Cardboard, Duct tape and scissors

While this next project is certainly not the prettiest thing I've ever made, it makes an order-loving person such as myself smile.

Let's start with the problem:

See how if you wanted anything behind the closed doors of storage, you would more then likely make something fall and/or jump out at you?

Well, after searching a multitude of stores (Ikea, TJ Maxx, Homegoods, Target, etc...) for a small basket or something to help me corral the mess to no avail, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a basket out of cardboard (from my Ikea shoe storage purchase) and some leftover colored duct tape (from labeling moving containers) and create and organization basket for the bathroom cupboard.

I started by measuring the space which ended up being 7" x 21"  And immediately went to work cutting out my cardboard for a basket.  I tried to use the bendable sides and corners that were already in the box I was cutting up.  This resulted in 4 pieces of cardboard that I Frankensteined together to create my base.  (This is where I later discovered I immediately went wrong.  I forgot to compensate for the thickness of the cardboard which meant that the basket ended up being almost 1/2" too big for the shelf.  Luckily the shelf has an open back so I could manipulate it enough to make it work Tim Gunn style.)

Next I said to my self, "self, you should totally create compartments so everything can have it's own space and then when you move something nothing will collapse or shift"  So I ended up cutting pieces of cardboard for dividers.  Now, this is where if you were even more detail-oriented then myself, you would take everything off of your shelf, put it in the cardboard box and move it around so you know where every divider should go.  I wasn't feeling that step, so the only thing I measured was my contact solution so I would know that a bottle of it would fit in one of the sections.  The rest of it I made up on a whim.

I used two different bright colored duct tape because 1) it's what I had, 2) I ran out of pink after doing the entire outside so I had to move onto orange, 3) no one will see it unless they open my cupboards.

And here's the final product being put to good use!  It cheers me to no end since I can now find everything with out digging through the mess and having random toiletries jump out at me.

I absolutely love all the function it offers and the fact that it was entirely free to make!  Now, I just have to wrangle the extra bath towels as well as make everything on the open shelves look pretty.  I'll keep you updated!