How deep are the cloth things? My concerns would be (1) if it's several inches deep, it's going to limit your workable counter space and (2) during food prep and cooking, they're going to get dirty, and how often are you really going to want to remove them and wash them?

Sorry, just trying to picture how practical it would be.

I don't know if I'm unusual, but I store my fruit in the fridge. Well -- not bananas.

I'd look for attractive baskets or bowls. Check out Pier One, maybe?

You can get a two tier metal fruit bowl/stand. They come in different sizes and the larger ones hold quite a bit of fruit. I would much prefer that as to something mounted to the wall. Keep in mind you will want to wash whatever you store your fruits and veggies from time to time (especially if you have a lovely case of the fruit-flies). Personally, I like having veggies such as onions and potatoes kept in a cabinet. I've understood that the best place for these is in a cool dark location. We eat ours quickly, but I always keep them in cabinet. If you don't have a pantry for these, find a base cabinet with some space and store them there. I also have one side of my upper cabinets as my pantry space and keep bread there. I use that weird pantry cabinet as storage for most of my casserole dishes and other miscellaneous dishes. I can't tell you how much better my kitchen life has been since putting the food in the upper cabinets. I even have a space for all our vitamins/medicines. Everything is easily accessible and out of site when not being used.

If you need something to hang your washcloths on, maybe get one of those countertop towel stands and set it next to you sink. I've been wondering how to solve this problem myself and think I'll give the towel stand a try.

Thanks for the answers! I did that post way to early in the morning and was not really clear I don't think.

I have plenty of baskets, I just don't want anything on the counters anymore. I probably have 30 baskets above the cabinets. I like them there, I dont' want to use them. In fact I want to get rid of the three I am using for the wash clothes, sippy cups and vitamins.

I am looking for something to use for storage hanging on the wall.

Sueb20 - I have baskets on the counter right now and they take up probably more space then the hanging canvas bags will. I don't mind taking them off to wash them. I don't think that will be a big deal. Of course I could be wrong!

Bleigh - I want things off the counter, so I am looking for things to hang on the backsplash area. I have plenty of baskets I could use if I left the stuff on the counter, but I don't like the way it looks. DH does not want the stuff in the cabinets, nor will he put it back in the cabinets, so it is a losing battle and not one I am willing to fight.

I have been looking at a mug rack for hanging the wash clothes. I think that might work.

We don't really seem to have enough room in the fridge ever to keep any fruit besides grapes. It is usually filled with fresh produce and soups and such that DH makes. We have a really small fridge. :( I am looking in to one that will fit where the trash compactor was, but I think that will really be for produce overload since we truly have no room.

I have a small, inexpensive chrome towel bar installed on the inside of my cabinet door under the sink that holds 2 washcloths.

That is a great idea gracie! I bet I could put pegs too on the door. We use a lot, and DH throws them in to my son's hamper and I don't like them in there wet.

I don't know if you have room for this - but maybe you could store your produce in baskets on a Baker's rack or serving cart. I agree with bleigh that using something washable would be best. I'm not sure how easy that would be if you stored stuff on the backsplash?

I have lots of antique wood/ceramic bowls (just one of my collecting weaknesses LOL!)-- one for potatoes, another one for onions and one (or two or three LOL!) for fruit.

Kosher salt is stored in an old bean pot -- and bean pots hold tea bags and splenda packets too!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage (someone who is easily bowled over ... LOL!)

Why all that counter space if you don't use it?

I keep 3 baskets on the counter top ... the largest holds things like bread, English muffins, any opened bags of dried fruit, etc. The medium size one holds onions, the smallest shallots. I keep my potatoes in a basket on the lowest shelf of the pantry.

Most fruit I keep refrigerated except bananas and peaches in season.

There isnt much room for a bakers rack. I have been thinking of getting a range in stead of the cook top and wall oven. there might be some room there for pullout baskets then. That is down the road though.

This is an old picture. We do use the counters. Not sure I said we didn't. To the right is home of my vitamix which I use daily. DH also cooks a lot. The baskets take up the same room (or hopefully a little less) as the items hanging.

