Free is a good price!

When trying to find an inexpensive way to organize and store things, I found that the local Avon lady would give me her shipping boxes for free. I like these boxes because they have lids, and they are the same size so they stack nicely. I used them for storing clothing, Christmas decorations, sewing supplies, seasonal home decor, sheet music, office supplies, etc.
Though they were free, I did spend a little bit to cover the boxes so that they would look better in my house.


From left to right:
Blue box was painted with leftover wall paint. This was a bit messy. One of my friends told me that poster paint worked well for her when painting boxes.
The blue box is leaning on a fabric covered box. This was done by sewing up a sort of tube with squared ends, and was difficult. I think a spray adhesive might have made an easier job of covering the box.
Next we have contact papered boxes. This was more expensive, but durable and pretty.
Then there are the Dollar store wrapping paper boxes. Baby prints for baby items, assorted pastels to match rooms, etc. I used Christmas paper to cover boxes for ornament storage, and just set the empties under the Christmas tree to look nice until they were needed again.
At the very end are the un-adorned boxes. As I understand it, cardboard is not the best long-term storage for one's things, but until I could afford better, these are what I used and I was very pleased with them.