Don't Toss Old Egg Cartons — Use Them To DIY Stylish Countertop Storage

Constantly throwing cardboard away feels wasteful, even when you recycle. Instead, those egg cartons in your bin could help to organize and decorate your kitchen. Building a countertop tray from scrap paper packaging is an easy, inexpensive, and eco-friendly way to add a chic storage piece to your space. In a YouTube video, Evrim Taşer Yılmaz showed how the unique shape of the egg carton is perfect for crafting legs for a tray. With a bit of cardboard, an egg carton, and bamboo placemats, you can keep your countertops clutter-free with this simple storage DIY. 

This storage basket is a great catch-all dish in multiple spaces. In the kitchen, this tray could become a fruit basket or a way to corral spice bottles or loose mail. On your bathroom counter, use it to organize hygiene products and hair accessories. Besides your counter, this storage tray would also work great for tables. Keep your remotes organized on your living room coffee table, or keep napkins neatly stored on your dining table with this smart way to use empty egg cartons around your home.

To make this adorable, wooden-looking countertop tray, Evrim Taşer Yılmaz used a shallow cardboard box. A cardboard lid, like the lid of a shoebox, would also be a good size and shape. The DIYer cut bamboo mats to fit onto each panel of the cardboard box, hot gluing them onto the sides. Cover the inside of the container as well to give the cardboard a wood-look. Then, glue jute rope around the top to disguise the seams of the bamboo mats. Now, simple egg carton pieces will make adorable legs for the dish and make it look even more stylish.

Cut four dividers out of the egg carton, trimming them to be the exact same shape and size. Apply hot glue around the rim of each one and stick them onto each corner of the bottom of the tray. The DIYer also glued leftover handles to the sides of the basket. However, you could also make your own by cutting out cardboard shapes and covering them in jute.

To create a more finished silhouette, glue larger pieces of cardboard to the sides of the box to enclose the cups and paint it. If you prefer a woven look, glue jute to the cardboard instead of bamboo mats. To use up more of the egg carton, use the lid for the base of your tray. With this simple project, you'll turn egg cartons into the cutest decor that doubles as countertop storage.