Crap I've Made

You all remember the great playroom purge a few weeks back?

We’ve had some great shelving in there since we finished our basement 5 or 6 years ago…

Super old crappy picture alert:

but the fabric bins were just not working out for us.  I had little kids when I bought them, and only one boy old enough to play with toys.  Since that time I’ve discovered something:  Those cloth bins do not hold up to little boys…at least not mine.  We had an incident with scissors where some of the handles were snipped  Several others were missing bottoms.  Pretty much all of them were bent in weird places.  And, there was no way to label them.

So, here’s my industrial boy friendly organization solution:

PAINT BUCKETS!

I found these buckets at Lowe’s in the paint department.  They’re $6.57 each, so not a whole lot more expensive than the cloth bins.  They fit perfectly in my shelving (Pottery Barn Kids) and would also fit in ClosetMaid or IKEA stuff as well…anything where the holes are 12” X 12” or larger.

I also wanted my buckets labeled, and I wanted them labeled in a way that could be changed, because in a year or two we’ll be out of the Little People phase and have 5 buckets of Legos.  I thought about vinyl, but I wanted it to be easier to change than that.  My solution?

Chalkboard paint.

I traced an oval onto some contact paper and then cut it out, leaving the edges in tact.

Here’s my oval template, but really…it’s just an oval.  Find something and trace it.

I applied the contact paper to the buckets as a stencil.  It’s a little bit tricky because of the slope of the bucket, but go slowly and make sure to seal the edges tightly.

DO NOT SKIP THIS NEXT STEP:

Prime the bucket with primer for metal.  If you don’t, the paint will peel right off.

Apply 2 or 3 thin coats of chalkboard paint.  I like to alternate between vertical and horizontal coats to minimize brush lines.

Carefully remove your stencil and then label your buckets as desired.

Easy and customizable!

Random questions I always get asked when I post pictures of my playroom:

What color is your paint?

It’s called Apple 2 and I got it at Lowe’s.  It’s pretty much my favorite light green ever.  I used Apple 1 in another room in the house, even.

Are those rain gutters?

Yes. Yes they are.  I put them up in 2006 when we finished the basement and they’ve held up beautifully.  I saw the idea originally in Family Fun (see here).  They’re a great way to have the books visible and accessible to my kids and they made great use of an awkward spot behind the door.

And now for the good stuff:

LOWE’S IS GIVING ONE LUCKY CRAP I’VE MADE READER A $100 GIFT CARD!

To enter:

Leave a comment ON THIS POST (on the blog, not on Facebook or in response to your email subscription) saying which room in your home needs some Lowe’s organization help.

Optional bonus entry:

Like Lowe’s Creative Ideas on Facebook.  Leave a separate comment saying you did.

Giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and over only and closes Friday, January 27th at noon MST.  Winner will be chosen at random using a WordPress Plugin (And The Winner Is…) and notified by email.  Winner has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen…I need the winner’s info before the end of the month!

And while you’re waiting to see if you won, head on over for your FREE Subscription to Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine:

Disclosure:  Lowe’s provided me with a gift card to organize my playroom.  The paint and rain gutter projects happened many, many years before I started working with them…I’m a Lowe’s fan from way back.