DIY projects to organize your home

If living with stacks of plastic storage bins makes you feel like you're still stuck in a dorm, you're not alone. 

Apps can help you organize your digital life, but real-life clutter calls for real-life solutions. These DIY projects use basic materials paired with compact, cordless tools to create unexpected space so you can live an organized life. 

Project 1. Add Cool Casters 

Transform furniture into mobile organizers with stylish casters. Installing casters under any flat wood surface is easy (use stick-on versions for plastic surfaces). All you need are casters, a screwdriver, and a BLACK+DECKER 12V MAX* Cordless Lithium Drill/Driver with LED lighting so you can see what you're doing. 

Create under-bed storage by screwing casters to the underside of each corner of a shallow wooden box or drawer, or even a piece of thick, flat wood. Adding casters under a wooden crate provides you with an attractive space for organized linens, toys, shoes, or seasonal storage. 

Project 2. Build Hidden Drawers 

Fill the empty space behind a toe-kick, which is the board nailed or stapled to the bottom of a base cabinet where your toes hit, by adding a hidden drawer – no carpenter required. Unexpected storage in kitchens or bathrooms can easily be built from scratch or by using a drawer kit. Simply use a pry bar to carefully remove the toe-kick panel, and follow the drawer kit's instructions. Soon you'll have drawer space for approximately $30. 

Project 3. Streamline with Pegboards 

Pegboards shaped like letters or numbers, primed, painted, and strategically placed, are chic additions to help you organize any room in the house. Use the BLACK+DECKER 4.5 Amp Jigsaw to create custom letters or numbers from a sheet of pegboard. An 8-foot by 4-foot panel costs approximately $20. Simply prime, paint, and voila! 

You now have an organized spot to hang craft or sewing supplies, jewelry, mini clipboards, and more. 

Project 4. Corner Storage 

Turn underused corners of any room into highly functioning organized spaces by adding shelving. You can find precut corner floating wall shelving and brackets at any home improvement store. The shelving comes in fun options like glass, wood, or melamine. Design a floor-to-ceiling arrangement by evenly stacking multiple shelves. You can stain or paint wood shelves the same wall color to have a built-in aesthetic. 

You've just turned an awkward corner into an organized, out-of-the-way display case. 

Project 5. Behind Closed Doors + Drawers 

To better organize your spaces, take advantage of your home's underutilized real estate: inside kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors. Adhere cork tiles (12-inch by 12-inch panels), magnetic boards, and whiteboards on the inside of upper kitchen cabinet doors to hold everything from recipes and grocery lists to calendars and notes. On the inside of a deep drawer, attach small hooks to hang measuring spoons and peelers that often get lost. 

Apply the same principle to bathrooms. Affix an upright plastic magazine holder on the inside of a cabinet door to organize a hairdryer and accessories. You can also hang slim, plastic baskets on adhesive clips on the inside of a cabinet door to organize toiletries. Screw in a magnetic knife strip for easy organization of tweezers, nail clippers, and the like.