I want to make it easier to clean, and neater looking. That is the point.

As mentioned above, DH does not put things away in the cabinets and it is not a battle I want to take on.

LOL teacats!

Ikea makes a chrome kitchen shelf that uses horizontal bars in place of a solid piece for the actual shelf. Fruit and veggies could rest on these bar shelves w/out falling thru or rolling off. Very easy to see at a glance what you have in stock. Plus the bars could act as a towel rack for your washcloths. Plenty of air flow to keep food from spoiling or cloths from getting smelly.

What is the source for the wire shelf in your post that is holding the plates? I've been looking all over for just this item!?

One day I'll teach myself to link to picks - but the chrome shelf is a standard ikea item that comes in 2 sizes.

Just checked out Ikea's solutions. The Bygel wire basket that hangs on the Bygel bar might work.

The magazine rack will leave bruise/stripe lines on things like ripe pears...

i also keep my many breads in a large basket on the counter...fruit i keep in frig(my kids like it cold) or large bowl on kitchen table. grapes i usually keep in the colander in/near sink.

but....i have seen in the past wire types of basket hangers that you can hang from the ceiling...i've seen multi tiered ones too. don't know where you could get one tho--maybe a specialty kitchen store???

Here is an example of the hanging baskets busybee3 was talking about, from Sur La Table:

Here is a link that might be useful: hanging basket

syllabus and bleigh - I am going to check out ikea - usually the stuff they have is in chrome or some other silver color which I do not have anywhere in my house at the moment, but I will take a look.

Patser - that is one of the problems I have with the huge rack/basket I have now. I think it does leave bruises on things.

busybee3 and southernfrenchie. I do love the idea of those hanging baskets. I would love to find some that are two tiered and shorter and hang them from under the cabinets. I could just see DH's face if I told him I wanted to hang that from the ceiling in our kitchen. :) I just don't think we have a good place for it. Hmmmm well maybe over the island sort of area. I will ask him what he thinks.

oh and syllabus - I will link the item below. It is from a company named America Retold. I have fallen in love with half their stuff.

Especially these....

Hopefully that thing I did order will be in soon and I can either decide I love it or rule it out and keep going on the search. I thought of about 4 other places I could use it if I love it so I am hoping it is not too small or to poorly made.

Here is a link that might be useful: rack for syllabus

Boop - thanks for the link! I, too, love America Retold stuff!

The ikea racks are chrome and a bit modern looking - but could always be spray painted in another color. If you know a handy woodworker - this is something that could be pretty easily crafted in a more traditional style.

And thinking along those lines... you can find shelf brackets in many styles (wood or metal to match your cabinet hardware) and different heights & depths. Try looking online, at Orange or Blue, or craft stores. Perhaps you could mount a few shallow shelves and have them stained to match your cabinets. This would be so easy & inexpensive to do yourself.

Well, an update. I did get the first magazine rack I have in the photo above and it did not work out for backsplash storage. I think I need to go back to school to learn how to measure!

It is being put to good use for diapers, wipes, sneakers and assorted kid stuff.

So I am still searching.

I did find a place that will make custom basekets and she has a few designs I like.

I am thinking that walnut will look the best given the color of my cabinets.

What do you think?

walnut:

this is a more current picture of my kitchen:

And the two main areas I am trying to organize:

Here is a link that might be useful: bevs baskets

Have you considered taking off one or two of the cabinet doors on the bottom and adding in baskets there? I love the idea of getting things off the counters, but I am not sure I would want stuff hanging everywhere, either. You could use metal storage baskets like the ones from ELFA to put in the cabinets, but with the acrylic liner so that the fruit doesnâÂÂt bruise.

Gotta ask what you do with all those washcloths? We used washcloths when the kids were little, always carried a couple damp ones in a plastic ziploc bag when we went out. But I never needed that many for a few days use!

One concern I'd have storing fruit in things like the magazine rack would be that whatever was on the bottom would end up all bruised and mushy from the weight of the top layer... it's one thing to have two layers of e.g. apples alternating with each other when spread in a wide container, but putting a lot of layers in a tight container?