Monday 7 May 2012

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.

12 comments:

  1. Brilliant bit of re-purposing! Well done!

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  2. Good job. The only reason I use round, plastic jars with lids for storing odds and ends is that I store them on a shelf chest high. I can see in the round plastic, and when I knock them off the shelf as I rummage through them, at least they don't spill. And, I will knock them off. Ask me how I am soooo certain.

    I never have juice box cartons or square plastic cartons of any kind.

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  3. That's a good idea. I use glass jars or for tiny items, those film cartons, as I don't have many shelves.

    Your outhouses remind me of those we had when I was a child. There was a flat roofed building joined onto the house, with a little porch, an 'outside' loo and then the wash-house. My mum had a gas washer and my job was to turn the handle at the top to agitate the machine. It was only quite small. There was a sink and draining board so hand washing could be done. We had a zinc dolly tub for the second rinse, the whites were rinsed in dolly blue. Do you remember those little parcels????? I loved playing with them.

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  4. nice job and free of charge- even better!
    It reminds me of the cupbaord that was in our garage when we came. Dozens of tobacco tins filled with screws, nuts and oddments. A real Grandads dream :-D

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  5. Must admit I prefer jars or those Ferraro Rocho boxes with lids - I get those bought for presents. With the open box way of storing I find the boxes get full of dust and spiders !!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, yes, I forgot about the dust and spiders. In the house is not that much of a problem. But, in the basement I would never put my hand into a container that sat in the open! ACK!

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  6. Over here we pay a deposit on the boxes and cartons that drinks come in. Mine go back for the refund!

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  7. Fab I love it. I have taken to washing out paint tubs. The ones from B&Q are see through so great for storage plus a tight fitting lid. I always buy big trays of mushrooms (I freeze what I don't use). Those trays make great drawer tidiers. People actual buy drawer tidiers from shops like Ikea which always amazes me.

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  8. Dust and spiders!!! Flippin heck, these are screws and nails and bits and bobs, in a dusty shed which is probably home to quite a few spiders. Sorry, but I aint dusting and polishing my shed for anyone, and my spiders are my little friends.

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  9. Watch out for the runaway cottage cheese!

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  10. You might need to put a sheet of cardboard over the top so that the dust stays out.

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  11. I really must show my husband this post, he has all of his screws and other stuff in bags and each time I ask him to do a job I dread these bags coming out, you see, he tips the lot out and then rummages, you don't know how annoying it is. lol
    Briony
    x

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