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Find Extra Storage Space for Bulk Items.

by on Jun 14, 2007

A few weeks ago, we won a one-year membership to a discount club at a charity event. (Thankfully, not the one owned by WalMart.) So, to be appreciative of our ‘luck’, we redeemed the membership, got some fancy photo IDs, and made a few purchases. With only two people in our home, we haven’t much use for perishable products, like a five gallon jug of mayonnaise or a gross of Bubbletape, but we did pick up some paper products, cause there’s nothing worse than not having paper towels (or toilet paper) during an emergency. [Save landfill space, and use paper towels only for the dirtiest or most unsanitary of tasks.]

But, we have a tiny little house, and there’s no room in my tiny little kitchen or my tiny little bathroom to store all the excess, so it was forced into the tiny little basement. So, they lay on the floor for a while, and made a big mess, and needed contained.

Having been in college only two years ago, I still have piles of file crates that I can’t bear to throw away. And rather than double up on valuable floor space, I found this solution to do nicely.

 

A crate filled with wrapped paper towel rolls, and a crate with two packages of toilet paper.

 

I recognize this cetainly isn’t a brilliant design, nor is it at all aesthetically appealing, but it was a good use of the vertical opportunities on a tiny space.

Materials 

  • File or Milk Crates
  • Drill with driver bit
  • Two medium length screws
  • Pencil or awl

1. Locate a useful, and reachable, place to install the shelf, among the floorboards in the basemnt, on the wall, in the garage, etc.

2. Hold up the crate on the wall, and locate useful corners from which you can hang it atop the screws, and mark where you’ll attach the screws.

 

A metal grid is on a piece of wood.

 

3. Drill in the screws, using pilot holes if necessary.

 

Man is screwing wooden piece with machine.

 

4. Hang the crate, fill, and enjoy your floor space. 

 

An overhead view of a standard black milk crate.

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