organizational tips Archives - Page 5 of 11

Build It, Home Tour, organizational tips

Pantry Progress Update

I’m really anxious to show you a sneak peek of the pantry renovation project. I’m not 100% done, but the finish line is close. This is a good spot to give you a pantry progress update and show you the process of turning a bi-fold door pantry into something with more functional storage, not to mention coolness factor.

This is where the project began:

That was our 6′ wide and 3′ deep pantry back in 2012 shortly after a small water leak left us with a gutted kitchen. After the restoration crew installed the new subfloor (because of the asbestos abatement), I took the ugly bi-fold doors off and fully intending to include the pantry in my complete DIY kitchen renovation. By the time I finished the kitchen renovation, I was exhausted and longing for a break. Four years later, this is where the pantry progressed until a few months ago.

Big difference right? Just kidding. I installed flooring and a new light fixture, but that’s it. I had dreams of making an open pantry and showed this sketch to my friend Sandra from SawdustGirl.com back in 2013.

She and I talked through some ideas and then I sat on the project for a couple of years. By this time I had revised my idea on the pantry and drew up a new sketch:

(Please don’t show that to my illustration professors. That’s one rough sketch there.)

The idea was to partition off the right hand side of the pantry and create a small closet with a door. To get the most storage possible, I moved over to SketchUp to draw out plans for the small closet.

Next it was time to cut the shelves out and get this project rolling.

Our dining room took over pantry duties as I began the framing process in the gutted pantry.

I’m sure you’re going to ask me why I didn’t remove the framing over the doorway. I decided to leave it in place because the door frame is made up of a large double header and the kids’ bathtub is directly over the header. Basically I didn’t want to risk the tub falling through the ceiling.

New wiring was run for two outlets on the left side and I moved an outlet down toward the floor on the right side.

You may remember when I showed you how to Add Energy Efficient LED light fixtures in recessed can lights. Those lights were the ones I installed on each side of the partition.

I tried to hire my favorite electrician to install a door frame switch for the light, but he explained how to do it and left without taking my money. (I owe him big time.)

In the end, I’m grateful for his advice and for pushing me out of my comfort zone. It wasn’t as hard as I expected.

Next up on the to do list was to build the cabinetry for the closet.

I constructed two boxes. One deep box for the back and a shallow box for the side shelves. I’m not going to show you how to build cabinets because Sawdust Girl does it so much better than I do!

After the boxes were built and painted, I carefully installed them into the closet. Some white caulk and trim moulding were added to give it a more finished look.

Next I built the drawer boxes for inside the larger cabinet box. Again, Sawdust Girl has the best instructions for building drawer boxes here. But, here’s a tutorial to show you how to finish off plywood edges.

Blum drawer slides (affiliate link) were used on the drawers, per Sandra’s suggestion.

Want to see the full reveal? Click here to see my Pantry Reveal with Hidden Wine Storage.

May 22, 2017/9 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

DIY, organizational tips

Hanging Garden Tool Organizer

Hi again, I’m Vineta from The Handyman’s Daughter and I’m back this month with a smart idea for organizing your garden tools. My garden tools were always scattered throughout the shed making it hard to get started on a gardening project. Thanks to this Hanging Garden Tool Organizer, there’s now a place for everything.

Seattle’s Spring got off to a slow start, so as soon as the sun came out I was anxious to get new plants in the ground. I recently built a garden trellis and it was time to add climbing vines! Unfortunately, when I opened the garden shed, I faced this disaster . . .

Toys, leaves, and even my husband’s long lost bike helmet littered the floor. Sadly half the hooks on the pegboard walls were empty. Obviously I needed a better organizational system before someone got a rake to the head!

I cleared everything out (including too many spiders) and took inventory. Toys were relocated to the new storage bench I built for the backyard; plastic pots were recycled; and broken tools were tossed. Bigger shovels and rakes went back on the hooks, but I needed to create a home for the small hand tools and gloves.

I didn’t want to throw all the smaller items in a bucket where they would get lost again. An inexpensive shoe organizer was the perfect solution. Adding labels to each pocket helps keep everything in its place.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

How to Make a Hanging Garden Tool Organizer:

Start by measuring the size of one pocket of the shoe organizer. (Mine are a little over 4 inches wide and 7 inches long.) If you don’t want to use all the pockets, feel free to trim off the extras. I only needed a dozen for all my small items, so I cut off the bottom two rows.

