DIY Network

Recycled Workshop Accessories Outfit your shop with thrift store finds. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-510

Thrift stores are goldmines for the workshop.

Great workshops have great organization – but you don't have to spend a bundle to keep your shop in order. Follow Michele Beschen's example and B. Original with thrift store finds to accessorize your own workshop.

Outdated objects from thrift shops, flea markets, yard sales and even that box in the back of the basement are perfect for rough-and-tumble use in the shop. Use them to keep organized, and you'll have more time to B. Original with projects.

Scroll down for some of Michele Beschen's shop-accessory tips.

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Recycled Workshop Accessories

• Great workshop accessories come from just about anywhere, including thrift stores, garage sales or even your own basement. Especially keep an eye out for all things wood.

• Wooden salad bowls are great for organizing supplies. To transform a full salad bowl set into a cool spinning caddy (figure A):
  
  • Drill a hole through the bottom center of each bowl.
    
  • Use a screw to attach the large serving bowl to the center of a large, wooden lazy Susan.
    
  • Attach the smaller bowls around the larger one.
  
  

  Figure A

  Michele Beschen uses a square jig to find the center of her bowls.

  
  

  	Figure B
  	Figure C
  	Figure D

• Wooden cutting boards make great portable work surfaces for all sorts of projects. The cutting boards with divided areas are invaluable for sorting beads and other tiny items.

• Trays and divided plates are great for sorting and storage.

• Old wooden pipe caddies are a custom fit for carving
  tools, craft knives, scissors, pencils and other thin tools (figure B).

• Use recipe boxes to store workshop "recipes" such as paint formulas, plans, sketches, measurements and materials lists.

• Michele Beschen always hunts for trivets. The ones with metal or ceramic tops are perfect stands for glue guns, wood-burning tools or soldering irons – anything that gets hot (figure C).

• Accordion peg hooks, letter holders and hat racks can find new uses in your workshop.

• Divided jewelry boxes and lingerie chests make great storage for small supplies like screws, beads, tacks or jewelry findings.

• Marble-topped cheese cutters are Michele Beschen's favorite tools for cutting clay (figure D). The wire on the cutter gives a clean cut every time.

• Look beyond pegboard when it's time to hang tools or those fun thrift store finds. Michele Beschen likes to use 1/4" plywood as a hanging surface instead of pegboard. Cut the panels to either 16" or 32" wide, and you'll be able to stagger the seams, create a cool arrangement and still hit a wall stud every time!