January #30DayFlip Challenge - Organization Hack Round Up

January is always a month for starting anew; 2016 is a new year which includes new opportunities, new goals, new projects and new challenges. The challenge for the January #30DayFlip was to complete a project that would help organize a space and help keep clutter in check. This was an open project in that the participants could choose to do anything that would help with organization. It could be big or small; the only catch was that the total budget had to be under $50.00.

Our #30DayFlip members rocked it last month with some truly amazing projects.

Corry from The Furniture Spa kicked butt with her kitchen island de-clutter and armoire storage solutions

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CORRY’S PROJECT SUMMARY: My #30DayFlip Organizing Challenge is to find a way to clean this messy and unorganized catch all kitchen island. I need to find a way to organize papers, receipts, coupons, and mail.

I gathered up all of the items on the kitchen island plus I cleaned out a kitchen drawer that held table cloths, two dining room drawers that held more table cloths, napkins, napkin rings, and place mats.

I covered the shoe boxes with the fabric I was given and glued it to the box to make it more attractive and have a uniform look.

Debra from the DIY Forum completed three organizing tasks this past month, including de-cluttering a magazine corner, a bathroom re-organization, and she even built an amazing cart for her printer. Wowzers!!!!!! Great job Debra 🙂

DEBRA’S PROJECT SUMMARY – I had this ugly corner where I stored magazines, newspapers and books. With a little de-cluttering this corner would look great! I had purchased this burlap basket from Target’s $5 bin and it was PERFECT for the magazines. After getting rid of the wire stand, I decided to leave that corner empty being as the burlap bag fit perfectly under the end table!

I had about $38 left over from my organizing budget so off to Target I went. I found some really great storage ideas and spent the whole $38. And it was well worth it. I found these awesome STACK IT bins for $2.67 each and although they fit inside one another, when you turn one around they STACK!!!

…it was time to build a printer cart, one with storage for all of the printer supplies. I used a lot of leftover wood, black paint and stain that I had from the desk. I basically spent $12 on casters, metal plates and one small piece of wood for the middle shelf. I put all of it together with wood glue, a brad nailer and the T and L plates. And VOILA!! It looks SO much better than paint cans.

Meredith (my lovely co-host of the #30dayflip) from the blog Arts and Classy made these super cute DIY Easy Office Drawer Organizers using pretty scrapbook paper.

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MEREDITH’S PROJECT SUMMARY: My first project I spent about $15 on a bundle of thicker 12×12 scrapbooking paper to make my project! Want to know how I did it?
Here are the supplies you will need for this project:
12×12 Thick scrapbooking paper
Tacky Glue
Paint Brush (Optional)
Mod Podge (Optional)
18 Ruler if you have it. You can make a 12 ruler work though.
Scissors

Christina, another member of our DIY Forum group completed three organizing projects this month, by building a mini “Zoo” for her kids stuffed animals, creating a command center, and building an oh-so-sweet magazine holder.

CHRISTINA’S PROJECT SUMMARY: I wanted to use my new tool for a magazine storage solution! And I wanted to make it monogrammed, so with a cutout of a R I traced it on some 1/4 inch red oak plywood $9.99 for a large sheet. and used the scroll feature to cut out my R (first time doing something like that). I measured and used my tool as a table saw to create the sides. And used thicker leftover pine I already had on hand, to make the spine of the box.

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CHRISTINA’S PROJECT SUMMARY: I have 3 young boys, so we have endless projects, schedules and to-dos! So we were in desperate need of a command center, but on a budget! Our hot mess of a corner got a much needed face-lift and on a HUGE budget! This is the end result. The shelf is a pallet (free) cut to make a shelf, I added another piece of board from the pallet (cut to fit) the bottom so items wouldn’t fall through. I stained it with my homemade vinegar/steel wool mix for an weathered look 🙂

CHRISTINA’S PROJECT SUMMARY: I have 3 boys and stuffed animals are a MUST but are also a MESS!! They refuse to get rid of any but they were constantly on the ground and stuffed in the crack between the bed and wall. So I adapted some of these zoos I found on Pinterest and created one to suit our needs.

For the full tutorial on how Christina made this, click here

And lastly is the organization project Sue (hey…..that’s me) completed for the January Challenge. I chose to transform a used bookcase into a pretty built-in for my home office.

SUE’S PROJECT SUMMARY: This hack was perfect for the month of January, as it’s a time when everyone is still motivated to get things neat, tidy and organized. I loved this theme, since it motivated me to FINALLY install a bookcase in my office/guest room/playroom.

Click here to see the full blog post.

I would like to thank all the wonderful members of the DIY Forum and the #30dayflip who participated in the January Challenge. Also a big thank you to Jeanette from Snazzy Little Things and Meredith from Arts and Classy for all their work with the DIY Forum and #30dayflip. If you haven’t yet joined the DIY Forum on Facebook, and you love DIY, furniture makeovers, crafts, full room makeovers and gathering with like-minded people, just click below to request to Join.

Consider signing up for the #30dayflip Monthly Challenges on the link below:

We hope to see you on the DIY Forum. This forum is open to anyone enthusiastic about DIY, creatives, bloggers, and you don’t have to participate in the #30dayflip to be a member of the DIY Forum (but we’d love it if you did). There are A LOT of new and exciting things we’re doing this year, including LIVE weekly broadcasts on Periscope where we will review our progress on the monthly flips, as well as Giveaways, support, advice from other members…… and more.

Don’t forget the AMAZING prizes for this month’s #30dayflip project winner!!!! These prizes were generously donated by Meredith from Arts & Classy and include a Ryobi Cordless Jigsaw + a $50 Home Depot Gift card. These are perfect for the seasoned DIYer looking to upgrade their tools or the beginner. Thanks Meredith 🙂 Stay tuned for information on how to vote, which will be provided on the DIY Forum facebook page.

See you soon everyone,