Tuesday, November 17, 2015

DIY Doorknob Hamper

For those of us who have small bathrooms, floor space is at a premium.  Often, after the prescribed garbage can, plunger, and toilet brush scrubber (which said together sounds like a nursery rhyme!) there is little more than a path from door to shower.  I discovered this pathway littered with each day's clothes, shed on the way to the shower.  I attempted a 'skinny' hamper from IKEA, but it still felt too in the way.  So, a quest began.



It was when I was cleaning out a corner of my craft area that I came across my embroidery hoops.  I bought them to make the neat 'orbs' - you probably have seen the Pin on Pinterest - but I never got around to completing the project.  The hoops I had found on a half off sale at the Goodwill store for $0.50 each.  Looking at them reminded me of another Pinterest Pin.  I stuck my hand in my misc. craft box (where I throw items I may use for crafts but haven't sorted into a home yet).  I came back out with a scrap of ribbon from a gift someone had given me that was about 10" long or less.  I then grabbed one of the many pillowcases from the laundry room (though if you haven't any pillowcases to spare, these can be picked up for $0.50 each on half off Goodwill days, as well.)


I knotted the ribbon with two square knots to make a ring.  I looped it on either end of the embroidery hoop screw and hung it on the knob to test sturdiness.  The hoop was of good quality, as the double eyelets into the wood took weight gracefully.


Then I simply opened the hoop up, put the smaller ring a few inches inside the pillow, and then I placed the outer ring, with its screw in the middle of the two hemmed edges, over the outside of the pillowcase and tightened the screw.  I folded over the few inches of material to hide the outside hoop,

I rehooked my ribbon on the screw, and hung it on the door.  Amazingly, I suddenly had a small hamper without losing any floor space!  With the door open, one can barely see it, and when the door is shut, well, the person inside the bathroom doesn't usually pontificate on the aesthetics of a hamper and (hopefully) would just use it as necessary.  I've found my door knob hamper can handle about 3 days of 'to the shower' laundry from 2 adults (though jeans would make it heavier.)  It would likely hold more, though I don't want to overload and break the doorknob that is so good as to support it.  I'm sure if this were in use over years, it would likely wear on the knob, but for what I need right now, I'm willing to risk a wiggly knob later.  


What's the latest breakthrough you've had with your small bathroom?  I know this makes me happy because I can use the bathroom without staring at the underwear on the floor.
 

1 comment:

  1. What a great idea! We have two, very small bathrooms in our home and the bedrooms are not that large either. We have large living room spaces instead which is great, but it makes it hard to keep the rest of the house tidy. I would absolutely use this project for our bathrooms or even for our son's room.

    Earl Mark @ Eastway Lock

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