Make a list of all the tools you want to store in the pockets. Using the software that comes with your vinyl cutting machine, create labels with text or images. (Mine are a combination of this design and clip art I found online.) Don’t forget to mirror the image if it has text!

Place the iron-on vinyl onto the sticky mat (shiny side down) and feed the mat into the machine. Send your design to cut. Cut apart the individual designs and weed out the negative space.

Place each design (plastic side up) on a pocket of the shoe organizer. It’s a good idea to keep heavier tools like the trowel and pruning shears at the bottom and lighter items like seeds and gloves at the top.

Set your iron to the highest setting. Lay a piece of cotton cloth (a thin tea towel or even a t-shirt is fine) on top of your design. Iron it in place. Move the iron around over the design for 30 seconds to adhere the vinyl to the pocket. Be careful not to leave the iron in one spot too long or you risk scorching the fabric.

Your design is adhered properly when the clear plastic peels away cleanly. If it still sticks, iron more!

Once the iron on is cool, move on to the next one. I had never used iron-on vinyl before and was pretty impressed at how flexible it is. The vinyl looks like it would peel up easily, but it adhered firmly.

Hang your organizer. My organizer came with over-the-door hooks, but they were too big for the louvered doors of my shed. I used hooks to hang it on the pegboard wall. Time to fill up your organizer.

The heavier tools flopped forward so I stapled the fold of the pockets to the pegboard to keep them straight.

No more hunting for that matching glove! They always have a home now.

Now my garden shed is neat and organized! I can instantly see what tools are missing and hunt them down in the garden before they turn to rust. The images on the garden tool organizer make it easy for even the little kids to help with clean up.

Need more garden tool storage ideas? I’ve found some genius garden tool storage ideas, including the inspiration for this project, here.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out my blog at The Handyman’s Daughter for more projects!

~ view more of Vineta’s projects ~

May 3, 2017/3 Comments/by Vineta Jackson

Build It, organizational tips

Reclaimed Wood Wall Hook & Vase

DIY Reclaimed Wall Hook & Vase | Pretty Handy Girl

Good Monday morning! I want you to imagine something for a moment. There you are rushing out the door to take the dog for a walk, but you spend 10 minutes looking for the leash. Or you’re late for an appointment, but where the heck did you put your keys? Arrghhhh. Frustrating right? I’m here to solve those problems and show you how to make a Reclaimed Wood Wall Hook & Vase. It’s a fairly simple DIY tutorial that I know you can handle. Plus, this is a great project to get you started if you’re still new to working with wood. Ready to get building?

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Scrap piece of reclaimed wood for back (approximately 1″ x 5½” x 20″)
Scrap wood for shelf (approximately 4″ x 3″)
Small bottle
Coat hook (with mounting screws)
Drill
Forstner bit and/or spade bit the diameter of your bottle
Clamp
Pencil
Gorilla Glue
Wet rag
Two wood screws 1 5/8″ – 2″ long
D-hook (with mounting screws)

Optional:

Instructions:

Start by cutting your wood to size. (I actually made two of these sconces that flank either side of our doorway.)

Clamp the little shelf to a work bench and drill a hole in the center. (For me this was a two step process because my Forstner bit didn’t cut the center area, so I drilled with the largest spade bit I owned first, then widened the hole to correct size with the forstner bit.)

Use a chisel to break out the excess wood.

Check the fit by inserting your bottle into the hole.

Lay out the location of the coat hook, shelf and vase and mark the location of each with a pencil.

Pre-drill two holes through the wood back piece where the shelf will sit.

Wet your shelf and the back piece, then add Gorilla glue. (The wet wood allows the glue to soak into the two wood surfaces to create a stronger bond.)

Clamp the shelf in place (offset the clamp to expose the pre-drilled holes.) Drive the wood screws through the back and into the shelf to secure it.

Attach the coat hook below the shelf using small wood screws provided with the hook.

To give the reclaimed wood a beautiful luster and finish, apply furniture wax to the wood. Wait 3-5 minutes for the wax to penetrate and then buff it off with a clean dry cloth.

Attach one D-hook to the top center of the back of the wall sconce. Add rubber bumpers to the bottom corners to avoid any rubbing or swaying on the wall.

Hang your Reclaimed Wood Wall Hook & Vase on the wall!

Fill the vase with fresh flowers. They are guaranteed to brighten your morning as you are rushing out the door!

