I don’t normally spend too much time on the Pottery Barn site. Like their decorating style, just don’t like their prices. And when you can make most of the stuff yourself or find similar things at garage sales and flea markets, it just doesn’t fit into my frugal little mind to spend a lot on a home decor item.
But my niece had seen an Optician Sign on the Pottery Barn site that she thought was cool and on the way to checking out that, I ran across this Cubby Organizer. I fell in love with it and thought it would be perfect for my office.
After I got done cleaning the Coke off my computer screen from where I had involuntarily spit it, I started to think of ways I could make it myself.
I had these four wooden drawers that I had bought at a garage sale for 25 cents each in May. Yes, May, as in six months ago! They had just been sitting in my garage collecting dust and spiders ever since.
And if you turn them on their end, they sort of look like a shelf. Put all four together and you have my version of the Cubby Organizer.
I removed the staples and labels, cleaned the drawer fronts with Murphy’s Oil soap and applied a coat of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax to spiff them up a bit.
Then I just filled in some of the cubbies with random stuff.
This sits on my work table, so I will fill in the rest of the cubbies with scissors, paint brushes and other non-pretty, but useful items at some point.
My favorite part of this is the rusticness of it.
And the slightly rusty drawer pulley thingies are the icing on the cake.
So, my $1.00 worth of wooden drawers vs the $129.00 Pottery Barn one saved me $128.00 (Yes, my accounting skills at use). It’s like money in my pocket.
I saw that cubby as well and loved it. You did a great job on the shelves.
This is SO much better, Pam! LOVE, love, love it!! Great job!!
Yes, Yes, Yes…Love it!!! I’m glad you didn’t paint them…love the old wood and rusty pulls!!!
Looks great. Don’t you love it when a plan comes together. PB and others can be great jumping off points for idea generators. So much more fun to do with authentic vintage junque and in a frugal way. Enjoy.
love it
I like yours waaaaaay better! And for .25 cents each!!! That is awesome! Excellent finds and excellent use of them!! love ’em!!
Love the idea now I want to find some draws!!!!
Great deal for just a Dollar spent and they give you so much storage!~Hugs, Patti
Ah-haaa…LOVE it!!! Laurel
What great cubbies and Big! Now you can fill those babies up. Yes, the rustic appeals to me too. Yes, I adored all those Xmas ornaments on Ebay also. I want to go up in my attic right now and see what I have. Hey, this can be a post. Ha, Ha. Have a great week Friend.
Ps. Your banner is awesome 😉
xxx Liz
Oh how fun, I love this idea. Your version is just perfect and what fabulous storage. Very smart and clever. Thanks tons for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty
Pam, they look wonderful! Even better than PB!
Debbie
Fantastic job! I love it, and it’s so much more interesting because a real person put stuff in it that they like.Aren’t you clever?
LOVE IT! LOVE IT! What a clever idea. They look fantastic with their original finish. Great job.
Pam, love it and it is vintage. So much better than new not to mention the adorable price. olive
What a great idea!
Good job!
♥’s
Sherry
Very cool, Pam! I like yours WAY better than the PB organizer. Yours is unique and truly vintage (not repro like theirs!) Great job!
It’s like I’m cheating on Pottery Barn when I visit you. I feel so cheap. I like it!
m.
Clever! and Charming! Drawers have lots of potential. Nice job seeing it!
-Revi
What a great idea – they look awesome!
And I absolutely, positively love it!
Brenda
Your cubbies look just as good as PB’s. You did an excellent job restyling them. Way to save lotsa money!
I like yours better!! and not just because they were $128 cheaper!!
great job!
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Hats off to this project.
I like yours better than pottery barn! Fantastic!!
Totally awesome!! I SO love it!! I can’t believe you got those drawers for a quarter apiece!! What a steal.
You have utilized them in such a clever way! And I love the hardware on them.
You are going to have fun decorating that.
Jane
I can’t believe how great these look and what you paid for them! what a steal!
What an awesome way to repurpose your drawers! And the price sure beat the PB! I totally agree with you, their prices are way out of my budget, but I like to get their catalogs just so I can find ideas I can recreate for much, much less:)
Amazing! I love it.
Great idea! You did a great job!
Great idea, and looks great to!
That looks great, Pam. I like the price too 🙂
You are a makeover genius!
This is a wonderful use of those old drawers, and how terrific for them to be starting new careers at their advanced age.
It looks fantastic, too!
Thanks for entering the DISH giveaway at That Old House today. Good luck! — Cass
PS You have orphaned dishes at your house? They can live here, you know ….
Very innovative! It turned out great. thanks for sharing!
Love your drawers and so many uses for them. Just one question can I come junking with you. I still can’t believe you only paid $1.00 for all those beauties!
LOVE it!! What a steal!! I would love for you to come and share for Treasure Hunt Thursday!
I wanna go garage saling with you! NICEEEE! And, for the record, I like your idea BETTER than PB, so there 😛
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Visiting from Savvy Southern Style’s WOW linky party 🙂
Smiles,
Suzanne in NW Illinois
Your storage cubbyies look so good. I love copying PB and you took their design and made it your own. Way to Go! It looka great.
I love your project. Great job!
I’m with you! I love the drawers and how you used them. I’d much rather find something unique and turn it into something so useful. You did a great job! And the price was right. Beside,s where else would you get handles lake that anyway!!!
Faye
Oh Ya! yours is great! I can’t believe you got those for 25 cents each, other people just don’t appreciate old like we do!
Carol
Wow! Amazing! And you can’t beat that price! Happy week!…hugs..Debbie
Love your cubbies! And you know what? I have a bird like you have on top there… mine is a robin’s egg blue — I have two of them actually and one dropped and the tail feather piece broke off! 🙁
BUT NOW…… I LOVE that BLACK bird of yours! Black is my favorite color. I just might paint my “injured” blue bird BLACK. What do you think? 😉
Best,
Gloria
These cubbies are so nifty and way better than the PB pricey ones. You lucked out on that find! Looks awesome!
I love that PB cubby shelf too and have been on the lookout for something that I can make my own out of. Your solution is great, love the patina on the old drawers!!
Tania
Love your look much better than PB – you did a great job!
You are unbelievable girl! Those look awesome, you are such a great inspiration. Better than PB!
The drawers work perfectly as organizers! And I agree, the rusticness makes them extra special. Very cool! And I like that $128 in your pocket… ChaChing!
-Pam
Love them! Great repurpose! pinned!
Susan
Hi Pam, I was reading some upcycled crafts on The Cottage Market site and YOUR drawers were featured. So nice to see you playing with the big kids, your talents are spreading far and wide! I wasn’t shocked to see a picture of these which was fortunate, since I was having my necessary cup of Joe and spitting that out would be a waste of good coffee. I scored some nice drawers “recently” but they don’t have dividers. I figured I could use them for something, thanks for the idea.
Wild, huh! Glad you didn’t have to waste any of your coffee!