Easy Wire Shelving Storage Hack

There is a wonderful little area in our new apartment, separated a bit from the rest of the open layout, with vaulted ceilings and a skylight that we are using as an office. It has an extra little nook with some shelving. I've placed a separate desk here and am dubbing it my own craft cubby. It is such a wonderful creative corner for me already, and the added bonus of the shelving means that I am able to store absolutely all of my supplies in this one small area. Finding decent amounts of storage in apartment living isn't always easy to come by, and while I am very grateful for the (ample) amount of storage this place provides — wire shelving isn't always the most fun to work with. Especially when what you are wanting to store is things that can easily fall through those spaces; like books, notebooks, and craft supplies. I made some obvious choices to make my craft organization easier, utilizing bins, baskets, and boxes (that I already had) that can easily be pulled down when needed. I also came up with the simplest solution for keeping my notebooks in place up there, too.

I quickly discovered that I didn't want to just lay them flat to prevent fall-through. While stacking them horizontally would have been the easiest answer to the problem, it took up much more space than having them vertical, and I couldn't justify that. It also would be a bit of a pain when I wanted to pull one of them down to use. I then determined that putting something below them would work well, but I also needed to secure them (still without taking up space that could be used for storage)—because the bin beside would be removed often (as it also stores things).

The result of all of these needs is the simplest engineered storage solution you can imagine. Simple, and does it's job perfectly.



I simply threaded some sturdy string (I used red hemp) through the wires to creates a barrier to hold up the notebooks. To do this, begin by tying a tight knot on the top shelf. Then thread the string through the bottom shelve and again through the top, tightening and spacing it evenly as you go. You can continue all the way to the end, or at least halfway, and tie another knot to secure it all. Tie the ends up, too. Next, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the space and slid it in between the wall and the string. Easy Peasy. Now my notebooks stack together (side by side) nicely and stay up securely at all times. And I am happy and organized.

Do you have any creative storage ideas? Share them with me in the comments.

I'll be back soon with DIYs and peeks at my new place!

xx Emorie