See this adorable window seat? It’s pretty awesome right? Just your run of the mill window seat in our guest room/office.

Or is it?

Not so much! This little bench has a secret! Let’s take a peek inside why don’t we….

It’s a filing cabinet!! Plus added storage. Whoda thunk?

We had a lot of files when we moved in together, but no where to keep them. Well, okay, Lars had one of those hideous metal file cabinets and it was super heavy and I didn’t think it was worth moving into the apartment (a third floor walk up) when I didn’t want to keep it for long anyway. So we gave the heavy metal cabinet away, and I started looking online for file cabinets. The cute ones are expensive!

So- I had to get creative for this one. The project cost just about $100. Considering how nice the bench is on its own, I think we did pretty well. Plus, it’s multi functional! Who doesn’t love a storage unit you can sit on?

This is probably the easiest DIY we’ve done in our apartment. And it is super functional. I found the idea, surprise surprise, through pinterest, on the Martha Stewart website. Well, their tutorial was great, but I figured out a simpler way to do it.

Sorry about the ugly file tabs- we were cheap and used masking tape

All you need are a few supplies:

• A storage bench large enough to accommodate a hanging file frame
• A hanging file frame
• Hanging file folders

Simple enough, right?

Literally all you have to do is put the hanging file frames together and place them in the bench. You can also tape or secure them down in some way if you want to, but it may not be necessary.

We used two 18 inch hanging file frames and still had room left over, so I got a storage bin that fit the leftover dimensions for added storage. Our home office/ guest room is still a work in progress (though I’m hoping to reveal it soon!) so we haven’t added office supplies into the storage bin yet.

I can guarantee you this DIY will take you 20 minutes or less. If you are like me, and get your bench from a second hand store, you can also make this really affordable too. Definitely a win win!
Now all our files are organized and hidden out of sight. And there is a nice place to sit by the window in our guest room/ office.

Get excited to see our guest room/ home office reveal in the next few weeks! This is just a sneak peek of one DIY in the room, but the rest of it is gonna be awesome. And organized, obviously.

The post DIY File Bench appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

If you read as many pinterest posts on the best organizing tips as me, you’ll know that one of the important things to do to keep yourself organized it to take advantage of all spaces. Even ones that don’t seem obvious.  A lot of people keep things under their beds, but if you’re anything like me you might just end up shoving things down there that you don’t use very often. Making drawers for under your bed can make your under bed storage more functional and useful. You can even use them for clothes and replace a dresser with them!

I was inspired by a tutorial from Martha Stewart. This is an awesome easy DIY that you can do in 20 minutes or less. All you need are a few simple supplies:

Get your supplies together

Supplies:

• A box or bin at least 2″ shorter than the height of the bottom of the bed frame
• appropriately sized casters (I used these 4 Pcs 1″ Plastic Wheel Rectangle Top Plate Fixed Swivel Caster Set)
• screws for the casters (the shorter the better) and a screwdriver

Directions:

• Line the wheels up in each corner
• Use the screwdriver to screw the casters in place
• Turn it over and admire your handiwork

If I’m strong enough to screw this in, you definitely are.

Now here is where I ran into a problem. I knew there would be one because the shortest screws we could find were 1/2 inch which was longer than the base of the bin. So the screws ended up sticking through the bottom of the drawer.

Slight problem

The obvious answer for this would have been to reinforce the corners with thin pieces of wood, but I didn’t have any and I wanted this to be a 20 minutes or less DIY! So I had to get resourceful. And what I did have was my trusty glue gun and an extra old tshirt that my hedgehog sometimes sleeps in.

I cut up the shirt and folded the edges under, and glued it to the bottom of the drawer. Problem solved. Now whatever I keep in the drawer won’t get snagged on the screws.

Problem solved!

Now you’ve got an awesome new storage solution you made yourself. Pretty great.

It works!

The post Under bed storage: DIY underbed drawers appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.