Lazy Susans are perhaps the most underrated organizing tools of all times. We spoke with organizing experts to learn genius ways to use this classic rotating tray. Lazy, they are not.
Kitchen utensil organizer
Flip the Lazy Susan upside down and attach it to the bottom of your top kitchen cabinets (you may need carpentry tools for this), says Alexander Varela, the general manager of Dallas Maids, a housecleaning service in Dallas. “You have the perfect organizer for your kitchen utensils: Soup ladles, pasta servers, spatulas, tablespoons, you name it,” Varela says.
Decorating cakes
Pop your cake on a Lazy Susan, and spin the cake around as you put icing, sprinkles and more on it, says Jack Miller, the founder of How I Get Rid Of, a leading home-improvement blog. “Putting icing on has never been so easy,” Miller says.
Game night
Place the game on a large Lazy Susan, and turn it whenever it’s your turn, says Brenda Scott, a home-organization specialist and consultant at Tidy My Space. “This reduces the need to reach over the board to move your game piece,” she says.
Turn it into a minibar
“This one’s a personal favorite,” Miller says. Whether you’re making your favorite cocktails or simply want a centerpiece for your living room, a Lazy Susan makes for a great inexpensive minibar.
Create a coffee bar
Michelle Keldgord, cofounder of the website BakingHow, uses her Lazy Susan to store her favorite coffee items, such as pods, creamers, sugars and a few coffee mugs. It makes it easy to make coffee, and it also is simple to share with guests.
Bathroom cabinet
Just like the kitchen sink cabinets, bathroom cabinets are often cramped and vie for space with toilet paper backups and bathroom cleaning supplies. Solomon recommends stocking a two-level Lazy Susan — such as the mDesign 2-Tier Bathroom Storage Lazy Susan, $20 at mdesignhomedecor.com — for your backup toiletries and makeup supplies. The top tier could be used for extra makeup, and the bottom for extra toiletries. “Whichever items you reach for more frequently, place on the top tier for easier access,” she says.
Fridge condiment station
If you’re a condiment fiend — or if you simply lose track of all of your hot sauces and mustards hiding on your fridge door — migrate your most frequently used items to your middle fridge shelf, says Caroline Solomon, a home-organizing expert and stylist based in New York. “You’ll be able to whip up sandwiches in a pinch, and you’ll have a much easier time using up your condiments, as they are in plain sight.”
Office supply station
Instead of tossing your pens and pencils in a cup and shoving your other desk supplies in a drawer, take things for a spin with a Lazy Susan for the office (try the Bedford Lazy Susan, $49 at Potterybarn.com). Place items like scissors, pens, pencils and paper clips in their own partitions for easy access and retrieval, Solomon says.
Kitchen pantry help
If your kitchen pantry is full of narrow shelves, chances are they’re full of hard-to-reach items. To ensure each item has visibility, place all items on a Lazy Susan on your shelf, Solomon says. Make sure it’s the right diameter for your shelf, and that it’s made of a non-skid material so none of the items fly off when you spin. Try the Copco Non-Skid Turntable, $8 at Amazon.com.
Store cleaning products
Kitchen sink cabinets are often cramped, as plumbing systems can compete for valuable space, Solomon says. To make sure none of your cleaning products get lost in the deep recesses of your cabinet, place all your essential items on a Lazy Susan. Grabbing your cleaning products will actually be satisfying, and no longer a pain. For this type of use, Solomon says, make sure your Lazy Susan has a higher lip (she suggests the Copco Under-Sink Cabinet Turntable, starting at $15 at Amazon.com) to accommodate storing larger products. Bonus points if it has dividers for categorizing different kinds of cleaning products.
