10 Budget-Friendly Tips to Organize Your Coffee Mug Collection

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If you’re someone who can’t help but add a brand new mug to your cart every time a design catches your eye, you may also be looking for creative ways to organize your ever-growing collection. Whether you have a small rotation of favorites for your morning coffee or your stash rivals the best Starbucks cup collectors, there is a mug organization method out there for you. 

We made a list of budget-friendly and easy-to-install mug storage solutions. Most of the hacks on this list are completely renter-friendly, and some require absolutely no work to set up at all. We also included some options that require spending a little, as well as others that don’t require you to purchase anything. Regardless, all of these methods will make your cabinet a whole lot easier to navigate. 

Not only does the type of coffee cup you drink from matter, but so does how you store it. Teeny-tiny mug stacking shelves — like these organizers from Elypro – are just wide enough to fit a single mug on top of them, meaning they take up no extra space in your cupboard. The shelves themselves fit directly on top of a mug and give you just enough room to safely stack another on top of it.

The benefit of using mini mug shelves instead of just stacking your mugs inside one another is that you can see your entire collection at once. However, depending on how many mugs you have and how much space you’re working with, you may want to invest in a larger shelf.

A lazy Susan is one of the best tools for organizing your kitchen cupboards, and it’s also a great investment for maximizing storage in the corners of your pantry. Not only will it help you make the most of your shelf space, but it will also stop you from having to perilously reach over your entire mug collection to grab a cup from the back. This versatile circular shelf has a 360-degree rotating base, which means that you can just turn the entire shelf when you need to access something stored on the backside. In turn, this will reduce the risk of breaking or dropping mugs when you want to pull one out.

Lazy Susans have a stable base, which means your mugs shouldn’t wobble around when it rotates. However, if you want to keep your cups extra safe, you may want to opt for a product with a built-in railing, like this Simple Houseware lazy Susan.

Drawers are an underrated spot to store your mugs — you just need a product that will help keep them from slipping and sliding around every time you open it. A mug storage box, like this cup and mug storage container, is the perfect pick for anyone who likes to keep their mugs tucked away in a drawer. Not only will it protect your mugs from getting thrown around and damaged, but it will also keep your collection organized.  Most mug boxes will run you only about $20, which makes them a go-to pick for a cheap and simple way to organize your cups. 

The main downside to this storage option is that it doesn’t always work for uniquely sized or shaped mugs. While mug storage boxes usually come with relatively large storage cubbies, you may find that smaller mugs will still tip when the drawer is opened. To fix this problem, you can always try laying them sideways or diagonally inside the mug box to prevent them from shifting around.

Hanging your mugs is a wonderful way to organize them, and you can still have them tucked away in a cupboard rather than out and about. An under-shelf rack, like this one from Better Houseware, is a safe and effective way to store your mugs in a cupboard or pantry. It helps you use extra vertical space without compromising your mug display. It’s an option that feels luxurious and custom, yet remains renter-friendly. 

The rack itself attaches securely to the base of your existing shelf, so you can rest assured that your mugs won’t slip or slide once they’re hung up. One major benefit of this mug storage method is that it gives you an incredibly easy way to access mugs hung towards the back. You can just reach underneath the other hooks to grab it. If you’ve got a large mug collection, this method might just be the best option for you — but of course, that’s only the case if all of your mugs have handles.

For some people, the point of having a mug collection is to display them all the time. If that sounds like you, then a mug rack is a must-have. Mug racks often look like miniature versions of coat racks. They have a variety of well-spaced hooks for you to hang your mugs on and are arranged in a way that makes it easy for you to see all of your cups. You can also find wall-mounted racks so you can easily display your favorites in your kitchen or dining area. 

You can also purchase mug hangers that look like coat trees, which are always a fun addition to your countertop or kitchen table. The benefit of a mug hanger is that it’s easy to move around at will, which makes it just a tad more renter-friendly than a wall-mounted mug rack. It’s also one of the organization hacks that will free up more kitchen counter space. Both storage methods are charming and playful, but they can sometimes make it difficult to store a very large mug collection, since most mug racks don’t come with more than five or ten hooks. Though, you can always use it to display your favorite or most commonly-used cups, and keep the rest tucked away elsewhere.

