Turning Your Clutter into Storage - DIY Ideas

  

Alyssa Karas wrote the following article about recycling your clutter into storage. Love it!

"Creating a DIY storage solution is a great way to recycle and repurpose things that would otherwise go the way of the trash bin, and the end product will keep the rest of your possessions organized.

To choose materials to repurpose, get creative. 'When I see something that’s sitting in someone’s driveway waiting to be picked up by the trash... [it’s] almost like money in the bank,' says Hillary Dickman, who blogs about her home projects and green living at The Friendly Home website.

Here are three repurposing projects to organize your home that even DIY beginners can craft.

Gail Wilson used a discarded bi-folding door to create a magazine rack. Total cost of the project? Zero.

'It was a curb find,' Wilson says, who writes about her projects on her blog, My Repurposed Life. 'I just removed every other slat in order to give room for the magazines to hang.'

Wilson used a tool to achieve flush cuts on the slats, but you can get the same result with the claw end of a hammer. Simply snap the slat in the middle and then remove it from each side. You can also use a window shutter instead of a bi-folding door.

After that, Wilson spruced it up with some spare paint.

If you’re wondering where to find an old shutter or door, Wilson says it’s not as hard as you might think. 'I know a lot of people are embarrassed to do curb shopping, but I find the best way to ask for stuff is on Facebook,' says Wilson, who lives in Louisville, Ky. 'I’ll say, "I need an old crib," and people have this stuff! Your friends and family have this – they just don’t know you need it.'

With a pocket hole jig, some glue and a few nails, Dickman turned two old closet doors into a hall tree, which holds coats, shoes and other miscellaneous items. 'What it takes mostly is vision and creativity,' says Dickman, who lives in Colorado Springs. 'It’s not so much skill, it’s more about seeing how to put the pieces together.'

Dickman used one full-sized door for the back of the entry bench. She cut the second door into two long pieces, and then cut those again to form side panels, armrests, the bench and a drawer panel.

After assembling it, Dickman painted and distressed it, and she added a few finishing touches, like hooks and a decorative door knob. Since all of the wood was reclaimed, she spent only $53 on the project, which went toward hardware and decoration.

'When I see something that is usable waiting to go to the landfill, it breaks my heart,' Dickman says. 'I think of how full our landfills are, and I think, "That could be something beautiful and useful," and why would we toss it?'

Miki Steiner needed a way to bring some order to morning chaos, and she found a solution in an unexpected place: plastic soup bowls.

Using a utility knife, Steiner cut a hole in the bottom of plastic soup bowls. She spray painted them and then nailed them to the wall.

'I store all sorts of knick knacks needed before leaving the house like keys, sun glasses, gloves, gum, etc.,' says Steiner, who lives in Israel and blogs at her website, Miki’s Design. 'Instead of searching for these items in a rush every time I get out, it is all lined up waiting for me.'"

Are you inspired?

More on repurposed storage:
What to Do with Those Dry Cleaner Hangers? - Make a DIY Shoe  Rack
Organizing Your Bracelets - Go Vertical!
Organize Toys Using a Wire Garden Planter