{Cheap & Chic} Simple Storage :: DIY Fabric Covered ALDI Boxes

While organizing and staging our master bedroom last fall,

I decided that these clear plastic boxes had to go.

They are decent, I suppose, for standard use, 

as they sort off-season clothing and handbags,

but we are now in the process of staging this house to sell it.

I didn't want what was in our closet to distract buyers.

I wanted grownup, fabric-covered storage boxes.

However, we needed eight or more of them,
and they were a retail price of $12 to $20 each!

I couldn't afford to spend that much!

Then, one afternoon, while shopping at Aldi,
I was grabbing a bag of powdered sugar,

when I noticed that the bulk boxes
in which the sugars were displayed

were perfect for our needs.
They even had lids!

Over the next few shopping trips,

I confiscated a total of eight boxes and their lids,
and they absolutely were free!

They weren't very pretty at first,
since I was only interested in them for their shape and size:
they were 11 1/2" deep by 16" wide by 10" high.

Then, on a stop at Wal-Mart,

I bought eight yards of a patterned outdoor fabric.
It was $2 a yard on clearance.

Lovely, isn't it?

I gathered my supplies

(scissors, ruler, and hot glue gun)

 and got to work.

Two hours later, 

I had a set of eight fabric-covered boxes.

Some of the boxes' display panel inserts 

needed to be secured with tape before covering. 

 I didn't use a pattern.

I simply started at one corner

and hot-glued the fabric along each corner edge 

as I wrapped the box.

On the fourth and last edge, I folded under the fabric and glued it.

I snipped at the corners to make tabs.

I glued the tabs inside the box, 

and then did the same with the lid.

I did the same on the bottom.

I glued another square of fabric on the bottom, 

and turned the edges under and glued them down.

This is the bottom of the box.

Here are the finished boxes in the redesigned closet.

I briefly considered adding label tags,

but since these were done for staging our home to sell 

(descriptions of the boxes' contents are distracting and personal), 

I will add the labels once we've moved.

With all of the money that I saved on the boxes

(I paid $17 --this includes tax-- for this project!),

I was able to spruce up my closet with new wooden hangers 

and paint in Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue HC-144.

We've checked one room off our home staging TO DO list!


The next space is our master bathroom.
Stay tuned!

Partying with Allison at House of Hepworths. Celebrating at Shabby Creek Cottage with Gina. First time at Becky's Beyond the Picket Fence.