The Stylish Storage Gem You Can Snag from Etsy (and It’s Vintage, Too!)

I’ve been an avid Etsy shopper for over a decade. I started using the site to purchase personalized jewelry and accessories back in college (if you, too, were in school in the early 2010s, you’ll probably remember the popularity of all things monogrammed at the time!). Once I had moved into my own apartment, Etsy was an excellent resource to score everything from affordable wall art (Hint: They have great digital downloads that you can print at home) to thoughtful gifts for friends. 

My love for Etsy certainly hasn’t dwindled over the years; I often find myself scrolling through the website at least a couple of times per week. My latest category of item to search for? Pretty fabric-covered boxes, which I currently have displayed all throughout my apartment.

After coming across a beautiful fabric-covered box at a flea market in Paris a couple of years back, I realized just how useful these are in a small apartment like mine. The original box sits in my bedroom and looks super-stylish housing cards and letters from loved ones (I hold onto everything!). I’ve also stashed other mementos like playbills and paper souvenirs from trips there, too. 

Luckily, I’ve also seen tons of these stunning fabric boxes on Etsy, and I couldn’t recommend buying one more. I truly use them everywhere now — one sits inside of my top dresser drawer holding extra makeup products, while another there one holds pieces of jewelry. And I have several more!

My hope is to stock up on even more of these boxes to give to my friends as gifts. Because they are handmade and often vintage, they feel more personal than a standard birthday or housewarming gift yet don’t cost too much. My latest purchase was just $30. 

While I’ve outlined a few ways that I like to use these types of boxes above, here are a few other ways to consider using them in your space:

• Use a fabric box to conceal remotes on a coffee table. 
• Place a fabric box on your bathroom shelf to house loose hair accessories such as clips, ponytail holders, and the like.
• Turn a larger fabric box into a toolbox of sorts: Fill it with basic hardware supplies including nails, hooks, a measuring tape, and a screwdriver. 
• Style a fabric box on the bookshelf, and place a collection of matchbooks inside. 
• As you can see, the possibilities are truly endless. In my opinion, boxes like these will be timeless, meaning that you’ll be able to cherish yours for years to come. Happy hunting!