We are well into the current school year, and now that all of our little ones are required to have backpacks, the need for designated backpack storage has become ABUNDANTLY clear.
After weeks of picking backpacks up off the floor, moving them around on the sofa, and failing to keep them put away in their rooms, I turned to my favorite online resource for inspiration. Or should I can it PINspiration?
It didn't take long scrolling on Pinterest for me to come across several versions of this cubby storage turned bookbag storage idea. The basic idea is to leave one row of shelves out of a 9-cube cubby storage and it creates a space that's perfect for backpacks.
The best part about this cubby sorage idea was that we already had one of these in our kids room, and one of the shelves was already broken! Now instead of throwing this broken furniture piece out, I could repurpose it into our much needed backpack storage station.
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This project is SO easy to do, but if you don't feel like figuring out how to alter a furniture piece you can buy backpack storage like THIS. However, this option will cost a lot more than trying out the storage cubby DIY.
You can get this 9-cube storage organizer for less than $50. And as you will see, thats really all you need to have basic backpack storage. There are additional steps you can take to add more storage or to personalize it to your design aesthetic, but lets jump into the basics.
If you are starting with a new cubby organizer, simply put together the organizer but leave out one row of shelves. If you are starting with an already assembled organizer like we did, you'll have to figure out the best way to remove one row of shelves.
Since one of our shelves was already broken it was easy for me to wiggle and shift the organizer so I could expose the dowels used to hold up the shelves. Once I could see the dowels, I used a thin cutter tool my huband had to cut the dowel. A sharp knife or a sharp heavy duty pair of scissors would work too.
Once the dowels were cut I removed the shelves and any dowel pieces stuck in the organizer.
Another way you could remove the shelves is just to start dissasembling the organizer until you can easily remove the shelves. Find big screws holding the top or bottom on and work backwards from there to dissasemble.
Once you've removed the shelf you can be done with this project! Yes, it's that simple.
However, if you're like me, you can't stop dreaming of ways to customize this organizer even further. As of this writing I have not completed all of the additional customizations, mainly because I'm still deciding on which ones to do, but I did take a few more steps to make this organizer feel like a piece of furniture I purchased for backpack storage.
First, I filled the holes left from removing the row of shelves with some spackle. We already had some on hand and its an easy trick we learned when we built our DIY Ikea Hack Entertainment Center that helps to make the furiture look like a solid piece.
Then, I decided to put a back on the organizer. I decided to put a back on my backpack storage for two reasons: 1) It would help stabalize the organizer since removing a row of shelves made it a bit wobbly, and 2) It would make it feel more like a substantial piece of furniture rather than a flimsy piece.
If I decide to paint this organizer, the back would also allow me to add a fun wall paper to the back for some added style.
For the back we used a thin piece of plywood from home depot. It was the perfect height to cover the top portion of the organizer (we will probably use cube bins for the bottom so decided not to put the back all the way to the bottom), but we had to cut the length to make it fit.
We did not need power tools for this! The wood was thin enough that I was able to score it deeply on both sides using a straight edge and a box cutter, and then bend it until it broke at the seam. A quick sanddown of the edge and it was ready to attach.
I put a bead of wood glue on the back of the organizer and layed the wood down over it. Then, I put heavy items I had around the house on top of the wood so it would adhear well with the glue. After a few hours we used our nail gun to pop a few finshing nails along the edges to make sure it was securely attached. You could use a hammer and finishing nails as well.
This is where our customization ends (for now). We have a beautiful designated storage area for our kids to store their backpacks and their school shoes. I added some decorative items on top along with a basket to hold knick nacks or hats and gloves, and a letterboard to write fun messages to the kids they will see when they are headed out the door.
For less than $50 (even with the wood back) and a day or two of time, we saved our sanity and are ready to take on the rest of the school year!
But, before we go, lets talk about other great ideas we've seen or would love to see.
Hooks:
We opted NOT to put hooks for hanging the backpacks in our organizer. Our oldest's backpack is so heavy I'm fearful it would rip the hook out after a few weeks of wear and tear. Instead, we deided the kids could just place their bags on the shelf. If your kids bags aren't very heavy, adding stylish hooks to the side of each cubby is a great idea to free up the shelf below for other things like all that paper kids come home with daily.
Furniture Feet:
Why not add furniture feet to the bottom of the organizer to get it off the floor and give it more of a furniture piece feel. We love these Gold Metal Furniture Feet from Amazon and think these would really elevate the wow factor of the backpack storage.
Paint and Personalization:
Painting this piece could make it feel more like a piece of furniture to your home and not a sterile organization piece. A bold print wall paper on the back of the inside of the cubby's could also add a pop of color and style!
Doors or a Cover:
This is unfortunately above our skill level, but we think it would be great to find a cheap way to add doors or a cover to the front of the organizer. That way any backpack or paper mess could be hidden away behind some doors or a cover. The problem with this idea is it can get costly QUICK! But we know we have very creative readers here at the Weekend Whatnots, so if you have ideas for this, drop them below!
Tell us what you think!
Do you love this backpack storage idea? We would love to know what additions or customizations you would add. Tell us in the comments below!
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