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DIY Rolling Storage Cart

Every time a few days go by without me writing a post, I feel so strange and disconnected from my happy place.  I really, really miss blogging more frequently and truly appreciate this amazing community, and look forward to amping things back up again down the road.  But my absence has been really great for me behind the scenes, as I have been able to give my shop some much needed time and I am #thisclose to getting my planner released.  This week I am also jet setting across the country to speak at Bloom Bash Seattle!  It is my first trip to the area and I am really excited to do a little exploring, networking and coming home with some new ideas.  My husband, intense 49er's fan, is excited to wear his red and gold apparel in Seahawk territory.  Let's hope he doesn't land in jail somewhere....


Today I am popping in with another sweet and simple DIY.  One that I almost made far too complicated.  One that I almost decided to scrap.  But it is also one that just about any DIY beginner should feel comfortable tackling. Although about halfway through I questioned whether the project was going to pan out, it ended up being a darling little fit for our laundry room.


This project began like many of our other DIY and organizing projects do, out of pure frustration!  We have a folding counter in our laundry room, yet I also use the space to hold our stain removal kit (which I find myself reaching for ALL of the time), sewing supplies and other random items that are dropped there over the course of the week.


Truthfully, the counter has begun to bow and the pretty paper backdrop has bubbled and curled in the corners due to the room's humidity.  Someday soon we would like to update it all with a sturdier folding surface and pretty backsplash tile, we just aren't quite there yet.  But back to the problem at hand... with all of the items landing on the counter, I really don't have an effective place to fold (or sew).  It's a bit of a hot mess.


And no, I don't neeeeed those flowers there for any other reason than they make me happy and they were leftover from a recent photo project.  But the rest of the items that land here, are all items we use often. 

So, the cart.  Wanting to also create something as part of this month's organizing challenge, I thought we would try to DIY with a new supply.  That supply that I picked was plumbing parts.  That supply didn't end up in the outcome of the final product though, but that was ultimately for the better.  I couldn't resist sharing the story anyway, because the cart ended up being functional and fabulous and even budget friendly.



What we did use:

• 1 - 1" x 12" x 4' board, cut into two 12" wide by 14" long pieces
• 2 - 1" x 6" x 8' boards, cut into eight 6" wide by 14" long pieces 
• 1 - 1" x 2" x 8' board, cut into four 2" wide by 22" long pieces
• 4 - Clear Casters
• Wood Glue (previously owned)
• Brad Nailer (previously owned)
• Drawer Pull (previously owned)
• Paint (previously owned)

The construction of the cart began my making two very basic boxes.  We cut all of our pieces at home, but most home improvement stores can also do that for you right at the store.


The 14" long 6" boards were glued and nailed around the perimeter of the 1" x 12" board.


We did that twice.

Now, what not-to-do.  The plan was to use plumbing pipe to connect/stack the two boxes.  I was also going to spray paint the pipe to dress things up.  To install the pipe, we used a drill bit that was slightly smaller than the pipe coupling and drilled halfway through the bottom of the wood board.



But once we connected everything together, the scale of the boxes to the pipe was all wrong.  Yikes.  The cart was instantly top heavy, and not in a good way!


After some pondering and finally being OK that the pipe just wasn't going to work, we solved the problem by affixing 1" x 2" boards to outside corners of the cart with a couple of screws.

Also, I really want to take a moment to talk about my favorite moment in this entire project.  I found these "acrylic and gold" looking casters at our local Ace Hardware.  Love at first sight!  At $10 for four, they were not the cheapest option, but they are by far the prettiest I have seen.


Installation of the casters went quick. We used an appropriately sized bit and drilled into the edge pieces used for the walls of the box construction (because the edges were deeper than the floor of the box to accommodate the casters).


Then pressed the casters in place.



So stinking cuuuuute!  I filled in the nail holes, painted her up (Sherwin William's Sea Salt), attached a drawer pull, and now she holds all of my laundry room counter clutter.


The casters and drawer pull make it really easy for me to pull the cart out from under the counter when I need to access the stain or sewing supplies.  They also gave the plain cart a little character.


And now I am back to using the counter for its original purpose... folding!  No more eye rolling or quiet curses because there is too much counter clutter for me to get my daily chore completed.  Is it appropriate to throw a party to celebrate this small and simple victory?


We used a combination of store purchased supplies and supplies we already had at home, bringing our total investment in at under $25.  Considering we were able to customize it to our specific dimensions and color, I am happy with that nice number.  And just think of all the use we can get out of this piece down the road should our laundry room requirements change.  The size, shape and design make it the perfect candidate to be used in the garage, craft room, kid's room, bathroom... it's definitely a versatile one!

It's been so nice catching up today!  Another Jen will be back tomorrow with another DIY that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  And if you don't plan to get your power tools out anytime soon, her project will also provide organizational and storage eye candy as well.  #ipromise

Now, I am off to plan our next "new supply" project and protect my husband from an abundance of Seattle fans...