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Creatively Frugal Storage
What interesting, inventive and
inexpensive ideas do you use for storing things around your home? What
storage strategies have you used that are both creative and frugal at
the same time?
"We homeschool and
don't want to spend a lot of money on organizational
systems at office supplies stores so we make our own.
Our children file their magazines and workbooks in
decorated cereal boxes. Pencils/pens are kept in each
child's pencil container (a decorated fruit/veggie can).
At a local department store, we found colorful tin
mailboxes for $1 for each child to keep her special
items in. We've also decorated photo frames made out of
cardboard, painted macaroni, or buttons to display
pictures of their friends on their desks. Empty oatmeal
containers store rock collections, small toys etc. Glass
jars showcase shell collections. Small dollar photo
albums and index cards have been used to make early
reader books that are easy to change as the child
progresses. We store most toys in clear storage boxes
according to usage--dolls, doll clothes, crafts, etc. We
reuse the zipper clear bags that bedding come in to
house clothes or blankets not in use. The Dollar Tree
and other dollar stores have been a life saver for
us!" ~ Kim in IA
"I have an old cheese barrel that houses my
canner. It looks nice and my four-gallon stone crock
sits on top, so it adds charm and character to a
corner of the living room.
I also use an antique
blanket chest in the living room (currently my
computer and printer are on it, while my keyboard and
monitor are on the gateleg table).
I have some decorative
hat boxes I bought on clearance to store the items my
girls had when babies, like the blanket I made one and
the first shoes. hey double as wedding cakes for
pretend weddings and are used as apartment buildings
too, but the girls don't open them. They know their
treasures are inside!
My home is also filled
with baskets that can fit in any shelf we have. They
house things like CDs, videos, school supplies,
incoming mail, towels (in the bathroom).
I have two small
dollar-store baskets on my dresser table, housing my
makeup and skincare. In the kitchen I have some of my
grandmother's blue ball jars with the lead/zinc rings
and glass lids housing beans, or other dry goods, and
one in the bathroom holding cotton balls. Grandmas's
bean pot with no lid holds my kitchen utensils!"
~ Sheila in BC
"For
over 25 years I have used the same packing barrel from
the drapery factory where my mom worked. In it I
store all of my Christmas decorations. A long,
long time ago I had a glass company cut a custom top for
it and I put a tablecloth underneath. No one can
tell it is storage. And talk about sturdy.
What a neat item for free!" ~ Anonymous
"We bought 20 lbs of basmati rice that came in a
burlap bag with a handle and a zipper. The rice bag is
great for holding plastic grocery bags that we use as
trash can liners. The handle makes it easy to hang on
a doorknob and it adds a decorative touch with its
red, green, and blue printing.
A 42 oz. oatmeal container has become a handy headband
holder for my daughters. On the outside they
place their headbands so they can see them easily and
grab the one they want without having to dig through a
pile. Inside they store their hair brushes and
combs and a few extra hair accessories. To make it
more decorative you could cover it with some fabric."
~ Samantha
"I love having
things stored nice, neat and organized, but I hate the
price of storage containers. Some free things I've
done include: covering a plain old cardboard box with
fabric, reusing giant pickle jars as canisters for
flour, and using the plastic coffee containers for
homemade baby wipes. While not free, I've found the
giant Ziploc bags quite useful. They are perfect for
storing kids shoes." ~ Annie
"Okay, this
solution was forced upon our family. We had a
nice plastic bin for gift wrap paper that was
re-purposed when we moved to store fragiles. I
then had about 15 rolls of gift wrap with no
way to carry them. I pulled on old king-sized
pillowcase out of the linen closet and put all
the paper rolls inside. Voila! This is a lot
easier to tote around also." ~ Dona in VA
"I wanted to share something that I do
to use discarded boxes. I mostly use the
boxes from my local school's Market Day
fundraiser. I only buy a couple of things
every month that are on special and then
save the boxes since they usually have lids
that are attached. I trim off the sides that
get folded in and just leave the top portion
that will cover the bottom part of the box.
