DIY Organizer (under $11 and 11 minutes)

Storage space in my home is an issue. We have 2 real closets. One is packed tightly with clothes, dvds and a filing cabinet. The other contains clothes the kids aren't ready to wear size wise, an embarrassing stack of magazines I haven't got around to reading,piles and piles of kids books that won't fit in the bookshelves  and extra diapers. In 2 of our bedrooms we have a shelf with a clothes rack attached to it. (It is not the same as having a closet!)

Now imagine your home with very limited closet space. Where would you store... anything/everything?

I created something that works well with small toys, odds and ends or anything that you might store in a small cubby. I purchased round plastic baskets from Dollar Tree. I went with what they had at the time, but have since seen larger round baskets and mid size square baskets that would work better for this project.

To create one organizer with 10 cubbies you will need:
10 plastic baskets
zip-tie closures
a hole punch


Start with 2 baskets. Line the handles up and secure the baskets together with a zip tie.

Continue adding baskets until you have 4 in a row on the bottom.

Now comes the tricky part. You will need to place your next 3 baskets on top of the 4 that are attached to each other. Get an idea of where you will connect the bottom row of 4 and this new row of 3. You can mark with a permanent marker if this helps. You will take your hole punch and place a hole on the top of the baskets on the bottom row and the bottom of the baskets on the new row. Then attach them with a zip tie.

Repeat with the next row of 2 baskets.

Repeat with the next row of 1 basket.

And this is what you have:

Please excuse my mess. 

To finish this project simply snip the tails of the zip ties.

This organizer was so easy to make. It was completed in under 11 minutes and I spent under $11 to make it.
Use this up against a wall for support.

I made 2 of these. One I use to store baby clothes. This made it so easy for my husband to help with the baby. I have a bin of onesies, pajamas, long sleeve tops, pants, dresses, socks & shoes, headbands and etc, baby blankets and jackets. Now he can see at a glance what the options are without messing up drawers.

The other I use as my own storage solution. Here is an embarrassing confession. I used to have a plastic box intended for under the bed storage of blankets that I just stashed random stuff in. One day I realized I had filled the box up... with basically junk. Samples I got in the mail, nail files, stationary... yeah just junk. Now I have a bin for headbands, a bin for lotion, a bin for stationary and so on.

I had intended to use these to get my son organized. But, I ended up going another route, which you can check out in a future post.