15 DIY Storage Hacks from Around the World
These DIY homeowner ideas include a repurposed vintage tennis racket and reclaimed-wood pieces
You buy a new pair of earrings here and a few hair accessories there, and you’re faced with the challenge of finding a place to store all of these little (but important!) things. These creative homeowners from our My Houzz series show that you don’t need a lot of space or many materials to create a hardworking storage piece. Here are 15 ideas to add that just-right amount of storage for your home.
2. Ace of storage in Rome
For Federica Raddi, an artisan who works in interior and furniture design, objects old and new have starring roles in her live-work apartment in Italy. In her bathroom, she’s repurposed a vintage tennis racket to display earrings and organise hair accessories.
Read more about this live-work home
For Federica Raddi, an artisan who works in interior and furniture design, objects old and new have starring roles in her live-work apartment in Italy. In her bathroom, she’s repurposed a vintage tennis racket to display earrings and organise hair accessories.
Read more about this live-work home
3. Multipurpose entryway shelf in San Francisco
Eunice Chang created this wall-mounted rack as a quick project. The piece of wood is an old floorboard found at Urban Ore, a salvage yard in nearby Berkeley, and the decorative hooks are from Cost Plus World Market. The groove in the top holds postcards from family and friends. The rack extends the length of the entry hallway, making it both impactful and practical.
Door paint: Fountain City, Dunn-Edwards
Read more about this California condo
Eunice Chang created this wall-mounted rack as a quick project. The piece of wood is an old floorboard found at Urban Ore, a salvage yard in nearby Berkeley, and the decorative hooks are from Cost Plus World Market. The groove in the top holds postcards from family and friends. The rack extends the length of the entry hallway, making it both impactful and practical.
Door paint: Fountain City, Dunn-Edwards
Read more about this California condo
4. A really crate organising idea in Ohio
When it comes to storing odds and ends, the more creative, the better. For Chelsea Mohrman, a ceramic egg crate from Cost Plus World Market organises her earrings, and a vintage can serves as a pen holder.
Read more about this 1918 Craftsman
When it comes to storing odds and ends, the more creative, the better. For Chelsea Mohrman, a ceramic egg crate from Cost Plus World Market organises her earrings, and a vintage can serves as a pen holder.
Read more about this 1918 Craftsman
5. Pane-free accessory storage
Kim Smith of Ellensburg, Washington, took a reclaimed window, added some chicken wire and mounted it just inside the master bedroom. It acts as both an art piece and an easy-to-access jewelry and sunglasses holder.
Read more about this renovated farmhouse
Kim Smith of Ellensburg, Washington, took a reclaimed window, added some chicken wire and mounted it just inside the master bedroom. It acts as both an art piece and an easy-to-access jewelry and sunglasses holder.
Read more about this renovated farmhouse
6. DIY doorknob hook in Montreal
“You always want to hang your clothes on the doorknob, so I made a strip of wood with doorknobs,” Dominique Leroux says. He made the custom hook using a leftover scrap of wood and recycled porcelain doorknobs from ÉcoRéno.
Leroux made the curtain holder using curved electricity pipes.
Read more about this eco-friendly triplex
“You always want to hang your clothes on the doorknob, so I made a strip of wood with doorknobs,” Dominique Leroux says. He made the custom hook using a leftover scrap of wood and recycled porcelain doorknobs from ÉcoRéno.
Leroux made the curtain holder using curved electricity pipes.
Read more about this eco-friendly triplex
7. Multipurpose laundry room ladder in Florida
Gany Lalo Bernal and Jimmie Bernal’s laundry room features a number of multipurpose storage items. They hung a ladder from the ceiling for air-drying laundry, a plumbing pipe became a paper towel holder, and a wall-mounted paper roll doubles as a handy place for lists and notes.
Read more about this family’s colourful farm
Gany Lalo Bernal and Jimmie Bernal’s laundry room features a number of multipurpose storage items. They hung a ladder from the ceiling for air-drying laundry, a plumbing pipe became a paper towel holder, and a wall-mounted paper roll doubles as a handy place for lists and notes.
Read more about this family’s colourful farm
8. Headboard-turned-hallway-storage in Los Angeles
Joel and Sara Gasparotto repurposed a twin headboard into a console table for their trim apartment hallway as a space-saving solution. Small candlestick lamps help light the entry. Also displayed is one of Joel’s paintings.
Read more about this live-work apartment
Joel and Sara Gasparotto repurposed a twin headboard into a console table for their trim apartment hallway as a space-saving solution. Small candlestick lamps help light the entry. Also displayed is one of Joel’s paintings.
