As I just wrote about for the Sunday paper, I prefer the patina of an old, rusty bin to the plastic sheen of a storage tub. This is not to say that I don’t own a great many plastic storage bins, but I do like re-purposing old stuff as organizational implements.

Tired of the mismatched baskets that I use as my snack pantry above the buffet in the kitchen, I went out in search of vintage metal bins and wooden boxes to replace them with, and found these at Uptown Mercantile and Red Plantation Mercantile.

Another of my favorite vintage organizing devices is this old tool box. I used to use it as my “market box”, when I was a vendor peddling vintage furnishings at flea markets. Now it holds some of my crafting supplies:

I use this metal basket to organize papers, magazines and notebooks that I need at the ready. I have another one similar to it in the bathroom, corralling clean towels.

How do you use your vintage treasures to organize everyday items?