(I know you can buy toothpaste that does stand up, but they're less economical, and to be honest sometimes I can't find them.)

It would be really cool if you could stick a shelf onto the back of the cabinet above the slightly shorter stuff--or on the back of the door, to slide in over the slightly shorter stuff, to take advantage of that gap that is inevitably there.

I'd just started to think I might get serious about having a plastics/acrylics place make me one, and then put a stick-on magnetic strip on it. And had started to look for organizer-type solutions (like a drawer divider)

Then I found one! In a Japanese book/stationery store, so I can't really give you a link to it.

Here it is in action:

Note the shortness of the stuff on the right where it slides over them.
I'd started w/ it on the back, but the toothbrushes were JUST tall enough that they interfered a bit. So I shoved the toothbrushes all the way to the back of the cabinet, which created a bit of space in front of them, and that was enough to allow the ledge to fit right in.

(the little metal dental floss is clinging to a little magnet)

Can you tell I'm excited about this? It's very silly, but this is so cool.

The perfect ledge would be even more open-ended (either completely, or with sides cut down even more (if it turned out you needed the sides for strength).

I'd thought of using those drawer dividers, but they all have a drawback.

There's mesh, like mine is, but will the magnet hold securely or be thick enough, since the edges at top and bottom stick out beyond the mesh--and will the magnet hold on BOTH sides?:

There are straight-sided acrylic ones that would hold the stick-on magnetic sheets, but again, they have the problem w/ the ends being full height, and whether they'll get in the way of the toothpaste tube, if it's longer than the container.

Other options are to investigate what a plastics place would charge to make something open ended with a profile like this:

l
l
l
l
l . .. . .. . l
l_______l

(pretend the dots aren't there--I had to put them in to keep the spacing right?
Making that bottom curved would be the way I'd go if I were going to manufacture on a larger scale.

Anyway, that's my latest "infrastructure" obsession, and my success!

Cool, huh?

Today I saw a gadget that turns a plate or bowl into a pedestal; just my kind of thing as I do frequent entertaining and have serving pieces at different heights. Pricey though.

Check the link. She uses super glue though and glasses - Beautiful!

Maria in Chios, Greece

And you can switch from one plate / platter/bowl to another.

So, still great, but proof that the optimum design would have no (or almost no) sides.

And, almost more motivation to hit the plastics shop.

I wonder if I could use a 2-sided velcro to attach, then I could remove it occasionally to wash it, we always get little bits of toothpaste on the shelf it sits on now. And have to find something similar to what tallysue has....

And the front is too high. As a jury-rig it might be ok.

I *do* want a front edge on the ledge, of course; I wanted something that was roughly the same dimensiona s the toothpaste tube itself, but would stick on the back.

jomuir: I'm aiming for magnetic, since my mirror back AND my cabinet are both metal. That's removable for washing. And more adjustable than the velcro idea. I also think stuff attached w/ Velcro wobbles a little; this doesn't, nor would a good magnetic attachment.