Ditch Baskets And Bins: 21 Vintage Thrift Store Finds That Make Organizing Beautiful

If you've recently been bitten by the organization bug but you're on a tight budget, there's no need to worry. You don't need to invest in fancy baskets or expensive plastic bins. Instead, take a trip to your local thrift store. Behind the racks full of castoff clothes, oversized exercise equipment, and secondhand furniture, you'll find plenty of items that make organizing simple and beautiful. Whether you need a water-resistant spot to stash your most important paperwork or you want to gather all your guest bath goodies into one spot, it pays to ditch baskets and bins for unique thrift store finds that stand out.

The trouble with buying basic bins is that all too often they're just plain boring. Typically made from cheap plastic or fabric, they aren't as eye-catching or long-lasting as vintage pieces made from metal or wood that have been around for decades. Baskets can also be tricky. They stain easily. They'll snag your stuff. And the convenience of basket handles is often just a tradeoff for dust that's practically impossible to clean from all of the little woven crevices.

Thrift store finds like colorful tins and breadboxes, tiered and printers trays, and quirky items like trophy cups and birdcages, are smart and stylish alternatives. Along with being available in an enormous range of colors, materials, and styles, thrift store finds come in every size and price point imaginable. That makes organizing everything in your home, from the smallest pair of earrings to the poofiest comforter you've got, not only beautiful but convenient and affordable, too.

Before the arrival of preservatives and plastic bags, home cooks relied on breadboxes to keep their baked goods fresh for longer. While some of the oldest known versions were made of wood, you're just as likely to find retro metal versions on the shelves of your local thrift store. While you can absolutely use them to store snacks or spices, repurposing a breadbox to organize other household items like medications or toiletries may just be the smartest thing since sliced bread.

Tiered trays are perfect for more than just serving up dainty cakes as part of a lovely tea party tablescape. They are also excellent organizers in several spots around the house. In the bathroom, consider setting a small two-tiered tray on the side of your vanity to hold perfume bottles, Q-tips, or cosmetics. If your entryway is a disastrous drop-zone, use a larger metal tiered tray to hold your keys and sunglasses. Meanwhile, delicate china plate styles are perfect on the corner of a desk if you need a place to keep paperclips or sticky notes at your fingertips.

Few things in life are as nostalgic as spotting a collection of vintage food tins at your local thrift store. They're available in a myriad of shapes and colors, so it's easy and inexpensive to find ones that make organizing more beautiful. When your sewing notions or bead collection are practically begging for craft room ideas that will make your inner artist sing with joy, small lidded food tins are hard to beat. But don't overlook larger versions that have lost their lids somewhere along the way. They can still be excellent for storing markers, paintbrushes, scissors, or staplers.

Vintage cake stands are ideal for creating beautiful displays because they put items that need to be organized on a pedestal (literally.) You can often thrift wooden cake stands for just a few dollars. Sturdy ones are a great place to set your favorite cookbooks or that pile of mail you haven't gotten to yet. Petite versions are a perfect place to arrange a few folded hand towels to add a touch of spa luxury to your bathroom. If you need to organize items while also keeping them dust-free, choose a cake stand that comes with a matching glass dome.

Sure, you could buy one of those popular under-bed storage organizers to keep your bulky blankets out of sight. However, if your mattress is basically hiding an entire closet's worth of seasonal sweaters, wrapping paper, or other space-hogging stuff, don't underestimate the potential of a few vintage suitcases. Since fabric versions often end up at the thrift store with weird stains or snags, skip them in favor of harder aged leather or colorful plastic versions. Although a wonky handle or missing wheel may not matter much, remember to check the clasps and zippers to ensure your prized possessions stay protected.

Have you suffered through one-too-many pop-up ads while scrolling endlessly through a random blogger's life story on your way to a recipe you want to try? There's no doubt thumbing through handwritten index cards in your grandmother's recipe box is way more satisfying. Whether you find one with secret family recipes tucked inside or not, thrift store recipe boxes are a beautiful way to organize precious family photos or slides, stationery supplies like stamps and stickers, or seed packets sorted by month.

If you love the industrial look, try thrifting a set of metal lockers for your entryway or mudroom. Old-school versions are typically painted in collegiate colors that get attractively chipped and distressed after being slammed by students over the years. Vintage lockers often have vented or mesh panel fronts, which offers ventilation for shoes, jackets, or other soft items stored inside. Along with being the perfect spot to stash books, off-season decorations, or other items, they're also easy to decorate thanks to their magnetic sides and flat tops.

Even though we're all living in a digital era, birth certificates, passports, and other important paperwork still needs to be stored somewhere. Bins are okay, and there are plenty of modern filing cabinets out there, but they are often made of cheap materials that aren't nearly as beautiful or long-lasting as vintage metal versions you can find at your local thrift store. Along with scoring serious deals on solid wood cabinets, lucky thrifters may stumble on quality metal filing cabinets that have developed an attractive patina over time.

From the earliest wire versions designed to hold glass bottles to iconic plastic versions that are infinitely stackable, there are a ton of ways to use milk crates around the house instead of throwing them out. Most are perfectly square and extremely sturdy, making milk crates an ideal bin substitute for storing large record collections or heavy books. They can also be transformed into everything from a practical nightstand to an artificial bush. Vintage versions are often priced at just a few dollars, but unless you live near a defunct dairy town, you'll need to be an eagle-eyed thrifter to find them.