Individual mug hooks are by far one of the most customizable ways to make the most of your cupboard or pantry space. Rather than using a dedicated mug rack to hang your cups on, you can install singe hooks in a vertical or horizontal row. That way, you can hang the mugs from the hooks in whatever order you see fit. This is the best way to store your mugs if you have small, awkward spaces in your cupboards that are waiting to be used, or if you’ve got cupboards that have a lot of empty vertical space.

You’ll need to install each hook separately, which is the main downside of this organization method. But, the hooks are also easy to remove and move around. While you will find adhesive and suction-mounted wall hooks available for purchase, it’s usually best to mount each hook to the cupboard itself to ensure they don’t fall off. Don’t be afraid to utilize the ceiling of your cupboard or pantry for this hack, too; there’s often a lot of usable space up there.

If you want a little bit of versatile add-on storage to maximize your pantry space, try a cupboard door shelf. These slim shelves attach right onto the inside of your cupboard or pantry door in between the shelves you already have installed. Since they’re designed to be thin, they typically come with small railings to keep your items in place. These railings provide some security, and you can even repurpose them for storing your water bottle collection, too.

The shelf can fit a single row of mugs, allowing you to see your entire collection at once. Since these types of shelves are so small, it’s easy to add multiple rows so you can house your whole collection. The hardest part is making sure that you properly secure the shelf to the inside of your cupboard door; it needs to be firmly attached in order to hold the weight of your mugs. One way to work around this is to purchase a cupboard door shelf that hangs over the top of your cupboard door instead of attaching directly to the inside. Regardless, as long as you’ve got a little bit of space somewhere in the front of your cupboards, you can utilize this simple and chic way to store your mugs.

If you have mugs that you don’t want to store by their handles, you might want to look at a completely removable tiered shelf. This raised divider will raise up the back row of your collection so you can see and access them easily. 

Tiered shelves are the best if you find yourself constantly reaching for the mugs in the very back of your collection or don’t want to stack them on top of each other. The shelves keep everything secure and visible, and you can get ones that match the wood tone of your cabinet and look like a custom cabinet solution. This two-tier expandable coffee mug holder is a great example of what to look for. 

If you have a large cupboard or pantry shelf filled with mugs, opt for shelves with multiple rows. It’s a helpful tool for those with large mug collections who want to keep their display easily accessible. 

There are some ways to organize your mugs without buying a tool. The best way to do this if you’re working with a standard mug shelf is to organize your cups by height. This means that you should have the shortest mugs up front and the tallest ones in the back. Set them up so that all the handles are facing the same way so that they don’t crash into each other.

Exceptions can be made if you have a favorite mug that you use every day. You might also choose to store mugs that are particularly valuable in the back, so they’re less likely to get knocked over and broken. If you’re limited on cupboard space, you can also carefully stack mugs inside one another; this is best done with mugs that fit completely inside of one another rather than those that are completely different shapes. You might also consider adding a paper towel or storage cloth in between each mug as you stack them to keep them from scratching or chipping each other.

If you’ve got a large mug collection so large that you struggle to put it to use, you can always set them out around your house and use them as display items. Organizing your mug collection doesn’t always mean tucking it away in an orderly fashion; after all, your mugs are meant to be used. Don’t be afraid to convert a few of your mugs into tiny plant pots; this is a great way to repurpose chipped or broken mugs, or use them to display utensils like coffee spoons and stirrers. Larger mugs can store items like spatulas and measuring spoons, while even small mugs can work as candle holders from time to time. A coffee mug can even double as a knife sharpener in a pinch — impressive.

You can also take your mugs out of the kitchen. Once you start thinking of them as display items, there are possibilities for how to use them. Use them to hold flowers, fill them with candies, put pens and pencils in them, or fill them with small weights and use them as bookends. These display ideas are functional and practical ways to organize your collection, change up the function of your mugs, or give them a new purpose if you’re not actively using them.