31 Days of Organizing Tips: Day 20 (DIY Storage)

Welcome to Day Twenty of the 31 Days of Organizing Tips series! Throughout this series I’m sharing organizing tips that will help you on your journey from overwhelmed to organized.

Today’s tip is to use everyday household items for organized storage alternatives. The cost of storage containers can be overwhelming. But, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on organizing products. There are lots of ways you can use or cheaply adapt items from around your house to help you get organized!

Here are a few of my favourites. Click the pictures or the links below them for more details, pictures and tutorials. And please remember to pin these pictures from the original source.

1.  Use jars for organizing craft supplies. You can save jars from pasta sauce, jam, and pickles or you can look at garage sales, thrift stores, and buy nothing groups for mason jars. They look pretty and keep everything organized!

Mason Jar Craft Storage

2.  Use old boxes to create your own magazine holders. In this tutorial a shipping box is used but you could also use a cereal box. These can be used for more than magazines too. Think papers, thin books, files, or anything you’d like to store vertically. You can also use this tutorial to make smaller boxes for cute desk organizers.

How to Make Magazine Storage Boxes

3.  Instead of recycling your ice cream containers, use them for storing stationary items. We use souvenir cups from amusement parks or baseball games too. You’re helping save the environment and getting a fun pencil holder!

Cheap Stationary Storage

4.  Use items you already have in your house such as an ice cube tray for a desk organizer.

Ice Cube Tray Desk Organizer

Here’s another example using ice cube trays as jewelry organizers.

Organizing Jewelry

5.  This one isn’t really a container but I still think it’s a great DIY organizer.  You can make your own belt hanger by screwing hooks into a pants hanger.

DIY Belt Organizer

If you like these ideas, I did a whole series on DIY Organizers.  Check it out!

31 {Cheap & Easy} DIY Organizers

For Day Twenty, take a look through your house and see what you can find that can be used to help you get organized. See what’s in your recycling bin. Check your cupboards for things that you can use when they are empty instead of throwing them out. Be mindful of how items can be used for organizing and soon you’ll find all kinds of ideas!

What household items have you used to organize?  What’s the best organizing tip you’ve implemented?

If you need help decluttering or organizing, contact me for in-person organizing services in the Mississauga area, or virtual organizing services anywhere else. 

Happy organizing!