I bought Martha Stewart’s stackable drawer organizers 5 times – these are all the neat ways I’m using them
The Queen of Housekeeping’s desk drawer organizers are meant for so much more than tidying up your study… they’re on sale, too
A few months ago I was scouting for some good-looking organizers for my desk. I’ve worked mostly from home for around 15 years and my desktop is always littered with everything from pens to business cards.
Because I was shopping for my desktop, not my drawers, I didn’t want anything too large or too functional-looking. I came across Martha Stewart’s Kerry Stackable Organizers at Amazon and they were just what I needed: not too big but big enough (6in long x 3in wide x 2in tall), stackable for when I need more space, good-looking (loving the gold detail) and easy to clean.
So, when the Amazon sale started, I bagged another four sets to use in my bedroom, entryway, kitchen, and bathroom. This is how I’m using them – and how you could too.
These desk drawer organizers come as a set of six; each one measures L6in x W3in x H2in and is made to stack. In BPA-free plastic with gold trim, the non-slip feet are a useful addition that means they don’t slide about. You can visit Martha Stewart’s store on Amazon for loads more options.
5 ways to use Martha Stewart’s desk drawer organizers
1. As a desktop organizer
If you’re organizing a desk (or, indeed, organizing a home office), you’ll find these indispensable, particularly if your desk, like mine, doesn’t have a drawer and there is no storage furniture close to hand. I tend not to overload these: rather I keep them two-thirds full so that I can stack them one on top of the other, which means they take up very little space on my desktop. Then I just unstack and arrange as needed, depending on the task I’m doing.
2. As an entryway drawer organizer
If you’re organizing drawers that have lots of small items in them that need separating (tangled headphone cables anyone? Small change? Door keys?) then you’ll find the organizers super useful. You can see above how I’ve turned a fairly shallow drawer in an antique table into an organizer’s dream. It was chaos before when everything was loose, obviously!
3. As a kitchen counter organizer
Organizing kitchen countertops is something of a challenge for me – I like to have my teas and coffees to hand since I’m drinking both all day long, but I also like to ensure that my tea bags are separated by type for ease. You can see how I’ve organized my tea bags, above – it’s worth saying that I was due to stock up and could have fitted way more bags into each stacked container, probably enough for at least a couple of weeks’ worth of supplies. It looks cute, doesn’t it?
4. As a jewelry organizer
If you’re like me, you’ll often spend a few frustrating minutes at the start of a day or evening disentangling earrings from necklaces from watch straps from bracelets. Annoying, right? Well, not any more – I’ve used the boxes to organize my jewelry, separating out some of my costume jewelry (the expensive stuff is locked away) that I wear all the time and stacking it in the containers by type. I love that the containers are clear so that I can see what I want instantly – and that the gold detail matches my jewelry!
5. As a makeup organizer
Organizing makeup for me is not about putting it all away in drawers – some items I like to have out to hand, and my teenagers in particular both like their makeup out on shelves (so I expect to be ordering another couple of sets of boxes pretty soon to help them keep organized too). I’ve used mine to keep all those tiny bottles, capsules and samples together, which is really practical, but looks pretty neat, too.
What others have said
Before I bought them, I did check out the reviews: my biggest worry when shopping these stackable boxes was that they would crack easily or look cheap. As one reviewer said, ‘The Martha Stewart brand and quality is definitely there. The plastic is thick… The price point is fair for the quality of these organizers.’
Others really like the gold edging which garnered comments such as ‘gives them a spa feel’, ‘gives them a classy feel’ and ‘the gold trim makes them look even nicer.’ The fact that they are stackable is also a real winner with other customers: ‘The fact that they stack is HUGE for me,’ said one, ‘It’s such a smart design… (more space efficient for storing)’
Their (fairly) petite size is seen as a bonus, too: ‘They are the perfect size for my drawers and make everything so easy to find. No more lipstick rolling all over when I open and close the drawers,’ said one, while another commented, ‘The size of them fits my drawer perfectly… Before this I had mesh metal organizers, and pencils were constantly poking out.’
It wasn't only me and the reviewers that loved these versatile bins, either:
'As someone that is obsessed with aesthetic organizing tricks, these Martha Stewart Amazon organizers are certainly on my wishlist for Amazon Prime Day,' says Chiana Dickson, content editor for Solved at Homes & Gardens. 'One of the most important decluttering lessons I have learned talking to expert organizers every day is that storage has to be at once practical and pretty in order to encourage us to use it and stick to our systems. No one is motivated to tidy up if they are putting things back into messy drawers or visually displeasing plain grey boxes.
'These drawer inserts tick all of the boxes for me.'
Chiana has been at Homes & Gardens for two years. She spends most of her time producing content for the Solved section of the website, helping readers get the most out of their homes through clever decluttering, cleaning, and tidying tips – many of which she tests and reviews herself in her home to ensure they will consistently deliver for her readers.
It is safe to say that I was sold… and sold… and sold… and sold… and sold.
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Lucy Searle has written about interiors, property and gardens since 1990, working her way around the interiors departments of women's magazines before switching to interiors-only titles in the mid-nineties. She was Associate Editor on Ideal Home, and Launch Editor of 4Homes magazine, before moving into digital in 2007, launching Channel 4's flagship website, Channel4.com/4homes. In 2018, Lucy took on the role of Global Editor in Chief for Realhomes.com, taking the site from a small magazine add-on to a global success. She was asked to repeat that success at Homes & Gardens, where she also took on the editorship of the magazine. Today, Lucy works as Content Director across Homes & Gardens, Woman & Home, Ideal Home and Real Homes.
- Chiana DicksonContent Editor
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