Gift wrap and ribbon organization wall

I've stashed gift wrapping supplies in various closets throughout our house over the years.  Of course, I'd forget where it was when I needed it and ended up picking up more.  Not anymore!

Jake and I took an awkward, unused space and gave it a purpose last weekend.  I'm sure you know where this is going...

Holy ribbon, Batman!

BEFORE

AFTER

Want to make your own organizer wall?  It's super easy!  To make one exactly like this here's what you'll need:

- Empty wall space that's about 10 feet wide and at least 2 feet tall
- (2) 4ft long decorative accent railing (16 little spindles on each piece)
- (8) 4ft long dowels
- (16) 3ft long dowels
- (8) anchors and screws
- Drill
- Mitre saw, mitre box, or jig saw
- Level
- Pretty papers and ribbons galore!

Step 1: Gather all your supplies.

When you select your dowel diameters consider your ribbon spool hole sizes and the width of your sections.  I underestimated my diameters and ended up returning several dowels for thicker ones because the ribbon spool holes were bigger than I thought and I didn't like how some dowels sagged in the middle under the weight of the ribbon.  We ended up using a dozen 3/8" dowels with a mix of 1/4", 5/16", and 1/2" dowels for the rest.

Make sure all your dowels are straight at the store.  We also returned some dowels for this reason .

Step 2: Cut each 4ft railing into two 2ft pieces.  You should have four 2ft pieces with 8 little spindles on each piece.

Step 3: Measure and mark you walls for where you want to install the railing vertically.  We placed ours so there is a couple of inches of dowel overhang on each side.  Make sure you're staying level as you go.

Step 4: Install the wall anchors (if needed), pre-drill holes in the railing, cut about 1 inch off the railing opposite the drilled hole (this will give you room to screw the railing into the wall), line up the anchor and drilled holes, and screw the railing into the wall anchors.  Repeat until all four railing pieces are hung vertically and check that everything is level from piece to piece.

Step 5: Put the dowel rods in place and load it up with your ribbons and gift wrap!  .  The dowels for the middle section sit on the wall side of the little spindles and the dowels for the right/left sides sit on the front end of the spindles.

Here's are a few more after shots!  :)  Notice how we made the middle section wider than the other two sections to accommodate wide gift wrap?  I'm going to stack some shelving like this under the left side to store tissue paper, gift bags, bows, greeting cards, etc.

I added scissors, tape, and gift tags too.

I couldn't be happier with the results!  I enjoy wrapping gifts and using copious amounts of ribbon so this will be put to good use.  There's something therapeutic about creating a pretty package for someone else.

If you give this a try, please let us know.  We'd love to see how it turns out for you!

Click here to see parties we'll be mingling at this week.

See the The Nester's 31 Days to a Less Messy Nest series and her What's Your Secret? party for more organization tips.

CSI Project - Favorite Projects of 2010 Challenge