Ditch Bulky Bathroom Organizers: Reuse A Toilet Paper Roll For Smarter Storage

Bathroom storage can be tricky when it comes to space. Drawers and baskets work great until one of the tiny bathroom objects you need gets lost in huge drawers, or is buried under a pile of stuff in a basket. Tiered bathroom storage on the countertop can add more room, but the things inside still need organizing. Make room for the little small items with this smart DIY project that turns ordinary empty toilet paper rolls already in your bathroom into savvy storage.

A once-boring toilet paper roll becomes a custom fabric storage solution that fits under the bathroom sink or in a vanity drawer. It's a good size to organize small items like safety pins, hair ties, floss, or contact lens cases. Match your fabric to the existing decor of your bathroom, or create a color-coded pattern for each user or type of contents (like blue fabric for your nail polish, or yellow fabric for all the kids' hair ties). If you are already displaying your towels in a creative way, match your fabric to their colors for a coordinated look. 

If you have glue and scissors, and leave off the zipper on this pouch, there are no purchases necessary. If you're super crafty, recycle a zipper from another project. If not, a zipper can be purchased online or at a craft store. (Just measure the length of the TP roll before buying.) Start by cutting the empty tube in half and measuring your exterior fabric. Cut a square and use your hot glue gun to secure it to the outside of the tube. Step one, done.

Next, trim the excess fabric so that it can evenly fold into the cardboard tube, and fasten it with hot glue. Repurposing toilet paper rolls into cute storage means you can pick the material that's right for you. Recycle a plastic storage bag or gallon freezer bag that you are no longer using and snip the plastic for the interior. Old fabric scraps that could end up in a landfill, like threadbare T-shirts that no longer fit, or stained thin dishtowels, can be recycled for this project too. It just needs to be a thin material that can fit inside the standard toilet paper roll. 

After the interior material is secured with glue, cut off any excess fabric, and glue on the zipper if you're including it. For easy access to stationary bathroom storage, a zipper may not be necessary. If you plan of storing hair clips, for example, keeping it open allows you to quickly grab one from the drawer. Place the end of the TP roll onto the cardboard, and trace two circles using the ends of the roll. Cover the circles with the fabrics, and secure each one to an open end. You can add lace or ribbon for embellishment and to hide the zipper seams, if desired. Wait until it's dry to use it. 

Customizing this storage option is simple by slightly altering the materials. Would you like a longer option to store things like eyeliner pencils and makeup brushes? Follow the same steps but swap the tube for a paper towel roll and use a longer zipper. Or if you'd like an easier-to-install closure, glue a ribbon sideways in the middle of the container and simply tie it closed.