How to Organize Your House Using Only Recycled Products

There are areas of the house that are somewhat complicated to keep clean. Underwear, cosmetics, cleaning products, and kitchen items accumulate without us realizing it. However, it is possible to organize them by creating simple storage boxes using recyclable materials.

5-Minute Crafts offers you several examples of DIY projects using cardboard and plastic bottles to keep everything in your home in its place.

1. Organize cabinets with cardboard boxes

Cereal boxes can be transformed into practical cabinet organizers.

1. Cut and separate the bottom of the cereal boxes. Make sure there are several centimeters left on the sides to hold the items you want to store inside.
   
2. Decorate with colored paper, cardboard, or fabric.
   
3. Arrange the organizers inside the cabinets and distribute the pencils, pens, markers, and other small objects you want to keep together.

2. Create cable ties with bottle caps

With bottle caps, it is possible to keep wires within easy reach and tangle-free.

1. Take a couple of plastic bottle caps, like soda bottle caps.
   
2. With a box cutter, cut and remove the bottom of one cap.
   
3. Then, make an opening on the side of the cap.
   
4. Glue the cut-out lid together with a whole one. Paint them in the color of your choice.
   
5. Glue the cable tie near the outlet.

3. Tidy lockers with paper bags

School supplies inside a locker will be more visible using paper bags and a magnet.

1. Choose paper bags that are the right size for your locker.
   
2. Attach a magnet to hold the bag to the inside of your locker door if it is metal. You can also glue it with contact glue.
   
3. Place small items inside the bags that you need to keep tidy and in sight.

4. Assemble a mobile organizer with shoeboxes

With several shoeboxes, it is possible to create a nice organizer that can be placed under a bed.

1. Join 6 or 8 shoeboxes that are the same size in 2 rows, gluing them together on the sides.

2. Once everything is glued and dry, choose 2 small plastic figures or toys to use as handles.

3. Screw the figures to the front of the organizer.

4. Arrange everything you need to store and place the organizer under the bed.

5. Use cardboard to keep your spices in order

A spice cabinet can be kept in order with some cardboard from cereal boxes.

1. Open the cereal box and trim the sides a little to make a square.
   
2. Join the ends together and place them on top of each other in the cabinet, like a ladder.
   
3. Arrange your spice containers.

6. Create storage spaces with extendable rails and baskets

Extendable shower curtain rods and baskets are also useful in closets for creating storage space.

1. Place 3 pull-out rods at the bottom of the closet. Arrange them at different heights.
   
2. Use the top rail to support baskets where you can store folded clothes.
   
3. Use the bottom rails to accommodate shoes.

7. Organize cleaning utensils with floats

An unused float can be transformed into a handy holder for cleaning utensils.

1. Mark 3 triangles on one side of the float.
   
2. Cut out and remove the triangular pieces. Place double-sided tape on the back of the float.
   
3. Tape it to the wall of the cleaning room and place the brooms, mops, and other utensils in the spaces you created on the float.

8. Make space in the refrigerator with plastic bottles.

A plastic bottle can serve as a divider to keep food from piling up inside the refrigerator.

1. Cut a large plastic bottle into 4 parts. Remove the top, or spout, part of the bottle.
   
2. Use each plastic circle to divide the dishes you want to store in the refrigerator. The bottom of the bottle can serve as a lid.

9. Design an organizer for your nail polish with cardboard

Finding the right color polish is easy if the containers are kept neat in a nice cardboard organizer.

1. Take a rectangular-shaped piece of cardboard about the size of a shoebox.
   
2. Fold it like a fan.
   
3. Place the cardboard inside the shoebox and arrange your nail polishes there.

10. Keep your underwear tidy with cardboard boxes

The underwear drawer can be divided by reusing cardboard. This makes it easier to keep clothes neatly arranged and visible.

1. Divide 2 cereal boxes in half lengthwise. Glue the sides together.
   
2. Take rectangular pieces of cardboard that are the same height as the glued boxes. Cut them lengthwise without reaching the edge and use them to create separate spaces.
   
3. Decorate the organizer with fabric, cardboard, or colored paper.
   
4. Arrange the underwear in the compartments.

11. Get a make-up brush holder from a potato chip container

With a potato chip container and a bit of fabric, you get a decorative brush holder.

1. Cut a potato chip container in half.
   
2. Cut out a rectangular piece of fabric or colored paper.
   
3. Place double-sided tape on one end of the fabric or decorative paper. Tape it to the wall of the container, roll it up, and finish taping the other end.
   
4. Store your makeup brushes there.

12. Smart way to reuse shoeboxes

Shoes can be easily stored by reusing the same boxes they came in.

1. Place the lid of a shoebox face up.
   
2. Position the box so that it fits into the lid. For added security, you can glue them together. Repeat with 3 more boxes.
   
3. Arrange your shoes in the spaces.

13. Recycle a plastic bottle to make a practical soap dish

With a plastic bottle, a cutting tool, and some glue it is possible to create a practical soap holder for the bathroom.

1. Remove the lid from a large plastic bottle.
   
2. Use the lid to mark a circle on the surface of the bottle. Make a larger circle next to it, the size of a liquid soap container you have. You can use it as a reference.
   
3. With a box cutter, cut out the circles you drew.

4. Separate the top of the bottle, then trim and remove the spout and handle from the bottle.

5. Use glue to attach the cut-out spout to the smaller circle on the side of the bottle.

6. Place your liquid soap container in the larger circle and the bar of soap in the side compartment.

14. Assemble a cosmetic holder with cardboard boxes and tubes.

In addition to being tidy, cosmetics look great inside an organizer made from shoeboxes and cardboard tubes.

1. Remove the lid from a shoebox.
   
2. Glue 4 cardboard tubes to each corner of the box.
   
3. Glue the lid onto the cardboard tubes.
   
4. Decorate and use the organizer to hold your beauty products.

15. Another way to keep your shoes neat and tidy

Instead of accumulating shoes, you can organize them by reusing pieces of cardboard boxes in an original way.

1. Disassemble a cardboard box, cut off the side flaps so that 3 sides remain.
   
2. Tape the ends together to form a triangle.
   
3. Join 9 or more triangles together to make a pyramid.
   
4. Arrange your shoes in the spaces inside each triangle.

16. Create a beautiful desk bookcase with cereal boxes.

Another way to use empty cereal boxes is to recycle them to create a stylish bookcase.

1. Join 3 cereal boxes together. Mark a straight line on the front with a ruler and pencil.
   
2. Mark a diagonal line on the side and a straight line on the top back. Cut them out.
   
3. Decorate with colored paper, cardstock, or fabric. Use the bookcase to organize the papers and notebooks on your desk.

17. Create a basket for your cleaning products with cardboard.

A basket made of cardboard is ideal for transporting and keeping cleaning products in one place.

1. Take a shoebox and mark a triangle on each side. Cut them out.
   
2. Mark 2 rectangles on the base and cut them out.
   
3. Put glue all over the base of the box and around the holes.

4. Fold the box so that both ends are glued together.

5. Glue the lid of the box on one side and trim the excess cardboard.

6. Glue the leftover piece of the lid on the opposite end to reinforce the basket.

7. Decorate with fabric, colored paper, or cardboard. Arrange the cleaning products in the basket.