When it comes to cleaning, organization is half the battle! I'm thinking back to the summer camp code: "A place for each thing and each thing in its place." At least that's what I keep telling myself. If I just had a place to put everything, the kitchen counters would finally be clear of the clutter...the dropped keys, the sunglasses, the bags, and the mountain of mail.  

In an attempt to win the battle, I drew out a sketch, and my husband began building a custom shelf for our entryway. It involves a shelf for shoes, a shelf for bags/purses, and a shelf for baskets to catch all the random things that are floating in and out and around the house on a daily basis. As the shelf construction was underway in our garage, it was my job to find a set of baskets that would sit on the shelves and collect the clutter. But after a few rounds of online shopping, I realized I'm just not prepared to drop the shocking amount of $$$ required for a set of 6-8 matching ones.

To the dollar store I went!

There, I found a series of plastic buckets in varying sizes for $1 a piece. They were passable on their own, but a custom-built entryway shelf deserved something just a little bit dressed up. 

Armed with a spool of jute and a glue gun, I worked through afternoon naps and an episode of "Anne with an E" to wrap the jute around and around, securing with glue along the way,  until the dollar store bucket was transformed into a cute jute basket. Someone who is more ambitious and talented than I am could easily sew together a cloth lining (I'm picturing something in linen with cute little ties) and the look would be complete. 

Here, I have it placed in the playroom with some books, which is a great possible use for a basket such as this. But when the entryway shelf is finished, and I've wrapped all the rest of the buckets in jute, they'll be lined up in a row, happily corralling the clutter.