DIY tidy ideas

So the August break was great. So great that I totally forgot to post up these pictures last night... as promised in today's column in the Independent on Sunday, which is all about quick and cheap diy ideas for organising your space...

...ideas intended to prevent the kind of procrastination I know I'm prone to about such things ('oh no, I need to buy special shelves from that special shop before I tidy up that chaotic corner' or 'no point dealing with that dump-everything top drawer as I have nowhere else to put the contents'... You know). Anyway, apologies for the slight delay in providing the images to illustrate. But they're here now. To read the accompanying text, check out today's New Review. I shall post up a fuller version of that, too, later in the week.

Coat hanger bookshelf
You can see more fantastic ideas from the super stylish Norwegian blog Brigg in this previous post about it.

Printing block toothbrush holder
This is taken from Rebecca Protor's excellent soon-to-be-out book, Recycled Home (Laurence King). Find blocks like this from £4.95 each at Not on the High Street.

PVC pipe shoe storage
Since I wrote the column, which talks about making shoe storage from PVC pipes, and fixing them to a wall, I've found an even easier way to do this – using cardboard tubing and a roof-rack strap. No nails, it's barely even DIY. Brilliant. Read full details over at Apartment Therapy.

But if you do like the PVC look (I think it's an excellent effect, very clean and modern-looking), check out this how-to at the Cookie Loves Milk blog. And if you don't find the pipes in the colour you need, here are some clever instructions on how to recolour PVC.

Tin can wall organiser
Find out how to make one your own Uten.silo-style wall-hung organiser, over at Meg Spaeth's blog, Elsie Marley.

The original design classic, Dorothee Becker's Uten.silo, which you could buy at the lovely Lollipop Shoppe.

Bulldog clip cable tidy
No explanation (or DIY) required...

Blog fancy: Brigg

Do you ever look around your unfinished home and sigh, thinking that if only you could justify spending the cash, you could resolve all sorts of small-scale domestic frustrations – from creating better storage, to more stylish seating, better lighting... if you're anything like me, the list goes on.

Which is why I was very happy this morning to discover a brilliantly inspiring Norwegian blog, called Brigg, which proves over and over again in its creative posts, that the solution is – literally – often right in front of you, and will cost you nada (not even a degree in DIY)...

Photo: http://briggslekehus.blogspot.co.uk/

Coat hanger bedside shelf This is a staggeringly simple idea. Yes, you could spend some time painting a wire coat hanger a good colour, but even unpainted it's a good-looking, space-saving solution to where to put your magazine or book at bedtime, particularly where space is limited.

In my own bedroom, I have a mezzanine that my mattress sits on and it goes right up to the walls each side. Meaning no bedside table space. This would have worked perfectly (perhaps several of them on each side of the bed). Instead, when I did it up, I found a perspex kitchen cupboard divider in the Ikea kitchen accessories section to use for the purpose; a shallow rectangular box that I attached to the wall on one side. Things on the other side get stuffed down the side of the mattress. Which isn't ideal. So I think I'll try this in my imminent bedroom re-decoration project. Watch this space.

Photo: http://briggslekehus.blogspot.co.uk/

Paper bag vase I have lots of small vases or jugs or jars to put little bunches of flowers in. But for large blooms, options are limited. And even with small arrangements, sometimes the right container for the job just doesn't go as well as it could with the flowers. Or you want matching vases but have recently cleared out (as we did the other week) your overflowing 'I'll keep these jars in case they come in handy for something' cupboard. Solution? Put a bag over it. What doesn't go with brown paper? 

Photo: http://briggslekehus.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Bedroom storage Just goes to show that with a tiny bit of pimping – painting one drawer with blackboard paint, wall-mounting the unit and adding an interesting lump of wood to dangle things from above – a plain old Ikea Moppe mini chest of drawers can become a feature rather than just a functional thing announcing that you shop in the Swedish megastore.

Photo: http://briggslekehus.blogspot.co.uk/

Dog bed I love this (and the cheeky little hound modelling it). I have old cushions and pillows – rather than a zig-zagged child's mattress, as used here – that I could use to the same end, along with the dog's favourite bit of soft fabric. Belts, eh? Genius. If you don't have suitable or spare trouser holders to hand, luggage straps would do. You can also make stools using them around piles of magazines, like this.

Love that light arrangement, too. I have one of those industrial/outdoors lightbulb garlands in my under-stairs cupboard, left behind by the previous owners who'd strung it up with multicoloured bulbs in the garden. I have never quite worked out what to do with it... until now.

Do check out more excellent ideas and beautiful images from Brigg yourselves.