DIY Bathroom Organizer and Toilet Paper Holder

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I finally took the plunge and simplified our bathroom organizer and replaced it with a pretty, DIY toilet paper holder. It was a lot of fun to make, and very easy! All it took was some paint, a crate, and some decorative shells.

Finding a good bathroom organizer can be tricky when you live in a small home. We used to have used a tall, narrow shelf/cabinet piece in our bathroom for many years. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago it broke! This was probably for the better, because it was becoming a catch-all for hair ties, half-empty shampoo bottles, clips, razors, and about a zillion other toiletries. I’ve always wanted to do some sort of DIY crate shelf/organizer for the bathroom, and it seemed that now was the time.

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Materials I used for my DIY bathroom organizer and toilet paper holder

Small wooden crate, found at most craft stores
Craft paint in robin’s egg blue
½ inch craft “chip brush” or any small basic paint brush
Contact paper
Scissors or hobby knife
Shells and starfish, found on Amazon Prime or at local craft stores
Hot glue gun

Our main bathroom is beach-themed, so I wanted to stick with ocean colors and accents. I had wanted to use a wooden wine crate because repurposing is my favorite thing these days. But it was too shallow for actually holding much stuff, so I went with a store-bought crate instead. The contact paper was from a project that I had wanted to do about 8 months ago, but I never got around to it. It turned out to be the perfect way to line the bottom of my bathroom organizer. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. 🙂

An easy-to-make bathroom organizer

First, give the crate a good coat of paint. I left the interior base alone, since I knew I would be covering it with contact paper. Let the paint dry and add a second coat to any streaked sides.

Measure the interior base of the crate to see how much contact paper you will need. My carpenter friend always says measure twice, cut once!      Next, carefully cut out and stick on the contact paper. Puncture any bubbles with a pin and smooth them out with a credit card.

Use a hot glue gun to attach some seashells to the crate. After much debate, I decided to go with a “cluster” arrangement for the shells. My artsy friends advised me to start with a large shell, and arrange the smaller ones around it. I think I might still add a few sand dollars to the back wall, so they show up when you take the top toilet paper roll out.   

I tried out my little bathroom organizer and toilet paper holder on the floor in the upstairs bathroom.   

In the end I thought it would work best in the main bathroom as a shelf. My little guys splash in the bath too much to have this cute crate near the tub!   

It turned out that this crate is the perfect size for the toilet paper that we use. With Baby John starting to use the potty (*gasp! My baby is potty training!*), the Quilted Northern® Ultra Soft & Strong® with Cleanstretch (9 Mega Rolls) is just right for a big family like ours. I like keeping a few rolls of toilet paper where people can find them so guests don’t get caught in one of those embarrassing “these folks are out of toilet paper” situations.

And is it just me, or does it feel like every time Mom uses the bathroom, it’s out of toilet paper? The Quilted Northern® Mega Rolls are 4x bigger than their regular rolls, so they last a lot longer. When they say “mega”, they’re not kidding! I love the thought of me not replacing the toilet paper on such a frequent basis. Maybe my next tutorial will be a “how to replace the toilet paper roll” video for husbands and teens. 😉

We get our Quilted Northern® Ultra Soft & Strong® with Cleanstretch from the Walmart Neighborhood Market, but you can also find it at Walmart online and pick it up at a Walmart location near you. 

What do you think about combining a cute DIY bathroom organizer with Quilted Northern® Ultra Soft & Strong® with Cleanstretch to keep your bathroom organized and #MegaPrepped for guests?

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