Unlock Extra Storage In Your Bathroom With This Brilliant Shoebox Hack

For those with small bathrooms, having a place to store your toiletries and supplies can be difficult, and sink countertops or toilet tank surfaces often become cluttered with these items. However, with this hack, you can DIY a stylish storage container with an item you would typically throw out. With just an old shoebox, hot glue, and some imagination, you can make a faux basket or a cute box to keep your bathroom organized. For more of a basket style, you can use jute cord ($1.25 at Dollar Tree), twine, or a braided rope cord (about $5 at Michaels) to decorate your shoe box. Additionally, you'll want some simple fabric to line the inside of your bathroom storage box.

For a different aesthetic, try utilizing decorative paper, such as scrapbook paper, to make your shoebox storage pop. If your bathroom has a nature or flower theme, floral-striped scrapbook paper (less than $1 per piece) from Hobby Lobby is a great choice. For a more sophisticated look, you might try the silver textured scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby instead. Whichever option you decide on, all you'll need to do is cut the paper in line with the measurements of all sides of your box, inside and out. With larger pieces of paper, you may be able to wrap the outside of the box. Then, all you have to do is glue the paper in place — you can even decorate your storage container with ribbons or bows.

Before you transform your shoebox into a sleek container, you'll want to ensure the box is sturdy, so apply hot glue to the seams of the box to prevent it from falling apart later on. To make your box look like a basket, there are a few ways you can use your cord. The easiest method is to wrap the string around the box, securing it with hot glue as you go. Start from the bottom of the box, working your way around and then up, creating layers of cord. Make sure that you keep your string close together so that you cannot see the shoebox underneath it. Dabbing a dot of hot glue onto the ends of your cord and twisting them a little can help prevent them from fraying in the future.

Cord can also be used for a woven appearance. Make evenly spaced pencil marks around the bottom of your shoebox, along every side. Cut sections of your string to a length that's more than double the height of your box to correspond with the number of marks on your box. Now, fold a piece of cord in half and glue the two ends to one of the marks, repeating until you've covered them all. Glue a doubled-over and very long length of cord to the box's side, then weave your longer cord through the shorter ones, gluing to the cardboard in between the intersections. Then just continue until the entire shoebox is covered.

If you've made a basket with your shoebox, you'll still need to line the inside. To make it look like a real basket, you'll need a rectangular piece of fabric or burlap. This could be a clever way to repurpose unwanted pillowcases, but you could use any scrap fabric or even buy a small amount of a pattern you like. With a pillowcase, you'll need to cut it open and then cut out a rectangular piece that is large enough to cover the entire inside of your box, with excess fabric to fold over the edges at the end. Fold your fabric in half lengthwise, so that the wrong side is facing out. Use fabric glue or sewing to attach the two sides, leaving the top open. Apply more glue or sew across the corners of your fabric to create a square shape for your liner, then measure your box to see how far in you need to take the corners. 

Place your liner into your shoebox and fold the ends of the fabric over the sides of the box. The liner could be glued inside the box if you wish; however, there could be downsides to this depending on what you'll store in the container. For example, if your shoebox storage holds makeup and some of it spills, you'll want to be able to remove and wash the liner. If your shoebox is a cute DIY toilet paper storage solution, gluing the liner shouldn't cause problems.