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House of Hawthornes

DIY Projects, Gardening Tips And Thrifty Decor Ideas

Drawers Turned Cubby

By 51 Comments

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.

Via Pottery Barn
Then I saw the $129.00 price tag.

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.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.

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.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.

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.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.

Then I just filled in some of the cubbies with random stuff.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.
Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.
Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.

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.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.

My favorite part of this is the rusticness of it.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.

And the slightly rusty drawer pulley thingies are the icing on the cake.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.

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.

Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.
Thrift store drawers turned into Pottery Barn style cubbies - super easy DIY project.




Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. JunqueMagnet

    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.

    Reply

  6. Polly

    I like yours waaaaaay better! And for .25 cents each!!! That is awesome! Excellent finds and excellent use of them!! love ’em!!

    Reply

  10. LizlovesVintage

    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

    Reply

  11. marty (A Stroll Thru Life)

    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

    Reply

  13. Pat

    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?

    Reply

  17. Katie@LeBeauPaonVictorien

    Very cool, Pam! I like yours WAY better than the PB organizer. Yours is unique and truly vintage (not repro like theirs!) Great job!

    Reply

  26. Jane

    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

    Reply

  28. Donna

    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:)

    Reply

  33. Cass @ That Old House

    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 ….

    Reply

  35. Denise S.

    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!

    Reply

  37. WhyCuzICan

    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

    Reply

  38. Babs

    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.

    Reply

  40. Faye ~ Wild Rose Vintage

    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

    Reply

  41. The Polka Dot Closet

    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

    Reply

  43. Gloria (The Little Red House with the White Porch)

    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

    Reply

  45. Little Vintage Cottage

    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

    Reply

  48. Pam of Eastlake Victorian

    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

    Reply

  50. suzieQ

    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.

    Reply

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