9 IKEA GÅRDSBUTIK Kitchen Bin Hacks That Don't Involve Trash

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Garbage bins aren't just for trash. Okay — they're mostly for trash, but they don't have to be! The IKEA GÅRDSBUTIK bin, for example, has a lot of potential outside of being a simple trash bin. With a bit of imagination, it can also be used for shoes, laundry, and toys, for example. And no, it won't look trashy.

This IKEA bin is genius. It's a sleek 6-gallon bin that you can attach directly to the wall. Thanks to its neutral beige color, it blends nicely into the decor, and its flat top lets you use it as a shelf for mail, a phone, decor items, or even home fragrance diffusers. It works with a simple handle that you can pull to tilt and open the bin, and it even lets you pull it out completely to empty and clean it. While this is typically used as a small wall-mounted garbage bin, IKEA says it can also be used for storage.

This bin can adapt to many surfaces and rooms, making it perfect for uses beyond trash. It measures 18 inches by 14 inches, and it's less than 8 inches deep. Therefore, it fits perfectly in small spaces, like tight hallways or laundry rooms. It can be attached in one of two ways: with screws or with sticky hooks. If you're attaching it to a wall and aren't worried about leaving holes, simply use a drill to secure it in place through the pre-drilled holes at the back of the bin. If you're a renter or would like to attach the bin to the side of a cabinet, use IKEA's TIPPVAGN self-adhesive hooks instead. And as you'll see, some hacks require that you use Zip ties to secure the bin instead.

If you have an outdoor space, you probably know that garden shoes are a headache to organize. You take them off before coming indoors to avoid making a mess, but they end up cluttering your doorway. To keep dirty garden shoes tidy, use the IKEA GÅRDSBUTIK. Attach it to a fence or porch railing by threading a zip tie through the screw holes from inside the bin, wrapping it around a horizontal railing, and feeding it back into the hole. Since these bins are made of plastic, they'll be just fine in the rain.

The IKEA GÅRDSBUTIK bin is the perfect solution to keep laundry off the floor in a small bathroom. You can use the bin as a laundry hamper by attaching it to a bathroom wall, making it the perfect solution to throw clothes into when heading into the shower. It can also fit in a laundry room, where you might even have enough room to attach several bins next to each other on the wall. That way, you can dedicate a bin to whites, another to delicates, and another to colors, making laundry day that much easier.

This clever IKEA bin is a great way to save bathroom space with a DIY towel storage solution. Instead of stuffing your bath towels into a cabinet, using precious storage space that you need for cleaning and beauty supplies, attach the GÅRDSBUTIK to your bathroom wall or on the side of a cabinet. Then, roll your bath towels and place them vertically in the bin. That way, you'll always have clean and fresh towels handy for yourself and for guests, no need to go digging through the shelves for one.

This IKEA bin is perfect as a DIY shoe organizer, too. Part of the reason why it's such a good fit for shoes is that the bins are made of plastic. As a result, you can throw dirty shoes in the bins without worrying about the aftermath: just empty them, run them under water, scrub with dish soap, and they'll be like new. For this, attach one or two bins to the wall indoors or outdoors. You can also glue a plank of wood on top to create an entryway shelf to leave keys or umbrellas.

Hanging a GÅRDSBUTIK is a great way to conceal an outdoor water faucet and watering hose. To do this, use a jigsaw to cut a hole in the back of the bin where the outdoor water faucet can fit. Then attach the bin to the faucet with a drill and secure the watering hose to the faucet inside the bin. With this DIY, you can store the watering hose inside the bin, reducing visual clutter and keeping it safe from being stepped on and damaged.

The IKEA GÅRDSBUTIK can be used in pantries to help organize items like shopping bags or even cooking oils. If you have a large walk-in pantry, simply attach the bin directly to a wall. If you're using a pantry cabinet or cupboard instead of a walk-in, you can still use this bin as an organizer, as long as you have 18 inches of vertical clearance between shelves and eight inches of depth available so you can close the door comfortably.

Cleaning supplies aren't the prettiest. Instead of leaving cloths, brushes, and spray bottles out in the open, consider using an IKEA bin. This is especially helpful for people with small apartments and limited storage space who are struggling to fit all their cleaning supplies into cabinets. The plastic bins are easy to clean, which is useful if you have leaks from cleaning supplies or need to store wet brushes and dirty clothes. Any large appliances like irons and steamers can be left on top of the bin, too.

What a home office needs, above all, is a clear, reliable system to keep things organized, so you can be productive with your time rather than digging through drawers, flipping through piles of documents, and getting lost in the mess. IKEA's GÅRDSBUTIK bins are perfect for this. Attach a few bins to the wall of your home office and use them as DIY file organizers to store binders, folders, and notebooks. You can even use these for loose documents by pairing them with dividers with tabs from Nodaaiie.

Keeping a child's bedroom or playroom organized is a headache, but these bins can make it a bit easier. Despite their sleek look, they are actually pretty roomy and can fit quite a few toys. Whether it's dolls, Legos, or miscellaneous toys, they all get off the floor and go into the bin when playtime is over. The bins detach from their bases, which makes emptying the toys on the ground easier, but it also lets you clean them out completely if anything sticky or icky gets in there by mistake.