If you are looking to get your home organized on a budget, what better way to do it than turning your trash into a home organization solution!
Everyone loves upcycling ideas. After you finish that bowl of Cheerios, don’t throw out the box just yet! When it comes to organizing your home, you don’t have to have bins or fancy organization systems in order to get the job done. The cereal box you would have considered recycling can be turned into a magazine filer that can be used to hold your hair products!
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Upcycling Ideas for Turning Trash Into Home Organization Systems
If you are looking to get your home organized on a budget, what better way to do it than turning your trash into a home organization solution! These 5 upcycling ideas will have you organized without spending much money at all.
What is Upcycling?
Upcycling is the process of modifying something and giving it a new use instead of throwing it away.
When you upcycle, you create something with a higher quality or value than the original item.
So in our case, it is turning trash into home organization systems.
Why Is Upcycling Better than Recycling?
Recycling requires energy to tear apart something in order to create something else. Think about recycling centers that turn paper waste into new paper.
Upcycling is much more energy efficient. It doesn’t require machines to break down the materials. You can take something and extend its life with a few modifications.
What is the difference between upcycling and repurposing?
Now here is the confusing part – how is upcycling different than repurposing?
The definition of repurposing is using something for a completely new purpose. Like if you use an old tire as a planter. It’s no longer being used for transportation.
Some of the ideas in this list could be seen as repurposing, but all of them are upcycling. It is taking trash and making it even more useful than before.
5 Upcycling Ideas For Home Organization
So before you throw away the items you thought were trash, look at this list. Here are some fantastic ways you can upcycle them. Reuse your old containers to organize problem areas in your house.
1. Reuse jars to hold smaller items around your home
Cupcake liners, cotton balls, Q-tips, and other small items will fit perfectly into your old jars. When you are done using a mason jar or even a pasta jar, clean it extremely well, and make sure to dry it completely.
Next, place your small items in the jar and put a label on it! It’s so easy, and you can give that glass jar a new life!
Another genius upcycle idea was created by The DIY Mom. She used baby food jars to store her spices. The result is beautiful.
2. Use old toilet paper rolls to organize your cords
Instead of throwing away toilet paper rolls when you’re done with them, consider reusing them to keep your cords organized. You can use them to contain your hair tools or even to hold extension cords when they’re not in use.
Make sure to write on the tube what cord you’re storing before you put it away.
You can also use them in drawers to separate various chords that you have to keep. No more tangled messes! Peta Pixel has this tutorial and it’s a very smart idea.
3. Repurpose an old cookie sheet into a “cork board”
Instead of throwing away your old cookie sheets, give it a fresh coat of paint! This will hide any of the discolorations and help make it look nicer. Since the cookie sheet is magnetic, you can use it in your office, bedroom, or anywhere in the home just like you would a corkboard!
You can use patterned paper or washi tape to give it a fresh and fun new look. This tutorial is really fun, the colors really pop!
4. Reuse popcorn tins to hold bulk items
Popcorn tins are huge! This makes them the perfect place to store flour, and other baking supplies you may buy in bulk! Since they have to be airtight to hold food, you can use these bins to store dog food and other bulk items around your home.
You don’t have to only use it for food! Keep toys, reusable bags, and anything else you need stored away in these bins.
When you reuse them, decorate them. Either paint them or glue plain paper and put labels on. This way you’ll be able to find what you need.
You can also upcycle a tin into a beautiful trash can. Any of these ideas will be fun and useful around the home.
5. Use old pill bottles to store small items
Small items such as bobby pins, thumbtacks, and even paper clips can be hard to store. Instead of throwing out your old pill bottles, why not repurpose them into a container for these items!
You can paint them to make them look nicer if you want, but they are plenty functional, and you won’t lose those small items if the container falls over!
Pill bottles are the perfect size for lots of projects.
Common Items To Upcycle
As you get ready to upcycle and create new storage systems, here is a list of things to begin to collect. Be creative and make these things work for you.
- Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
- Small containers – pill bottles, gum containers
- Jars – mason jars, baby food jars
- Boxes – cereal boxes, popcorn boxes (Check out how this professional organizer suggests using shoe boxes.)
- Cookie sheets
As you can see, it’s quite easy to turn your trash into a useful organization system that will continue to make your home organized even if it didn’t cost you a dime! Before you go to throw something away, consider repurposing it instead to make it into an organization system for your home. This will not only help you save money but also help you reduce your waste too!
Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
Frequently Asked Questions
In my opinion, it really is better. Recycling centers use energy and sometimes the things we recycle can’t actually be recycled. Upcycling keeps these items out of the landfill and gives them a new life.
It’s one of the best things you can do for the environment. It takes very little energy to help something last longer. Plus, when you upcycle, you aren’t buying more things, you are using what you have.
The only disadvantages to upcylcing is that you might start holding onto things that really should be thrown away. If you don’t have room for all of the future projects you plan on doing, get rid of them. Piles of extra stuff can be unhealthy.
More Home Organization Ideas
Now that you have some upcycling ideas, here are some more home organization articles.
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