Saturday, March 27, 2010

Mail Center

My husband has been bugging me to either buy or make a better mail sorter.

This is what we were working with...

See how it's WAY too small to fit our mail?
We both hated it.

I bought this amazing book at Menards a while back...

On page 20, it shows this amazing storage system.

It's made to house a lot of stuff, though.
The book even shows how to make it on page 187!

Now, of course, I don't need this large of storage for mail, plus it would block a doorway.
Look again at that wall.
See how I only have a little room to work with?


I have this cute little basket that I found at Walmart. This one here houses rolled-up washcloths in my spare bathroom.
It also happens to be the perfect size for mail =D


In the directions, it says to find an old potato crate. I didn't have that.
My husband used to work at a grocery store; in the produce section, actually.
What luck!
We happen to have a pear crate in our basement!

I wanted it to fit the basket perfectly, so I took some measurement and sent everything through my table saw.

I cut the sides in half so that I could have two crates instead of one.
I reattached everything using the original nails that I carefully took out.

The directions say to mount these baskets onto two tracks.
I went to Menards, picked out some decorative trim, painted and glazed it.
I went to mount it....
Wasn't going to happen.
Again, I'm going to show you this awful picture.

See that stupid white electrical receptacle?
I'm not a %&^$#$%^ electrician!!
(Sorry for the outburst, I just hate hangups!)
Heck, I don't even know if the wires are dead. I do know that the stupid receptacle is in the only place that I can mount a track. I know that our living room is an addition to the house, so that was probably a light switch on the back door at one point in time.

"I can figure this out....right?" -Me, actually thinking I should just give up.

Yep. It dawned on me.
I marked two points on my trim or where the receptacle would go.
I raised my table saw blade just barely above the table.
I made several passes through the trim with the blade, eventually getting this...

That wasn't so bad ;)
See how it goes seamlessly over the receptacle?


FINALLY, I stained and polyed the crates to give an older, rustic finish.
I mounted them to the tracks with black metal brackets that I found at Menards (though I would have LOVED vintage cast iron ones!)

My husband brought me home two baskets from Walmart. I plopped them in, and wala!

...and you can barely see that stupid white receptacle...


Features I love:
- Two baskets: one for mail, one for mailing supplies.
- The baskets are large enough to house everything
-The baskets are removable, so when I want to pay bills, I just take the two baskets out and sit at my desk, with everything I need!


Now I just need to figure out some kind of fun wall hook for my dog's leashes!


Anyways, I have another awesome project that I built from reclaimed wood. It's only a few days old, but it's already receiving much deserved attention! Come back for that soon!


12 comments:

  1. I love the orange color! I just painted our basement orange and did a post on it before Christmas!

    Love the vintage junk look and I've never seen that mag! Gotta find it!

    Great job! Stop by and say hello at my painting blog sometime! Jennifer

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  2. Woa... this idea is so clever! I want me some vintage boxes!!!! Love how you just made yours.

    Thanks for linking up this awesome idea to SNS!
    FJ Donna

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  3. That's cool! I love the crate idea! Looks great!

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  4. Great idea and realy good job!

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  5. This is really great. Why not paint the part of the white receptical the orange of the walls?

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  6. LOVE!
    I always love your projects!
    Another great one.
    ~Amy

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  7. I have a similar situation- same scenario-- message center, command central, and an electrical outlet with plugs coming out. I need to disguise it -- this idea may work for me.
    I've been looking for some ideas-
    Yours is classified as a i-GOOD-dea!

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  8. What a great job! I love this idea. I love that you made it into your own too. Thanks for sharing at Fun to Craft's Spring has Sprung Party!

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  9. I love this! Great idea.

    I also love that you measure height growth... we did that when I was growing up - the marks are still there too :)

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  10. I'm totally in love with this mail center! I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

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