Crafty! Under Bed Storage Drawers

When you rededicate a closet to be a laundry room, you seriously cut down on the amount of storage space that you have. In January when we came up with the idea to do just that as part of the bathroom remodel, we knew we'd need to come up with some extra clothing storage from somewhere. A few years ago I'd seen these under bed storage boxes on Martha Stewart's website. At the time we didn't need them, but they'd been in the back of my mind since then. Happily, we have a poster bed that is tall enough to accommodate them. Back in February while the plumber and tile guys were doing their work in the bathroom, Matt was out in the garage making the boxes, one for him and one for me...

They are 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep, and tall enough that with the casters on they just fit under our bed. Matt used MDF, and OMG they are heavy. Which is probably good, otherwise the kids would be messing with them all the time - although actually, I'm amazed that up to this point they've left them alone, given that they're on wheels and all. Maybe my threats really sank in for once :) When Matt was finished making them, I primed and painted them, and sealed them with wipe-on polycrylic, then added drawer pulls.

Martha says to use a fabric-to-wood snap kit to attach a fabric cover to the top. Now since I didn't bother to actually look for the link until I was finished and ready to post about it, I'd forgotten that piece & bought 7 yards of velcro. I glued the hook side to the long edges of the box with E6000. Wood glue and hot glue didn't hold. If the E6000 doesn't hold I'll probably be looking for the snap kits...

I hemmed the edges of the fabric I used for the top (extra fabric leftover from a slipcover project, so that was FREE!), and sewed the loop side of the velcro to the long edges. I wanted them to be washable & not have the velcro get stuck to the fabric.

I stuck the fabric onto the drawer, and loaded it up with stuff - these things hold a TON! I've only filled up a little more than half of mine with summer sweaters, shorts and capris, and still have plenty of space left. If the weather ever gets around to warming up here, I'll be swapping out the summer things for winter things. 

They fit really nicely under our bed, and even look pretty good - better than the table leaf and storage bags I had stuffed under there, which have now been relocated elsewhere.

I'm really glad I was able to finally use some remnant fabric I've been hanging onto for years, I guess there is a reason why we do those things...

And there you have it, rolled into its resting place. If you have a handy hubby and a tall enough bed, this is a great way to make use of that space under there.