Sunday, July 27, 2008

DIY ladder shelves

Hope you all had a great weekend. I feel like I've been away for awhile...we've all been busy having so much fun with my sister and nieces. I've been wanting to share this DIY barn project with all of you for some time now. Hopefully it will inspire you to create your own unique storage system.

As my mother unpacked her collection of vintage toys and art materials, she soon found that she was in desperate need of more storage in her barn studio. Creating her own shelving unit with elements she already had was a creative and economical solution. My mother had an old ladder, which she positioned on the diagonal in a corner. We hunted around for left over barn wood and sawed them to size. By sliding them onto the steps and rungs of the ladder, we created a functional pyramid of organization. We added vintage gym locker baskets...wire egg baskets...

a seed sorter with old wooden berry baskets...metal library card catalog drawers...old picnic baskets...and a Balinese stacking lunch pail.

It's fun to have so many interesting places to put everything!

Pin It

10 comments:

  1. . . . And so many interesting things to put in them! I bet each one holds a fascinating story of its origin, history, and how it came to your mom.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love these old ladders. I have been looking for one for my garden. Thanks for sharing the pics of your mom's barn, I look forward to them.

    http://www.organizingconnection.com/Blog.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  3. I did a variation of this for my pottery sales. Painted mine a pale blue-grey. It worked well for small items.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, this is exactly what I saw as a kid on a decor magazine and always wanted to do in my own room, but never did. I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the way this looks. Brilliant.

    However, I just caught my sixteen month old daughter climbing a ladder that was propped against a tree in the garden, so I may have to wait until she can get down from a ladder without humpty dumpty effect.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a great, creative display!

    ReplyDelete
  7. So glad you're enjoying these shelves! I really love hearing your thoughts and feedback.
    Bridgmanpottery- I'll have to check through flikr to see if you've got a picture of yours up!
    Rowena- You are so right,these are definitely not a childproofed approach to organization...but they work well for a studio. Sounds like you have an adventurous climber on your hands:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. brilliant! i am already trying to find a spot in my apartment so i can make one of these.

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOVE the ladder.
    With your permission, I would like to blog about it on my blog!
    GREAT JOB!

    Tumaini Rivera
    www.flippinfactory.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete