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I love organizing my home! It’s so rewarding to come back from a long day and find everything in its place, all of the clutter cleared away. I’ve found that one of the best ways to keep your home organized is by reusing items you might otherwise throw away as trash. Here are some tips for how to organize your home with common household items
If you’re looking to organize your home soon, you may be wondering whether you’ll have to spend a ton of money to do so. The answer is no. In fact, you are very likely throwing away things you can use to organize your home! Most people do and never realize it! In fact, learning how to organize your home by reusing trash simply takes looking at your household trash in a brand new way.
Paper towel or toilet paper rolls
Most homes have an untamed mess of cords and who knows what else in the junk drawer, closets and more. Believe it or not, toilet paper and paper towel rolls can be great for helping to keep these organized! Simply roll the cords so they’ll fit down inside, slip them into the cardboard tube and stack them neatly back in the drawer!
This can also be a great way to keep your jewelry organized! Cut the tubes Into strips that are relevant to the size of your jewelry. For earrings, use wider strips. For necklaces, cut longer strips with two notches cut into the top. Poke earrings through the cardboard and add the backs to hold them on. Run necklace chains through the notches you cut. No more knotted jewelry or lost backs
Soup Cans
Those soup and vegetable cans you’ve been tossing are another great piece of household trash you can organize with! Simply remove the labels and clean them very well. Next, make sure there are no sharp edges on the open end. Decorate however you please using acrylic paint, markers or even scrapbook paper and washi tape.
Use your new organizers to hold everything from loose screws, batteries or even pencils!
Picture from Make Magazine
Cereal boxes
Paperwork can easily become overwhelming but never more so than when you’re trying to get organized. Cereal and other pantry boxes can help with this! You can make these in different styles, but they all involve cutting the top flaps off first. Then, depending on what you’re using them for, either cut the front out of one side with angle cuts on the sides or cut one side/front and back at an angle.
One is great for organizing regular paperwork while the other is great as a magazine type holder.
Bread Ties
Do you have a crazy mess of cords behind your tv? Most people do. Your bread ties can help! Simply roll the cords up and use the bread ties to hold them together! Just be sure to leave yourself enough room to plug the cord in at both ends.
Glass bottles
Glass bottles are so versatile! Once washed and cleaned, they can be used for so many different uses including organizing your home! Just like with soup cans, remove the labels and clean them well. Allow them to fully dry then decorate however you wish.
Use them for everything from flower vases to storing Q-Tips as you organize your home.
Glass Jars
Glass jars are a staple piece of “trash” that can be used to organize your home. Wash and dry fully and decorate if you are going to. Allow any paint to dry fully before filling. Use them in the kitchen to store dry foods such as pasta, in the bathroom to store cotton swabs or even in the office to store office supplies. You can make Dollar tree faux sea glass jars too! The possibilities are endless!
Don’t forget to decorate the lids too!
Plastic Dairy Containers
Foods such as cottage cheese and sour cream come in great reusable plastic containers that can be extremely helpful in organizing your home. Remember Grandma’s butter bowl full of buttons? Wash and dry them fully before beginning. You can remove the writing and other decor on the container with nail polish remover quite easily.
If you’re planning on using them in your home, consider decorating them to match your decor, but these are great in the garage for keeping nuts, bolts and screws organized. They’re also fantastic for helping to organize a craft or sewing room!
Milk Jugs
Milk jugs are such a versatile piece of household trash when you’re looking at reusing them! They can be made into everything from planters to food storage containers! Cut the spout end off and trim one side down to a 3” or 4” lip. Run your phone cords through the spout and you’ve got a handy phone holder while it charges!
Learning how to use trash to organize your home really is not as hard as it may seem but as you’ve seen, it can take a bit of thinking outside of the box. Once you’re in the habit of doing it though, you’re sure to find yourself looking at everything you throw away in a new light.
And best of all, you’ll have a home that is much more organized