Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

Creative Magazine Storage Ideas: From Leather Rack Holders to Using Old Shutters

From a magazine rack made out of leather straps, to using plexiglass to create a floating magazine holder. Any one of the creative magazine storage ideas below will not just store away your magazines, but will add a unique decor element in a room.

Storage Decor Combo

Wicker and wire baskets, or galvanised buckets and bins are some ideas for decorative magazine storage. All of these storage containers can be left out in the open as they will also act as decor pieces

Wooden crates and storage boxes, either quite minimalist in design like the one in picture (1) or a more rustic one (2), are great looking magazine storage pieces.

Going DIY

Leather straps, seen in picture (3), can be used to create an elegant magazine holder. Smaller leather straps (recycle an old belt), along with dowels can be combined to create a long magazine rack (4). This long railing can also be used to hang up blankets in the living room, clothes in the bedroom, or towels in the bathroom.

A simple leaning wall shelf can be built to store a small magazine collection along with a few decor items. For an example and a tutorial on how to build one have a look at The Mill page.

If you only want to have a few magazines stored and hung up on display, then have a look at the DIY magazine hangers idea in picture (5). It’s quite a simple DIY which you can find the instructions to here.

Over at Love Aesthetics, you can see how two sheets of clear plexiglass, a Stanley knife, and a handsaw were used to create the very minimalist and elegant plastic book / magazine display holder seen in picture (6).

Hunting and Reclaiming

Here are two elegant storage solutions that use reclaimed materials.

An old rustic wooden ladder can lean against the wall and be used as a hanging magazine rack (7). You can also use the ladder to hang up blankets, and clothes (Ideas for Decorating With Ladders). For a modern looking ladder (a DIY using dowels and black paint), visit my Mill page.

Using old window shutters is one creative storage idea. The shutters can be wall mounted, or just sit on the floor and lean against a wall. If you get a tall shutter, like the one in picture (8), you’ll have a lot of slots to file and store away magazines.

Here are some other storage posts to get more ideas from:

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

July 30, 2014 in Storage

DIY Rustic Decor Project Ideas: From Using Logs to Staghorn Ferns

Here is a collection of simple and elegant DIY rustic decor ideas.

Simple Ideas

Strip the bark off a log, and sand it down to a super smooth finish for a rustic log side table. That is what Ben did over at HomeMade Modern to create the log table seen in picture (1). For other ideas on what you can do with large and small log pieces (from creating coffee tables, vases, to candle holders and book ends) have a look at my mood board post here: Home Decor Ideas: Using Large and Small Logs.

Take a block of wood and drill holes in it to create a rustic DIY tooth brush holder. The one in picture (2) can be bought on Anthropologie here.

Another simple, but very elegant, rustic DIY decor idea is to upgrade your closets, cabinets, and draws with some leather pulls. See how The Brick House made the ones seen in picture (3) here.

Repurposing

Decorating with Ladders: Ladders can be used all around the house. They can be used to hang up towels in the bathroom, hang up magazines and blankets in the living room, hang up clothes in the bedroom, or just to display some flowers (4). You can see a mood board of ideas here (Ideas for Decorating With Ladders).

See if you can find, or reclaim an old wooden ladder, and use it as a hanger. In the ladder mood board post you can see how A Merry Mishap created her own elegant and modern DIY ladder. To create a more rustic vibe have use raw wooden poles. Just like the poles seen in the coat hanger in the mood board.

Reusing Old Windows: Reclaimed windows can be turned into a number of home decor items – from DIY rustic furniture pieces such as coffee tables and cabinets, to photo frames, and even room dividers (5). For more pictures and ideas of what reclaimed windows can be used for, have a look at my mood board of ideas here: Home Decor Ideas: Using Reclaimed Old Windows.

Getting Fancy

I quite like this next DIY project. It is just the right amount of rustic. Annaleena over at Emmas DesignBlogg created a rustic DIY clothes hanger by simply screwing together some great looking wooden poles, as seen in picture (6). The leather that covers up the screws is a nice touch, along with the metal hooks.

If you want to add some greenery in a room, then look to The Fresh Exchange‘s tutorial on how to hang Staghorn ferns on the wall using split logs (7).

Taking it Further – The Walls

There are a few ways to create a rustic look by modifying your walls. First up are wooden walls. You can find a bunch of examples and mood boards here:

I quite like the idea of storing your fire wood pieces out in the open in a creative way. In the wooden walls post, mentioned above, you can see a white living room that has a recessed wall where the fire wood can be stacked up. This creates a unique design feature in the room.

Another DIY rustic wall design is to have exposed brick. You don’t need to have brick walls to get the look. You can get brick slices and attach them to your existing walls. For some design ideas, have a look at my mood board here: (Industrial and Rustic Charm: Home Brick Wall Designs).

The Walk in Closet of the Kitchen: Pantry Storage Ideas

Having a well laid out pantry can be a luxury in a kitchen, much like a walk in closet in a bedroom. No matter if you have a big or small pantry, there is a lot that you can do to make the best, and get the most storage out of it. Here are some creative kitchen pantry storage ideas to help transform whatever sized space you have.

A Quick Look and Keeping Stock

For a lot of food items, it would be a good idea to store them in glass or see through plastic storage bins and containers. This way you can quickly see what is inside each one, but also how much is left. The same can be done with vegetable draws, just like the ones in picture (2).