If you're bored of baskets and bins but still need a convenient storage solution, keep an eye out for old wooden boxes at your local thrift store. Before corrugated board took over the packaging world in the 1950s, sturdy wooden boxes were used to ship liquor, fruit, and other goods. Many purveyors printed their logos and other information on the sides for both identification and advertising purposes, and when you can find spacious wooden boxes with these decorative elements intact, they add a beautiful found quality to any room housing larger items or collections.

Ammunition boxes may not fit into every decor style, but their camo-green color and blocky lettering definitely make them stand out on a bookshelf or side table. You can often find military-style steel boxes at thrift or surplus stores. Since they're designed to be water-resistant and airtight, ammo boxes are a great place to organize important documents or irreplaceable family photos. Make sure you check the rubber gasket inside, since it may need to be replaced if it's dried or cracked.

Nesting boxes are a smart way to create a bird-friendly garden at home, but if you can find galvanized steel ones at a thrift store, they're also outstanding for storage. Outdoors, you can use the divided compartments to hold gardening tools or pool toys. While you'll need to thoroughly clean them before mounting one inside, nesting boxes are a quick way to add attractive cubbies to a playroom or entryway. Perfect for creating an industrial farmhouse vibe, small nesting boxes are great for storing hats or gloves, while bigger versions can hold shoes, books, or remote controls.

You'll want to ditch any disintegrated plasters or brittle bandages immediately, but finding a vintage first aid chest can cure a lot of organizing predicaments. Long before cheap plastic versions were all you could find at the local drug store, metal and wood versions bearing a telltale cross were common. Whether you find a green chest with white symbols and lettering, or a white version with a red cross, the spacious metal boxes are still great for organizing your first aid supplies or a few basic household tools.

Somewhere between those little dog statuaries and giant yard art chickens at your favorite thrift store, you may find yourself suddenly coveting a delicate vintage birdcage. Art Deco designs were popularized in the 1920s when birds were popular pets, which means you may be lucky enough to spot a curvaceous and eye-catching one at your local thrift store. Whether it has a swinging door or hinged lid, vintage birdcages are a beautiful way to store perfumes, cosmetics, or hand towels in a bathroom. They're also a great place to decoratively stash a few extra rolls of toilet paper.

Have you ever wandered around your local thrift store and stumbled on a short wooden box full of tiny little compartments? Known as printers trays, the compartments were originally used to organize individual characters used by traditional typesetters. The ones you'll find today are often covered in ink stains and dust, but with a little elbow grease (and perhaps a can of colorful spray paint), it's easy to turn a printers tray into the perfect spot for thumbtacks, stamps, or other office supplies. They're also easily wall mounted to display small figurine or crystal collections.

When space allows, a steam trunk is one of the biggest and best vintage thrift store finds out there. Popularized in the late 1800s, the large boxes were originally used to haul entire wardrobes and other items onto steam ships. You can still use them to store clothes, but thanks to their size, steam trunks also work beautifully for puffy duvet inserts or heavy comforters you need to stash until cooler weather arrives. Look for trunks that have intact latches, and pay close attention to the lid style. Domed ones add height and drama, but flat styles can double as tabletops when needed.

Slow down the next time you spot a collection of thrift store trophies. You can skip right over the cheap plastic ones with sports figures on top. But heavier cup-style trophies are a unique way to keep knicknacks organized. Unless they're made of valuable precious materials, spotting a tall metal trophy isn't guaranteed to make you a winner. However, it can be excellent for holding kitchen utensils, pens, or those hand tools you're constantly reaching for. Participation award trophies may be smaller, but they can be ideal for holding watches or jewelry.

Metal lunchboxes are one of the classic household items only '60s kids will remember. Decorated in bright colors with images of popular movie stars and mascots, they were what the cool kids carried way before Uncrustables ever hit the scene. Today, you can find vintage metal lunchboxes at almost any thrift store. Although they aren't totally waterproof, they're a conversation-starting way to organize old postcards, ticket stubs, vacation pictures, or other memorabilia. Lunchboxes are also a perfect spot for temporarily storing last season's holiday cards to make sure you don't miss anyone this year!

It's easy to get overwhelmed in that one vintage store booth full of plates and primitive kitchenwares. Our advice? You can't go wrong with the silverware caddies. Wire mesh and solid metal versions alike are obviously a perfect solution for hauling around forks and spoons when you want to elevate your next outdoor party. But caddies are also ideal in the bathroom for storing hair ties, Q-tips, and floss. In a craft room, they're perfect for sorting pens, pencils, markers, and crayons.

There's just something warm and cozy about a vintage pie safe. Available in a wide variety of sizes, the hallmark feature of the standalone pieces are their vented doors. You'll often find ones fitted with fine mesh or constructed of tin punched with decorative motifs. More than just a beautiful decorative element, the venting was originally intended to keep bugs out while allowing fresh air to circulate around freshly baked goods to keep them cool. Today, you can repurpose pie safes to store linen napkins and tablecloths, pitchers and vases, or serving ware for special occasions.

If you love thrifting but only have a few dollars to spend, stay on the lookout for cheap vintage muffin tins that you can repurpose as office supply organizers. Many of them develop a beautiful patina over the years that can bring a rustic look. Whether you pick a tin with six or 12 individual wells, it's easy to tuck one inside a desk drawer thanks to their flat and short design. Use them to keep thumbtacks, rubber bands, paperclips, or other small items easily divided.