DIY Storage Boxes

I have been on the look out for storage boxes/baskets that would fit into our awesome Mud Room Unit that we built.  I haven't found anything that is the right size.  I happily discovered that the boxes that milk comes in from Costco are just about right.

To make them into pretty storage boxes:

Cut off the flaps (I used a box cutter)

Mod Podge scrapbook paper onto the front (a 12x12" fit the width perfectly and I just folded the excess over the top)

Add a layer of Mod Podge on top of the paper to protect it

Note: I tried to smooth the paper out as I put it on the box.  I did find that when I added the Mod Podge on top, the paper bubbled up.  It did flatten back out as it dried.

I just put paper on the front since that is all that will normally be seen, but you could do all the sides if you wanted.

$0.30 storage boxes!!!  Wahoo!!!

DIY Drawer Organizers

Today's project was organizing the kitchen drawers (I know we have more than we need (4 sets of measuring cups!!)).  I have been thinking about making dividers for awhile but haven't had good cardboard to do it with.  I got a good, long box to use last weekend.  I am hoping that having the dividers in there will help things get back in the right place (I put things where I think they go, Uncle doesn't always think they go where I do.)

To make the dividers, I cut strips of cardboard that were as tall as my drawer (3 1/2").  I just left the strips as long as the cardboard box was.  They were about 5 inches longer than my drawer.  I folded the end of the cardboard strip to be the length of my drawer, then put my strips into the drawer.  The strips fit in snugly and the folded over part helps to keep them spaced out (there is a groove in the folded over part from how the box was folded).  Ta da!

Mud Room

We built a "mud room" addition to our laundry room (it is right by the garage so it is a good location, and just big enough).  I asked Uncle for some hooks on the wall and was thinking to get a little shoe shelf to sit by the washing machine so that things weren't always just laying on the floor, but he did better than that.  Much better.  Here is the mud room unit that we ended up with.  Pretty awesome if you ask me!  I especially like that there are two rows of hooks.  One row for jackets and one for bags for the grown-ups; and the kids can get to the lower hooks for their jackets.

I'll give you an idea of how we (mostly Uncle) built it, but not mass amounts of detail.

We measured the space in the laundry room and had five feet to work with so we decided to make five sections, each being one foot wide.

First, Uncle built the bench.  He used 3/4"x11" wood.  The top of the bench is 5' long.  Each of the six vertical supports is 18 3/4" tall.  He used the router to cut 1/4" grooves in the vertical supports to slide the shoe shelves into (the shelves are 1/4" plywood).  The grooves are 6" and 12" from the floor.  The vertical supports were attached to the top part of the bench with nails from the top.  To help keep the bench square (and for prettiness), we nailed bead board to the back of the bench.

To help keep the middle section in place, we routed out grooves in the top of the bench that were the same dimension and location as the vertical wood pieces of the middle section and 1/4" deep. (This is hard to see in the picture.)

The next step was to build the middle section.  We used 1"x4"s for this part.  We kept the two horizontal boards as they were (didn't cut into them at all) and cut notches into the vertical boards that the horizontal pieces fit into.  We used our awesome oscillating tool and the router to make the notches.  We nailed the horizontal pieces to the vertical ones from the back.

The vertical pieces are 41 3/4" tall.  The middle (vertically) of our two boards are 23 1/2" and 35 1/2" from the bottom of the vertical boards.

We slide the vertical boards of the middle section into the grooves that we made on the top of the bench and attached it to the bench by toenailing finishing nails in from the back (putting in the nail at an angle and using a nail punch to make the nail so that it doesn't poke out).

Next we added bead board to the middle section, nailing it on to help keep everything square.

We put furring strips across the front of the shoe shelves to give it a nice finished look.

We built the top section similar to how we built the bench.  We used 3/4"x9" wood for the top section so that it didn't stick out too far.  The vertical pieces are 16 1/4" tall.  We routed one groove in the vertical pieces 3 inches from the bottom for the shelves to slide into.  Uncle envisions this 3" space being used for papers (or maybe one day we will add little doors that flap down).  I plan to get some baskets for the uppermost section to store things like hats and gloves.  

The unit was a little too tall to fit through the door fully assembled so we had to finish assembly inside.  

Before we moved it in, we painted all of the pieces (three coats of semi-gloss white).

To assemble the top section onto the rest of the unit, we nailed the bottom horizontal piece onto the vertical pieces of the middle section.  Then we set the top piece (the one that we made kind of like the bench), with bead board attached to the back, on top of that and nailed it in from the bottom.  We put a furring strip across the front of the plywood shelves of the top section.  

We anchored the unit to the wall (screws into the studs through the horizontal pieces of the middle section), filled the holes with wood putty, touched up paint, added the hooks, and we were finally done.  We think that it turned out pretty awesome.  It has been done for a few weeks now and we have used it a ton.  It is so nice to have everyone's shoes and jackets right by the door.  It's nice to have a spot to put my "mommy bag" too.

Here is the laundry room before:

And here it is with the mud room unit all done!

 

Kid's Clothes Storage

With the change in season (yay!), it was time to go through Elsie's closet and get all of the too small clothes put away.  When I have clothes that are ready for storage, I like to make sure they are all clean and nicely folded.  Then I put each stack (of like things) in a grocery bag, I squish out as much air as I can and tie it closed with a bow (not a knot).  I write on the outside of the bag what it is (age, gender, item (eg. pants)).  Then the bags go into a box or tote that gets labeled.

With the clothes in bags, it is easier to put away and keep things organized, you can find what you need without ruining all of the other piles.

Bathtub Toy Storage

My cheap, easy solution for bathtub toy storage is a $0.97 laundry bag from walmart by the laundry baskets, etc. (or probably just about any other store too).  It is nice because it lets the toys dry out.  I had a hook with a suction cup laying around so I hang it from that over the tub, no worries about things dripping on the floor.

Kids' Dishes

Today I decided to do a little rearranging in the kitchen. I wanted to put the kids' dishes down where they could reach them (so they could help themselves!). I decided that the drawer that I kept the kitchen towels and washrags in was ideal (down low, next to the table and the dishwasher).  Now the kids' dishes are where the munchkins can reach them (I used a few random boxes to help organize too) and the towels and washrags are up in the cupboard where I can see what's where without having to dig through the drawer.

If something isn't working well in your house, step back and take a look at how you can rearrange to make things run more smoothly!