Priceless

I love the look of the Pottery Barn shelf organization. I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about...shelves neatly organized with baskets and buckets.


I hate the look of Pottery Barn prices. No way can you buy anything in that store without feeling like you just got ripped off. I understand the quality argument for their prices, but come on.

We've been doing some organizing around here and I have been wanting to recreate the Pottery Barn look without paying the price. I found some cute baskets at Target that I've added ribbon to for 1/3 the price of the Potter Barn baskets. However, my frugal stroke of genius came with the buckets.

I found some 12qt galvanized buckets at Lowes for $4.00 each. I picked out my colors of spray paint and wala...the Pottery Barn look. Getting my buckets to look like the ones you can buy at Pottery Barn was a little project, but who doesn't enjoy a fun project every-once-in-a-while? Plus, there is so much more satisfaction in looking at my buckets knowing I made them look so cute for 1/6 the cost.


I started out with the plain buckets. The hardest part of the project was getting the stickers off the front. Goo Gone is a wonderful product for any household and came in very handy with the sticker remover. I also had to sand the buckets down so the paint would stick better, but other than that, it was just a matter of spray painting the buckets.

I love the way they turned out and the colors are a perfect match for the boys room.

After finishing the buckets, I checked the mail and found a Pottery Barn catalog. Of coarse I quickly glanced through it trying to find the price of the bucket. Each bucket from the Pottery Barn catalog was $29! For the four buckets I needed it would have been $116. Below is a breakdown of my expenses:

• 4 Galvanized buckets...$16
• 2 Cans of spray paint...$6
• Goo Gone...$.05
• Sand Paper...$.10
• Satisfaction and fulfillment in completing a project and saving so much money...PRICELESS!