Find the Right Hooks

• Take a cup or mug with you when purchasing the cup hooks. They come in different sizes and you will need to make sure the cup handle will fit over the hook. If you are hanging heavy mugs you should go with the larger and heavier hooks.
  
  Cup hooks are usually attached to the underside of a cabinet shelf. Keep in mind the width of the shelve when buying these hooks. You do not want to get a hook so big that when it is screwed into the underside of the shelf it pokes through to the top side.
  
  

Measure Your Space

• Take a mug and hold it up to the area it will be hanging from (either the back wall of the shelf or the ceiling of the shelf). This will give you a quick idea of how deep you can go when hanging the cups. If you are unsure, or it looks as if it will be tight, measure the cup and the shelf depth. Take the width of the cup and see how many times it will go into the width of the shelf. This will give you the number of rows you can use for the hooks. Most standard size cabinets will allow two rows deep.
  
  The same is true for how many cups can be placed in each row. You will need to measure by eye or with a tape measure how many cups will fit across. If you hang the hooks without doing this first, your mugs might not fit and you will need to do it all over again.
  
  

Install the Hooks

• You can hang the hooks in one of two ways. You can have the hooks in rows that are parallel or you can hang them in a zigzag pattern. Again you will need to take the shape and size of the cups and mugs into consideration. The zigzag pattern will allow you access to a cup in the back row without moving one from the front row. The parallel pattern will allow you to hang more, but the back row will not be easily accessible if the front row is full.
  
  Mark the area where you will be screwing in the cup hooks. If the wood is hard, you can use a drill to start the holes for the screw end. If you chose to use a drill, make sure the bit is smaller than the actual screw part of the cup hook. This is a starter hole which should be just a small indent. If you go too far into the wood, you could strip the area and it will not have a secure fit. When screwing the cup holder in, do not tighten it to the point that it cannot be moved. You risk a chance at stripping the wood around the screw when you do this. Screw the cup hook in until it is snug.
  
  For a permanent installation of the cup hooks, you can dip the screw end into wood glue just before screwing it into the wood. This will also strengthen the cup hook to hold extra heavy mugs or cups.