9 Unexpected Home Items You Can Repurpose Into Stylish Storage Pieces

Your home is brimming with stylish storage potential—it just takes a little creativity and imagination to see it. Good news: We did a little digging and uncovered a bunch of ways you can organize your place with common household items in unexpected ways. Don’t believe us? From eyeglass cases to ice cube trays and more, read ahead to see how to streamline your space with stuff you’re already sitting on.

Believe it or not, those cheap plastic eyeglass cases you’ve been holding onto are great for organizing personal items in a pinch. Use a glasses case to stash your earbuds, chargers, and other small electronics or cords so you always know where they are. Or you can employ one or two in your junk drawer to store tiny miscellaneous supplies like paper clips and safety pins.

If you thought binder clips were only good for organizing paperwork, then it’s time to think again. Turns out that if you use electrical tape to attach a strong magnet to the edge of a binder clip, you can use them to corral metal-ended cords, like USBs and power cords, so that they don’t dangle or fall off the edge of your desk. You can also use these guys in the pantry or kitchen to keep snacks and bags of dry ingredients closed properly.

Ice cube trays are super versatile. Along with making ice in your freezer a breeze, this cheap dollar store find can help you streamline all sorts of random spaces throughout your home. Throw one in your bathroom drawer to stash things like loose hair ties, bobby pins, and makeup pencil sharpeners, or use it on your vanity for earring studs, backs, and other baubles in lieu of a pricey jewelry box. You could also use one as a desk organizer for push pins, thumbtacks, binder clips, and other similar items.

If you’re sitting on an extra tension rod at home, consider repurposing it for storage. You can install a small tension rod under your bathroom sink to create a hanging rack for spray bottles. Or try this same strategy inside a kitchen cabinet for cleaning supplies or stacking spices, as shown above. You could even use one in a pantry to create a simple paper towel or plastic wrap holder on the cheap.

Searching for a foolproof way to create storage out of thin air? Grab a few small storage baskets—both plastic or wire styles will work—and hang them from Command Hooks to create a wall-mounted storage display in any room of your home in seconds. You could also use small storage baskets, along with that extra tension rod mentioned above, to create a rental-friendly hanging plant display. Anytime you can get pieces off of your floors, it’ll help to make your space look more streamlined and less cluttered.

Stuck with a messy home workstation and no storage system? No problem. Simply repurpose a dish drying rack from the kitchen into a desktop organizer. The slatted openings are perfect for file folders and notebooks. And if your model has a utensil cup, use it to stash pens, pencils, and highlighters. No file cabinet necessary!

Who knew magazine holders had the power to organize everything from your pantry to your closet? Not only can you use them to hold anything from canned goods to cutting boards in your kitchen, they make great handbag holders when you aren’t working with a ton of closet space.

Looking for a DIY project to help you get your home workstation organized and hang little bits of inspiration up? You can turn a cookie sheet into a custom magnet board by lining it with cheap contact paper and mounting it to the wall above your desk with adhesive tape. Genius!

Sitting on a bunch of empty succulent planters that you don’t know what to do with? Cover them in a fresh coat of colorful paint and once dry, you can use them in your bathroom to corral makeup brushes, lipsticks, and liners under your sink, on the counter, or in a drawer. They’re also a great size for a desktop to store pencils, pens, scissors, and other miscellaneous office items in style.