I love little boxes

I've been putting off this job for a long time, sorting out my DIY odds and sods, the sort of stuff you normally keep in the shed. My shed is not exactly a wooden shed, it's a brick outhouse, much the same as the one I posted a pic of yesterday, only twice the size. They stand side by side, just outside the back door, fully enclosed under a covered passageway.

Every time I want a certain size nail or screw, or want to use a specific tool, I have to search through the whole jumbled mess to find what I need. These bits and pieces are stored in an assortment of different size boxes, tins, jars, and plastic bags. Some of it is actually junk which needs sorting out, and some of it needs chucking as I am never going to find a use for them so are completely useless.

First of all I got a big cardboard box with low sides, and tipped the whole lot into that. Then I painstakingly picked through everything, throwing out the bent nails and screws, and anything too rusty to find a use for. Eventually I ended up with several piles of small items. I didn't want to put them back into the different size containers they came out of, they would all get mixed up again. I need to keep them seperate so they are easy to find, should I need them at some point in the future.

I don't know about you but I find throwing away empty fruit juice cartons quite difficult, because they look so bright and sunny, and the lined cardboard is quite strong. I just happened to have a few of these stashed in my spare room crafting supplies, thinking they might come in usefull for something. They are perfect for this little declutter job. I measured three inches from the bottom, and cut them around the circumference with a sharp craft knife. They don't need to be perfect, and if you want to do this you could make them as tall or as short as you like depending on what you want to put in them. You could save up enough to fill a whole drawer if you like.

I've put them all into a shallow cardboard box lid, they fit perfectly. Some are square, some are oblong. I prefer to use containers which are this shape rather than round jars and tins, because you lose a lot of space in between them. This way they all fit together nicely without any loss of space. If you don't have cardboard cartons you could use square or oblong plastic milk bottles, cut the tops off in the same way.

There you go, everything neat and tidy, I can see what there is at a glance without having to rummage through heaps of stuff. This is a great way to recycle your household waste. Why not have a go.