Read more about this live-work apartment
9. Barn-wood closet in a Connecticut farmhouse
There was no closet in Ellen Allen’s bedroom, so she had one built. “It is a closet on one side and has a ridiculously large flat-screen TV on the other,” she says. “It separates the dressing area from the rest of the room. We used recycled barn wood and, to keep it from looking too massive, we used glass-paned French doors on both sides and lined them with lace from Calico Corners.”
Read more about this charming 1745 home
There was no closet in Ellen Allen’s bedroom, so she had one built. “It is a closet on one side and has a ridiculously large flat-screen TV on the other,” she says. “It separates the dressing area from the rest of the room. We used recycled barn wood and, to keep it from looking too massive, we used glass-paned French doors on both sides and lined them with lace from Calico Corners.”
Read more about this charming 1745 home
10. Headboard-turned-shelving-unit in Los Angeles
Ken Pelletier and Maritza Gualy of the Mount Washington neighbourhood of Los Angeles used a wooden Ikea headboard as a modern shelving unit opposite a bed in their guest bedroom. The couple use the open shelves on the wooden slats to display framed photos and other cherished pieces.
Ken Pelletier and Maritza Gualy of the Mount Washington neighbourhood of Los Angeles used a wooden Ikea headboard as a modern shelving unit opposite a bed in their guest bedroom. The couple use the open shelves on the wooden slats to display framed photos and other cherished pieces.
11. DIY card catalog storage in Los Angeles
Pelletier and Gualy also found a vintage library card catalog and restored it, then added hairpin legs to create a stunning entry-area storage piece.
Read more about this eclectic home
Pelletier and Gualy also found a vintage library card catalog and restored it, then added hairpin legs to create a stunning entry-area storage piece.
Read more about this eclectic home
12. Moulding-turned-shelving in Saratoga, New York
Amanda Crames repurposed some old wall moulding to create a corner shelf above her toilet. Displayed on the shelf are random pieces that caught Crames’ eye, including a Victorian print of a fine lady with a horse, some gilt frames, an older Jennifer Lanne original artwork, a vintage shaving mirror and some wine goblets.
Read more about this traditional home
Amanda Crames repurposed some old wall moulding to create a corner shelf above her toilet. Displayed on the shelf are random pieces that caught Crames’ eye, including a Victorian print of a fine lady with a horse, some gilt frames, an older Jennifer Lanne original artwork, a vintage shaving mirror and some wine goblets.
Read more about this traditional home
13. Branch shelving in Queensland, Australia. A few weeks after Lauren Modi and her husband, Sunny, brought their son home, they realised his nursery didn’t suit him. “It was way too soft…. I have slowly been trying to change it, adding more boyish things,” Lauren says. She gave this Ikea bookshelf a quirky edge by adding a tree branch from which to hang his clothes.
Read more about this nature-filled home
Read more about this nature-filled home
14. Hardworking pegboard in an Austin, Texas, mudroom
It can be challenging to figure out a way to keep your cleaning supplies organised, but Brandi Hines found a creative way.
The combination laundry room and mudroom provides a cozy sitting area for removing shoes, and a spot to hang jackets and leashes. A pegboard and some cheeky chalk outlines keep her family’s cleaning supplies organised.
Read more about this farmhouse-style home
It can be challenging to figure out a way to keep your cleaning supplies organised, but Brandi Hines found a creative way.
The combination laundry room and mudroom provides a cozy sitting area for removing shoes, and a spot to hang jackets and leashes. A pegboard and some cheeky chalk outlines keep her family’s cleaning supplies organised.
Read more about this farmhouse-style home
15. Smart salvage in Pennsylvania
Used ammunition boxes have a more peaceful purpose in the entry area of Sara and Zach Wasser’s Lancaster Colonial home. The couple repurposed them into entryway cubbies and a coat rack. The entire home celebrates Scandinavian simplicity, with well-placed pops of red, like an antique toolbox on the floor.
Ammunition boxes: Porter’s Used Furniture (now closed)
Read more about this Colonial home
TELL US
How do you store your odds-and-ends? Share a photo in the Comments section if you’ve DIY’d a solution!
Used ammunition boxes have a more peaceful purpose in the entry area of Sara and Zach Wasser’s Lancaster Colonial home. The couple repurposed them into entryway cubbies and a coat rack. The entire home celebrates Scandinavian simplicity, with well-placed pops of red, like an antique toolbox on the floor.
Ammunition boxes: Porter’s Used Furniture (now closed)
Read more about this Colonial home
TELL US
How do you store your odds-and-ends? Share a photo in the Comments section if you’ve DIY’d a solution!
Lara Van Lannen of Winthrop, Massachusetts, made a necklace holder for her master bedroom from a piece of driftwood found at a local beach and pretty knobs from Anthropologie.
Read more about this early-20th-century home