And never search for your dog leash…

…or keys again!

What do you think? Could you build this reclaimed wood wall hook & vase yourself? Have faith in yourself, because I know you can!

Hope you have a less hectic week now!

April 24, 2017/6 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, arts and craft, Build It, de-clutter, decor, organizational tips

DIY Scrap Moulding Trays

Are you on a purge mission to get rid of excess stuff? Me too! How about your workshop? Do you have scrap wood you need to get rid of? Yes? Perfect. Today I have a simple tutorial to show you how to make DIY Scrap Moulding Trays.

DIY Scrap Molding Trays

These trays are really cute and can be given as gifts and used to corral things together. Honestly, they are now one of my favorite scrap wood projects!

Regardless of how you use these scrap molding trays, they are a great way to reuse materials.

Materials:

Scrap 1″ board (cut to any size rectangle or square you like.)
Door/Window casing
Speed square
Sandpaper
Brad nailer
Brad nails
Wood Glue
Fusion Mineral Paint

Optional: Clamps

Instructions:

Cut a 45˚ angle into one end of your case molding (the longer side of the cut should be on the outside of the molding.) Never used a miter saw before? Watch this video tutorial to learn how to use a miter saw.

Line up the inner edge of the cut against one corner of your base wood. Mark the location of the other corner onto the molding.

Extend the line along the molding using a speed square.

Line up the mark with your saw blade and cut at a 45˚ angle.

Repeat for the remaining sides until you have four sides cut with all ends mitered to 45˚.

Test fit all the molding sides against the baseboard and make any adjustments as needed.

Sand any rough spots off with a sanding sponge.

Paint the molding your color of choice. I used a variety of Fusion paints. This is the first time I’ve used Fusion Mineral Paints, but it definitely won’t be the last! They go on smoothly and don’t require a primer. Plus, with a light sanding afterward the paint doesn’t feel chalky.

Squeeze wood glue onto the corners and bottom edge of the molding pieces.

Set them in place around the base.

Nail 1 ¼” brad nails through the molding and into the base.

Secure the corners with one or two more brad nails.

Time to load up your tray with goodies and give them as gifts.

Or use your tray to organize your desk.

If you fell in love with the tray with the striped bottom, you can learn how to make striped wood block here:

Another tray you can make with scraps is this fun Nailhead State Capital Tray:

What do you think? Want to use up your scraps to make some fun trays?

January 30, 2017/8 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Crafts, jewelry display, organizational tips

DIY Jewelry Holder

Hi everyone! This is Lindi, visiting again from Love Create Celebrate. I admit it, I’m a hoarder. Aren’t all DIYers? I have trouble throwing anything away that could be “useful” one day (wine corks included!) When I was trying to plan out some DIY projects for my Master Bedroom Closet Renovation, I saw the old corks in a mason jar on my counter and was immediately struck with inspiration. Maybe my DIY Jewelry Holder will inspire you to keep your corks too!

I finished this entire project in just a few minutes! It’s amazing what you can do with a few old corks!

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Materials:

Tools:

Drill with 1/4″ drill bit
Pliers (at least one needle-nose pair)
Saw (to cut dowel)

Instructions:

Grab your pliers and eye hooks. Use the pliers to open up some of the eye hooks so that you can hang jewelry on them. Use one set of pliers to hold the eye hook in place. This is much easier than trying to stabilize the hook with your hand.

Using the needle-nose pliers, pull the eye hook open. You only need an opening of approximately 1/4″.

Grab your drill and drill a hole into the center of the corks (as shown below). You can just eyeball it because it doesn’t have to be perfect. Two of your corks should only be drilled half way through (they will be the corks on either end of the jewelry holder.)

Once your holes are drilled, you can put the eye hooks in place. Twist an open eye hook into each cork. For the end corks, twist two closed eye hooks into the top of the corks.

Line up the corks side by side and measure their total width. Measure the length of dowel you need and use a saw to cut the dowel to the correct length. Slide the corks onto the dowel rod. Cap the dowel off with the two end corks.

Tie a piece of rope into the closed eye hooks for hanging your jewelry holder.

Wouldn’t this make a great gift? Sometimes our family has a DIY gift exchange at Christmas time. I just might have to make a second one to throw in for some family members that would love it!

This DIY Jewelry Holder is going to find a permanent home in my Dream Closet. I’m in the middle of the six-week long Dream Closet Renovation, and I’d love for you to come check out the progress!