Making it Look Good

With so much being stored in a kitchen pantry and it being used daily, you’ll want to keep it tidy and uncluttered. One way of doing this is to use matching containers. You can find containers that have different colored lids to help stay organized. Or use chalk board paint or printable labels to help organize the containers.

Here are some ideas for good looking storage containers: wicker baskets (3), wire baskets, glass jars, enamel containers, and porcelain containers. For more ideas have a look here: Vintage Kitchen Storage Ideas: From Milk Baskets to Wicker Baskets.

More Than Food Storage

Apart from storing food items in the pantry, you can also store things like:

Cookbooks
Recycled plastic bags
Serving trays
Occasionally used large appliances like a batter mixer
Have a wine glass and bottle rack
Extra roles of paper towels and trash bags

Or how about setting up your own mini kitchen garden in the pantry

A command center can also be set up in the pantry. This can be made up of hanging file organziers, a chalk board, and a place to store shopping lists and coupons. Have a look at this Ideas for Setting up a Family Command Center in the Kitchen mood board for more ideas.

Making Good Use of the Space

If you have available wall space inside of your pantry, then a peg board can be hung up. Hang things up with hooks, or put a plank of wood over two pegs to create a shelf.

Other smart pantry storage solutions for your walls include fitting towel bars that can store rolls of paper towels, trash bags, aluminium foil or saran wrap for easy access.

Check out the cheap DIY lazy Susan modification to the corners of the pantry in picture (4). This lets you have easy access to the items stored at the back of the shelf.

If you look at my kitchen storage mood board you’ll see how simple tension rods have been added to shelves. This makes it easy to store flat items like trays on their sides, saving a ton of space.

The back of the pantry door, and any cabinet doors can have storage space added to them. You can get over the door organizers that allow you to hang items up. Simple shelves, hooks, racks and railings can also be fitted to the back of the doors.

To take advantage of the height in the kitchen pantry, see if you can add a good looking wooden ladder or step ladder.

Built in or Free Standing

When it comes to putting shelves in a pantry room there are two ways to go about it. 1) Built in shelves or a storage system make the most of the space, as they are custom built to the layout. They can be built all the way up to the ceiling, or even over the doorway. And they create a uniformed look in the space. 2) Free standing storage shelves are inexpensive and quick to set up, but usually won’t make the most of the space.

You don’t even need much space to create a pantry. Check out the very shallow pantry wall in picture (5), with the amazing sliding barn door.

Lighting: A Better View

Another way to make the most of a pantry storage space is to have it well lit. Having a ceiling light is one option – but sometimes this light won’t reach individual shelves. A simple and cheap way to light up the shelves is to buy battery powered puck lights – either motion sensor ones or tap pucks. They simply stick to the underside of the shelves.

Going on a Road Trip

If you have space, a small portable rolling storage unit – just like the one in picture (6), would be a great addition. It can be used to store items that are often used to cook with. The cart can be rolled out when cooking, and stored away when it’s not in use.

Finding A Shortcut

If you are lucky enough to have a pantry that shares a wall with your garage, you can have a little door (locked from both sides) connecting the two. This way you don’t have to carry your groceries all the way through the house.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6

For unique ideas on storing spices, have a look at my mood board here: Creative Kitchen Spice Storage Ideas and Solutions
For creative ideas on how to store troublesome pots, pans and lids, check out this mood board: Kitchen Storage and Organization Part 2: Pot and Pan Storage Ideas (and Lids)
And if you’ve ever wanted to have your own coffee station, this is the mood board for you: Home Barista: Kitchen Coffee Station Ideas and Designs

July 24, 2014 in Kitchen, Storage

Creative Kitchen Spice Storage Ideas and Solutions

When it comes to storing spices, see if you can keep them off of the kitchen counters. Counters can easily get cluttered, so storing your herb and spices on a wall, or in a draw will help keep the kitchen clutter free. The creative spice storage ideas I talk about below will help to avoid cluttering up the kitchen.

Making it Look Good

Using matching containers, like glass jars or porcelain ones like the set in picture (1) (which is available here from Pottery Barn), will create a good looking and clutter free kitchen – since it creates a uniformed look. Using glass containers is a good idea because you can easily see what is inside and how much is left.

Other good looking storage ideas include using spice jars with hooks that can hang from a wall (2), the back of cabinet doors, or in the pantry. Test tubes are another decorative way of storing spices, just like the ones in picture (3) which can be bought from ModCloth.

Space Saving Ideas

How about having a built in spice shelf draw. Putting the draw at head height like the one in picture (4) saves you from bending down when looking for spices.

There are spice draw racks that tilt the spice bottles up to save space and provide easy viewing. Other spice storage solutions for drawers include using tension rods to divide up the draw. Or you can use matching spice storage containers like the ones seen in picture (5) to create a well organized and easy to view spice draw.

The back of cabinet doors can have over the door organziers, spice racks, railings or brackets fitted to them for space saving storage. Spice door and draw racks are available from Amazon: Spice Draw Rack 13 | Spice Door Rack 9

Some other space saving ideas include:

Using a mini lazy Susan to store your spices
There are magnetic spice containers that will stick to a magnetic wall panel (6), which can be stuck to a wall or be used as under cabinet spice storage
I like the printers tray with the tins in picture (7) the best

For creative ideas on pantry storage and organisation, have a look at my post here: The Walk in Closet of the Kitchen: Pantry Storage Ideas.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

Have a look at these mood boards for more kitchen storage ideas: