Milk Crate Clothing Storage

Intro: Milk Crate Clothing Storage

// rustlabs

// idea
i don't like to fold or sort my clothes it seems kinda pointless to me.. i will admit that im not a very organized person i usually just leave my clothes on the floor in a laundry basket until they are all dirty and wash them again. but this has gotten progressively worse and eventually i just had to scratch through a pile of clothes on my floor to find stuff.

i had to think of something that would allow me to keep my clothes in an unorganized pile but not on the floor. a couple of ideas came to mind, like a wall of hooks i could just throw clothes at and they would stay like Velcro. but the more i thought about it the stupider it sounded... eventually i thought of using milk crates for storage when i saw one being used for sandpaper storage in my workshop.

STEP 1: Design

the shelf's were designed to be as simple as possible. each milk crate is hooked at the top by a wall mounted plank of wood and the bottom of the crate rest's on the hook shelf below it continuing through all shelves. this gives the crates an upward angle which will stop clothes from possibly falling out :)

STEP 2: Construction

// finding stuff

crates
i am not sure where milk crates come from exactly, maby cows i donno?
different colors are hard to find, the most common are black red and blue, but after much searching i found some green and even an orange!

hooks
go to your local hardware store and buy some hooks, mine are surprisingly small. the ones i used only have about a 3 cm diameter.

// construction

start with the construction of your wooden shelf, these have the hooks to hold the crates and also give them an upward angle. i spaced my hooks 140mm apart (crate grabbing width) with a 230mm gap between each pair. milk crates vary allot in shape, but not size. each color is a different kind of crate usually in the weave of it, so some will be harder to hook than others, i used some tin scissors to cut the backs of the crates so they would all fit easily.

use a stud finder to find the beams in your walls then attach right angle brackets to the wall and then to your hook shelf. repeat.

STEP 3: Milk It.

fin

now just hook some colorful milk crates on in whatever order you want, get creative its your wall to mix up :)

thanks for reading.

Comments

[Annie Obie]

Could you share what kind of hooks you used.. like pix? Even a screenshot from the hardware store's website would be helpful.

[reikimaster5555]

been doing this for years. I switch these out from winter sweaters to summer tops and shorts. I attached all the crates together with wire on all four sides then attach to wall by hooks. mine has been up for about 20 years. people have been doing this forever, lets call it 'old school' storage

[Queen Nifer]

Just put this up in my daughter's closet. It is so sturdy. I hope that this system will finally get her to keep her clothes off the floor. lol. Thanks for sharing your design.

[Nettiemac]

Great idea, and if you have to move, your clothes are already packed! LOL

Going to use this for my kids who also have problems putting their clothes in their dresser drawers - and their toys, and assorted other junk.

[vickishelton]

this is a great ideal, I have a closet that i'm going to use the crates in for my shoes im using your ideal thanks very much..

[archerj]

I get plastic crates like this at the local fruit and veg. stand. They set them outside after emptying them, and anyone is welcome to take them.

[PTLKustoms]

wow, blown away - I wish I'd thought of this while i was still single and able to do it!
Cheers bro (I'm in Brissy too)

[nativity4me]

this is one of the BEST ides ive seen yet! im gonna do this for my 15 year old sons room! (grab my dresser back..lol) awesome idea. college idea, great for small spaces, single ppl, and ppl who like to organize (like myself) my sons not one too fold either, so this system should work out amazingly well for him! it can also, expand on demand as well! cheap too! thanks for the idea!  MICHELLE

[crafthooligan111]

this looks awesome! it will totally help me, thanks!

[the_fox]

I love this so much. This would work for so many storage bins and really suits my insanely messy habits.

[BarginsTech]

good idea! not just these crates, but if you drill holes in the bottom of others you could use them with nails in the wood instead of hooks.

[BarginsTech]

you could spray paint the crates for more patterns and designs :]

[barbwired]

nifty idea! i could use this for my daughter's room. good work! i agree, we can't be all martha stewart right away. kudos to real living!

[anonygrazer]

I think it's an A+ project simply because it doesn't show that a great storage system won't suddenly make us all Martha Stewart's. Sometimes we'll just be slobs with a little more floor room!

[jmacfarlane823]

five stars rated :)

[payneypuff]

i like this idea! it would be great for my 8 year old sons bedroom. and to those of you who are calling the author out for stealing, you can find "immitation" milk crates at your local wal-mart or target or whatever you have... they just call them storage bins. theyre exactly the same.

[dtripodi]

You are aware that this is stealing? Milk crates are the property of the supplier - you stole those ones that you 'found' in the loading bays...

[marielind]

great idea, man! I love how you turned around your all-on-the-floor to -totally-off-the-floor! :D

[CybergothiChe]

Yeah, milk crates rock...are you in Australia, because those look like the milk crates we have here, in Australia...but perhaps the milk crate design is standardized...

[King_Changus]

yeah man. i'm on the gold coast.