the clanging. SO … I attached a bungie cord across to stop the clanging. Still easy to remove from & replace on the hooks.
Glued a strip of felt behind the cups & spoons, too, to deaden the sound
I am so glad you were able to find a solution. I love my metal measuring cups too!
Are the labels tad, dash pinch, and smidgen included in the labels in the link? It doesn’t state that those are included.
It doesn’t look like it; however, you could always email Laura at Say It On the Wall and ask to be sure.