Wire Desk Accessories

To make the desk decor in my tween son's room more fitting for masculinity, I decided to go with wired baskets. 

I bought a few wire or "caged" storage baskets and a pencil holder from Target's dollar bins. 

Then I found a 3 tiered rack at Walmart in the bath department.  

I also had this lamp in my office that doesn't get much use and thought it would be perfect for my son's desk if I could give it a makeover.

When I found this wire lamp shade at Lowes, I knew it would be a perfect fit so I set out to paint all of the wired pieces in my son's favorite color: red.

I prime painted the chrome pieces before the final coat of red.

Now, it's all matching decor very easily and quickly.

Wired baskets are all the rage now, especially with hanging tags. Different labeled hanging tags are made with little chalkboards, mason jar lids, aluminum cut and folded, etc. All kinds of things! They add character.

I decided to use soda bottle caps for fun.

Pulling out the crimped edges with pliers helped to hammer the caps flat more easily.

Then I stenciled numbers with a Sharpie pen.

Finally, a nail punched a hole through the top.

Then hung with paper clips.

Super easy; very inexpensive; and appealing for a tween's desk. 

He has already filled the baskets with "stuff".

Saving money by repurposing and upcycling allows for a splurge... we found this amazing metal soda tote at CVS in the seasonal aisle. Perfect for holding more desk tools. Totally worth the $10. He was completely delighted with it!

Now if only he would keep it all tidy.

UPDATE: 

I went junking a found a freezer bin... free! 

With the magic of paint, it became a laundry basket! 

With a gentle reminder to keep things neat... let's see how this goes.

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