I'm Back! Time for indoor fun - storage!

Hello! Long time no post. Sorry for the extra long intermission, but no fear, the creative juices are flowing. Nothing like enough sleep and lots of good food to get the brain working again.

In honor of the resolution season I wanted to share this storage project that was SO worth every minute. We completed the project this summer, but it could be fun and easy to do inside (in Oregon you need to get creative when the rain starts.)

The Project: We had a mess of baskets holding our shoes, hats, gloves, etc. Inspired by Pottery Barn-ish most-beautiful-mud-rooms-ever (see examples here) we wanted to go creative with our space.

With help from my parents and a lot of work on the hubster's part, our shoes are now super organized, visible and not smashing each other. (Trying video for the first time, hope it works...)


What we used:
Lumber - new (shhh... don't tell.)
Hooks - found at garage sale, one bag of 20 quality brass hooks for $1! We removed old paint and tape and re-painted.
Chair - from Goodwill Super Store, chopped in half and painted.
Paint: Left over from other parts of our house: white, blue, orange. The most fun was painting a faux carpet. To do it yourself you will need to paint one layer at a time, taping off each layer as you go. You will hear from me soon! As always, thanks for reading!

Clever Storage

Any old box will do - shoe/boot boxes, paper boxes, anything with a lid works best. Add a little fabric and some hot glue and you have a very presentable storage box! It's so easy - just wrap the lid and the box like you would a present and... voila.
For this box I used the fabric from an old curtain and a paper box.


The top box in this picture stores our wedding memories (CDs, dried flowers, left over invitations etc.)
So easy, so useful and so re-used!

Never Buy New - storage racks/orginzers

Never Buy New will be a reoccurring segment of this blog where I feature items I see almost every time I visit second-hand stores. Then, if you need something you can check and see if it is likely found at your second-hand stores before you buy it new!

A second hand store I visit often, Goodwill, always has many types and sizes of the white plastic covered metal racks which can be used in a variety of practical ways in kitchens, closets and other areas to organize and create space. They are sturdy, but also flexible.



My favorites are the cabinet shelves used to create more shelving for dishes or food in kitchen cabinets or pantries. When I bought these racks they where still in the original packaging. Price at second-hand store: $.99 - $1.99. Price new: $3.99 - 5.99.


Hooks and baskets. Price at second-hand store: $1.99. Price new: $7.99 - $8.99



















And finally, a iron and ironing board rack. I squeezed this one into a small place by bending the flexible metal. The metal bends without breaking - this way if I ever find a different or place for my ironing board I will be able to reuse the rack again. Price at second-hand store: $1.99. Price new: $7.99.