Lisa Milbrand is a copy writer for Real Simple, with a passion for writing about food, travel, and hacks to make life easier. Loves fancy restaurants, good coffee and her family (of course); not a fan of waiting in lines.

Despite its name, the lazy susan is anything but lazy. It's the perfect storage workhorse, allowing you to easily see everything that's in a cabinet or on a shelf, so nothing gets lost in the dark recesses. But a lazy susan can do so much more than keep you from forgetting that you already have sesame oil.

Check out all the ways you can use this tool—both in your cabinets and in your daily life.

A lazy susan is a round tray that rotates on a set of bearings, allowing you to easily spin it and reach whatever's on the tray from any angle. The concept is centuries old, and first used predominantly to serve food at a meal—the dishes or condiments were placed on the tray at the center of the table, and everyone could spin it and reach the items they wanted.

But now, lazy susans are more often employed to make the most of every inch of storage space in cabinets, pantries, and shelves. It makes it so much easier to grab that spice jar or hair serum, without having to pull out everything else in the cabinet to reach it. Some cabinets—especially corner cabinets—come with built-in lazy susans to enable you to reach what's in the back of an especially deep cabinet.

Once you try a lazy susan, odds are you'll find all kinds of places and ways to put one (or five!) to use. Here's the perfect lazy susan for every task.

All those tiny jars of spices, condiments, sprinkles, and extracts can easily become unmanageable clutter in your pantry or cabinet. A small tiered lazy susan like this is the perfect way to make sense of the mess and make it easy to find those once-in-a-while spices like marjoram when you need them.

This clear double-tiered version has a lip to keep your spices from spilling, and is small enough to fit in your cabinet.

It can be hard to find cleaning products or that extra bottle of shampoo you have stashed in the dark recesses of your under-sink cabinet. Using a series of small or one large lazy susan can make it easy to ensure something doesn't get lost in the back corner. And if your cabinet doesn't have built-in shelves, a tiered lazy susan can help you make the most of every inch of storage.

This lazy susan is sectioned off to let you keep like with like—so all your hair products are in one spot, and your facial products in another.

If you've watched a YouTube cake decorating video or five, you know that a lazy susan can make it super easy to get your frosting perfect on every edge of the cake.

And it can serve the same purpose for any other crafting or cooking projects that require you to easily turn your project—like building a gingerbread house or painting a small object.

A revolving cake stand can be used to decorate—and display—your handiwork. The stand elevates your cake so it's easier to see what you're doing, and the sleek aluminum material is easy to clean and stain resistant (for those times the food coloring goes a little awry).

What is a lazy susan better for than helping to serve your guests? A big lazy susan at the center of the table can make dishing out dinner more efficient—whether you use it for daily meals or for a special occasion like Thanksgiving. (You might even need two lazy susans for a bigger gathering so no one has to pass the bowl of mashed potatoes.)

And if you're arranging a charcuterie or other dessert board for guests to nosh on, putting it all on a lazy susan makes it easy for your guests to access every treat on the board.

This sleek black marble lazy susan is perfect for keeping cheese and charcuterie cool.

A lazy susan in your fridge can ensure you never find two-week-old salmon hanging out in the back. Use one to corral all the leftovers, or to keep all the condiments and sauces contained to a single spot in the fridge.

This lazy susan has a simple aesthetic that suits many fridge interiors—and is easy to wipe clean if your barbecue sauce takes a tumble.

A clear, compartmented lazy susan lets you keep type with type (all of your lipsticks together, all of your nail polishes in one spot), and easily spin to the next part of your routine.

This stylish one from Marie Kondo is pretty enough to keep out on display.

Divided lazy susans make a great place to stash art supplies like crayons, colored pencils, and glue sticks. Look for ones with divided compartments so each type of product has its place.

This sleek lazy susan has generously sized sections—and a center round space that's perfect for pencils.

Our counter tray trick helps keep kitchen counters clear by requiring you to keep the clutter to just one spot. But why not use a pretty lazy susan for the task? (That way, you can easily reach the olive oil on the back of the tray without disturbing the salt and pepper in the front.)

These wooden lazy susans come in multiple sizes, so you can decide how much clutter you'll allow—and they're pretty enough to display.

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