I reinforce all seams with duct tape and
then cover all with pieces of leftover
fleece, or batting and any fabric that
offers padding. I always pick up cheap
fabric and other embellishments on
clearance, so I have lots of choices for the
outside of the box. I then cover the box
with pretty fabric and fabric glue. I fold
in edges and kind of wrap the box like you
would a present. I usually glue on some kind
of trim or yarn around the edges to hide
seams and other fun stuff depending on
who the box is for and what they might put
in it. This is more of a craft project, but
I love the idea of taking something that
most people would discard and turning it
into something useful and pretty." ~ RK
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"In the depths of winter
when the cost of fresh lettuce rises to $1.69 a head, I like
to buy pre-washed mesclun mix or spinach in large clear
plastic containers. The greens go a lot further and you also
get a lovely useful container when your greens are all
gone. These containers are large enough to store most sizes of
shoes and because they're clear they great for all kinds of
smaller items as they can be viewed from any angle. They also
stack wonderfully. I use them for shoes, sewing notions and
patterns (lidless), home school items etc. It's double duty
from the produce department. ~ Deborah , Ontario, Canada
"I have mice and other nasty
bug problems in my house. Therefore even though
something might not get eaten by the unwanted critters, it
never fails that when I need something, I find the bag has
been chewed into. So I use a lot of my glass jars from other
foods for storage. I store my pasta and spaghetti noodles in 1
gallon containers. My bags of dried beans suffer the
same fate. Either 1 gallon or 1 qt containers. Which is
really nice because the cupboard door is off it's hinges and
it adds a nice decorator touch to the kitchen. I
like using the rectangle miracle whip containers for storing
things on shelves where space is limited. There isn't
wasted space between the circular shape like the jars.
Since we have a large family,
I purchase cereal in the mega size bags. I found
that storing them in the new dog food containers on castors
helped keep them from getting damaged also. It can be moved
around the kitchen easily and makes a nice little counter for
the children to pour drinks on etc.
I'll use flower vases to and
chip cans/coffee cans etc. to hold my knitting needles
and or crochet hooks. And speaking of knitting and crochet,
I'll store one of the many current projects I'm on in a
luggage bag or an old purse. I have all the yarn for the
project available and it's in a unique container so I can pick
and choose which project to take with me based on what type of
free time I'll have.
Since I collect vintage
knitting and crochet magazines, I'm using a filing cabinet to
store them in. You can use file folder dividers to keep
a few magazines together. Again it helps to keep the mice out
of the paper and periodically I'll do as has been suggested
and purge magazines I'm no longer interested in. This storage
isn't for my subscriptions, for those I put the magazine in a
plastic binder holder then insert the magazines into 1-2"
binders by year.
I purchased a 'card' filing
cabinet the kind libraries used for the subject matter cards
before computers took over the job. I put a thin strip
of poster board in the bottom of each drawer to cover up the
holes and use the cabinet to store my crochet thread, and
other craft materials.
I use large clear $5.00
totes to store my yarn. By color coordinating the yarn
and stratigically placing them in the tote you can see what
color and how much of a yarn you have for a project. You
know those 1 skein projects or Granny square type projects.
Well these are just a few of
the ideas around my house. I have lots more I do, but I
really need to PURGE and have a cleaner-looking home." ~
Maggie
"I buy the big jugs of water for the dispenser (15L).
When they are empty I cut the top off and use them for putting
stuff in to store. See through, lightweight, cheap. What could
be better than that." ~ J.L.R.
"I use glass spaghetti jars
to hold small items or store leftover paint. They can be
used in the kitchen, garage, bathroom, basement, etc." ~
Victoria
"I use the plastic zip-up bags from sheets or blankets that
were given to us new (as Christmas presents) to store my kids
toys in. We use the bags to sort out toys with smaller pieces
– doll accessories, etc., then store the bags in our large toy
box. This way the kids can easily find all the pieces at
one shot, rather than having to empty the entire toy box.
Also, because the bags are plastic, they collapse around the
objects making storage extra easy. One obvious word of
caution – these are plastic bags and not suitable for very
young children." ~ Jen
"For storing wrapping paper rolls, I grab an empty upright
wrapping paper holder/box that they use in the stores when it's
being sold. When you see one of these cardboard wrapping paper
boxes with all the individual slots, grab it. I keep it in my
closet and it neatly holds all my wrapping paper rolls for
holidays, birthday, etc. Also if your moving, don't
individually wrap glasses for packing, just go to your
local liquor store and use the cardboard boxes that they ship
the liquor bottles in, you can just place your drinking glasses
in the individual slots and they won't get broken, no messy
newspaper wrapping anymore." ~ Kim M.
Editor's Note: Thanks to these readers for taking time to share
their ideas!
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