Storage boxes

It's been fun settling into our new home.  Of course part of settling in is getting organized.  I've come to realize that I'm not the greatest in this aspect of my life but that it's necessary for my mental wellness, not to mention that it saves time and frustration.  And since cardboard boxes are in abundance at our place, I thought, why not put these to good use rather than out on the curb for recycling?

These boxes will go in my kids rooms.  I cut out a handle on one side of each box for easy access.

Then I got my kids to help me paint the outside of each box white.  I had a big bucket of Kilz primer in the garage so that's what we used.  You could use any paint though, and any color.  We gave the boxes 2 coats.  We could have painted the insides too but that was just too much hassle on this given day!

Since I don't have many large pieces of fabric, I decided to cover only the fronts of the boxes with fabric.

I glued right on the edge where the sides meet and folded the fabric over the edge. 

Then I trimmed the fabric edge with sewing scissors and glue gunned it down.

I tried to make the corners nice n' neat.

I cut out the handle like so and glued it over the edge.

Ta-dahhh!  A set of boxes for J...

...and a set of boxes for M and C.



Before...

 ...and after.

Before...

...and after.  These bedrooms still need work but it's a start!



I love the way these storage boxes turned out, although maybe next time I would paint the insides white for a more finished look.  I went on to figure out a system for our library items, which often lie around or get mixed in with our other books and dvds.  No more!

I fiddled around with these boxes more, as I wanted a narrower box that would fit exactly into the shelf.  With a meter stick, my exacto knife and some packing tape, I cut these to size.  It feels so good to have bits and pieces of my house organized.