Super Shoebox Storage

I am a couponer (NOT an extreme couponer, LOL), so our bathroom closet has been slightly overflowing with extra toothpaste, deodorant, etc.  I don't have a ridiculous amount of anything, but probably enough extras for 6 months.  I have always kept everything in a couple of large plastic baskets, but with 5 people in the house they were becoming a jumbled mess that I was tired of digging through! (I wish I would have taken "before" pictures, but I got a little too excited!)

After assessing the space available in our bathroom linen closet and the amount of stuff on hand, I decided that shoe boxes would be a good solution. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, I headed off to the dollar store and picked some up. I even managed to NOT buy anything else while I was there (except a new wastebasket for the kids' bathroom)!

So, I came home and started sorting things out by type and putting them in the boxes.  The only things that didn't go in the boxes were shampoo and conditioner - the bottles are too large.  Those went under the sink in a different solution I'll show some other time.  The Husband wanted to know how he was going to know what was in each box.  DUH, he should know I am a label freak!  I also wanted to make them a little pretty because The Husband has a bad habit of leaving the closet door hanging open and I didn't want to look at boring shoeboxes with plain labels on them.

Since I have what amounts to a craft store in my house, I just went "shopping" for things that would match the future beach-y theme of the bathroom.  Here's how they turned out:

 

I just love, love, LOVE them! Especially that burlap ribbon!  If you want all the details on how I decorated the boxes, you can head over to my "crafty" blog - I thought we'd concentrate on the organization here.

Depending on your amount/type of stuff, you may need more/fewer/different categories than I used, but I thought I would share the way I organized mine. I even used one box for manicure/pedicure supplies, because a) I don't really do my nails that often and b)it will keep my kids out of my expensive polish.  I put everything on the top shelf of the linen closet because we wouldn't be pulling them down often - this is mostly the EXTRA stuff.  Here are the categories I used:

• body wash/shower gel
• bar soap
• shaving
• nails (mani/pedi that is, not hardware)
• lotion/lip balm
• facial cleanser & moisturizer
• toothpaste, etc.
• deodorant/body spray
• bandages/first aid (all of them - we have a band-aid bandit in our house)

Hope this gives you some ideas for your own storage solutions.  Thanks for coming by! Oh yes! Cost!  The boxes were less than $10 with tax.  The other supplies were already on hand - I know the burlap ribbon was about $8 for 5 yards but the other I don't remember.  The buckles were probably the most expensive things, but I'm sure the total is less than $30.

Install Cabinet Hardware for an Inexpensive Upgrade

So, I'm finally back.  things move slowly in real time, especially when there is a lack of money involved!  However, I was finishing up my latest project and I realized that I never posted the promised kitchen cabinet transformation.  I actually did that in April, but got delayed in editing the video and I kind of forgot.  I know, BAD me.  Projects should be coming on a bit more regular basis now - a big garage sale is looming for that all-important funds infusion, and the kids are back in school to give me a little more time again.  Without further ado, here is how I transformed my greasy fingerprinted cabinets to stunners.

BEFORE - check out those nasty kid prints all over!

This video shows how easy it is to add hardware to cabinets where none has been before!

Now for more details on my homemade cabinet pull template.  I used a thick plastic sheet from Clear Scraps to create my template.  If you need to make your own template, the plastic (or cardboard) needs to be wider than you drawer pulls spread by a couple of inches, and it needs to be longer than the height of your drawer.  You need to score a section of the plastic across the width so it can rest on the top edge of your drawer front.  Mark the center (side to side) with a fine tip permanent marker by drawing a vertical line. Determine how far down your drawer front you need your hardware to be, and mark those spots on the template.  Punch out the holes in the plastic with a Crop-a-dile or punch and you are ready to mark your drawer fronts.

A few simple steps, and you have a reasonable facsimile of a store-bought template!

Finally, a word about the screws included to install the hardware.  I mentioned in the video the need to purchase longer screws for my drawers.  Here's why:

The included screws are on the right.  Because my drawers fronts are doubly thick, they are not long enough.  The ones on the left are the replacements I purchased.  They are long enough to go through both parts, plus have enough left over to screw into the drawer pull.

I loved that this is a fairly inexpensive upgrade, and makes it much easier to keep the cabinets clean of grimy finger prints!  I purchased our hardware at Lowe's, and chose a simple knob style that I could get in bulk packs because we have a large number of cabinets in our kitchen.  In case you are interested in the hardware I purchased, here are the links:

• Gatehouse 64mm Satin Nickel Cup Pull (single pack) - $3.44 each
• Gatehouse 1.25-in Satin Nickel Mushroom Cabinet Knob (single pack) - $2.87 each
• Gatehouse 1.25-in Satin Nickel Mushroom Cabinet Knob (10-pack) - $21.18 per pack

That's all for today!  Next time, a kids bathroom remodel on the cheap!