Kitchen Cabinet Door Storage Ideas for Renters

In a small rental kitchen, the inside of every cabinet door is free storage you're not using. It's flat, it's out of sight when the door is closed, and it's right in front of you when you open it. The catch for renters is that you can't screw anything into it. The good news: you don't have to. Plenty of door storage hooks over the top edge or sticks on, and comes off when you move.

Here are kitchen cabinet door storage ideas that work without drilling, plus what to check before you buy.

Before you start: three checks

• Door-to-shelf gap. Close the door gently and measure the space between the inside of the door and the front of the shelves. Anything you add to the door has to be shallower than this, or the door won't close.
• The top edge. Over-the-door hooks and bars need a free top edge. On some cabinets the frame sits right against the top of the closed door, and a hook would block it. Open and close the door and look for a gap.
• The surface. Stick-on storage needs a smooth, clean, non-porous surface. It won't hold well on textured wood, peeling paint or contact paper. Test the adhesive on a small hidden spot first, since some paints and finishes can lift when it's removed.

One more thing: a cabinet door hangs on its hinges, so keep door storage for lighter items. Heavy bottles and cans belong on the shelf. Our Size & Fit Guide shows where to measure.

1. Spices and small jars in door boxes

This is the classic. Put your most-used spices on the inside of the door and every label faces you when you open it, while the shelf behind gets its space back. Our peel-and-stick cabinet door storage boxes come as a set of two, each about 10 × 3.9 × 3.3 in (25.5 × 10 × 8.5 cm), so check that 3.9 in against your door-to-shelf gap. They also work for tea, vitamins and small baking supplies. For a full walk-through, see How to Organize Spices in a Small Cabinet.

2. A towel bar that hooks over the door

The oven handle isn't a towel bar, and towels slide off the faucet. An over-the-door towel bar hooks over the top edge of a cabinet door with no adhesive at all, so the towel hangs where your hands are and dries between uses. Ours comes in two lengths, about 9.25 in (23.5 cm) or 14.2 in (36 cm). The door under the sink is a natural spot. This is the most renter-proof option on the list: nothing to stick and nothing to patch.

3. Foil, wrap and bag rolls

Foil, plastic wrap and trash bag rolls take up a whole drawer and still roll around. Move them to the inside of a door. Our wrap & bag roll holders are small stick-on holders, each about 2.75 × 2.55 × 1.57 in; you use a pair per roll, so a set of four holds two rolls. Mount them so the roll clears the shelf edge when the door closes.

4. Cleaning supplies on the under-sink door

The cabinet under the sink is usually the most crowded one. Its door is a good home for the things you grab often: a scrub brush, rubber gloves, a small spray bottle. Stick-on hooks work for gloves and brushes with a hanging loop. Leave the heavy bottles on the cabinet floor. A spring-loaded tension rod across the inside of the cabinet, if the pipes allow it, gives spray bottles a place to hang by their triggers.

5. Measuring cups and spoons

Measuring cups and spoons tangle in a drawer. A row of small stick-on hooks on the inside of a door near your prep area lets each set hang where you can see it. Check that the hooks and cups together stay shallower than your door-to-shelf gap.

6. Pot lids

Lids are awkward on a shelf and worse in a drawer. On a wide base-cabinet door, a lid rack or a pair of stick-on hooks per lid can hold them upright by the rim. Lids get heavy fast, so keep this to a few everyday lids and use the sturdiest mounting you can. If your door surface isn't suited to adhesive, a lid organizer that stands on the shelf is the safer choice.

7. A shopping list or labels you can see

The inside of a pantry or spice door is a good place for a running grocery list or a note of what's in each jar. A sheet of paper in a clear sleeve held by removable tabs, or a small chalkboard label, is enough. If you decant spices into matching jars, chalkboard labels with an erasable marker make them easy to tell apart. A roll of 120 labels and a marker come in our Spice & Pantry Door Kit.

Installing stick-on door storage so it holds

1. Hold the item in place and close the door slowly to check clearance before you peel the backing.
2. Clean the spot with rubbing alcohol and let it dry completely.
3. Install at room temperature and press firmly for the time the instructions say.
4. Wait before loading. Many adhesives keep getting stronger for a day or more, so follow the product's own instructions and give it time.
5. Load lighter items first and don't slam the door.

When you move out, peel slowly, warm the adhesive with a hair dryer on low if it resists, and clean any residue with a little rubbing alcohol.

Where to start

Pick the door you open most. For most small kitchens that's the spice cabinet or the one under the sink. Start there with one change, see how it works for a week, then move to the next door. If you're setting up a whole kitchen at once, the Renter Starter Kit covers the spice door, the sink, a drawer and your jars in one box, with free shipping to the contiguous US. For more no-drill ideas beyond the doors, read How to Organize a Small Apartment Kitchen Without Drilling.