Outlet Shelves: The Home Hack You Didn’t Know You Needed Until Now (+ 1 We Hate)
If you love easy ways to get your home organized, an outlet shelf hack is going to change the way you think about your outlets! From easily storing your Amazon Alexa to electric toothbrushes – and even small oil diffusers – this storage hack is my favorite yet!
Here’s the outlet shelf that I bought and love:
- Amazon ECHOGEAR Outlet Shelf – $14.99
Let’s just say that if we’re friends, you can expect to get one of these from me for Christmas this year. 😆 THAT’s how much I love this outlet cover!
This is the painful reality of what we had before. Wiping down the sink was always an inconvenience. Plus, we’d always have to be super careful when brushing teeth and washing our hands, so we didn’t accidentally splash water all over our Amazon Alexa. And hello, ugly black cord. Who wants to look at that on top of their counter? 😣
I’m really impressed with the quality of this ECHOGEAR outlet shelf! It’s solid, and the outlet cover plates that come with it are made of metal painted with a beautiful matte white paint that blends perfectly with the sheen of existing paint! In addition, there’s also a convenient hole to run your cords through, so no more cord eyesores.
Installation could not be easier, either, since it’s the same as installing a regular outlet cover. This outlet shelf freed up valuable counter space and made our bathroom look so much more organized! And my husband says he thinks our Amazon Alexa sounds even better now! Win, win!
Here’s another outlet shelf that I have on my list:
Amazon Mount Genie Outlet Shelf – $14.99
This shelf will easily store larger electronics and hide all the cords! It uses your existing outlet cover and hooks to either side of the outlet, still freeing up your counter space and low enough to place under cabinets in your kitchen. This one is next on my Amazon list!
Here is one outlet shelf I totally hate:
- Amazon Breezy Livin’ Outlet Shelf – $12.97
For a mere $2 less than my first recommendation, I wanted to try this shelf in our kitchen. Sure, it looks nice in this before and after (and I was totally impressed visually). However, it was a total flop when it came to actually using it!
Here’s why I’m so underwhelmed with this outlet shelf:
- It clips together at the top, so it’s not sturdy at all.
- It handled our small, lightweight phone charger just fine, but once we placed just one phone on it to charge the top of the shelf totally fell apart within seconds, dropping my phone to its death (i.e. the counter).
- The outlet covers were made of plastic and not metal.
- Too tall to store our Amazon Alexa under the cabinets. (This isn’t a reflection of the quality though, just not the right design for that particular need.)
- Overall, just useless and undependable.
The verdict:
With all of that said, I ended up returning this outlet shelf. My recommendation- I would splurge on the sturdier ECHOGEAR and spend the extra $2. Your phones will also thank me! 😉
Sara (sara@hip2behome.com) loves sharing decor that inspires people on a budget and finds joy in traveling to new places.
Organize your junk drawer in five minutes with this easy solution!
haha…i just looked thru the photos on amazon to see what people even used it for cause all i could htink of was an electric toothbrush and, no lie, the toothbrush pic was the ONLY one i even knew what the item was! we don’t have any of those gadgets so i dont know what all they were…i’m assuming some sort of wifi gizmo’s and speakers and alexa type things but i guess we’re too low tech to need one…dont even use electric toothbrushes:) too funny
LOL! Yes, these would be great for a small electrical device. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
Why is this called a “hack”? I thought a hack is when you’ve taken something and turned it into something else. Like making a wall charger stand from a plastic milk carton.
Hi, Jodi P! A hack is generally thought of as a “solution” or “work around.” Of course, we see lots of hacks that are more “work around” where you do change things like a milk carton into a wall charger. This one is meant as a “solution” to the problem of keeping a device from getting water on it. Hope this helps!
Huh. Guess we all have different definitions of the word because I’ve never seen it used with a “solution”. I mean really, you are using the product the way it was designed 🙂
There’s an entire well known long established site, lifehacker, that uses the term the same way. Hacks as solutions is a pretty common usage now. Language evolves.
my outlets are horizontal. do they make any to fit?
I do see a few styles here, Joanne!
I agree with Keri. I would consider this a useful tip, additional storage option or clever solution but not a hack.
To call it a hack would mean that you created a work around or turned an existing product into a resource that it hadn’t been previously made for or intended for use. For example using clothesline as chip clips is a clever “hack”.
Regardless of what you call it, hack, solution, thingy, whatyoumacallit. I love it. I didn’t know these existed, somewhat like I don’t know a lot of things that are out there until I see them posted like this. I really always absolutely hate the cords of various items being so visual and hanging wherever. This definitely solves that problem and makes any area you decide to use it look tidy. I’m definitely going to order a few so the bathrooms have one and probably a good idea to have a couple in the kitchen. I can’t wait now and thanks for providing the reason why it’s better to splurge a bit on the better one. That’s extremely helpful.
You’re very welcome, Nancy! Thanks so much for the kind feedback! 💖 Glad you enjoyed this review!