As a family of 8 with a dog and cat, you can bet we need as much storage as possible. I am pretty crazy about only keeping what we need and not having our home look as if the kids own the place and we reside. Don’t get me wrong, kids gotta have their things too, but why not store then in less than obvious ways, right?

Thrifting is my gig, and when I spied this military ammunition box without its lid, I knew it had to be mine. Can’t beat the $5 price tag. tsk.

I snatched it up, intending to put it in my shop. After bringing it home, I loved it so much I wanted to keep it. It reminded me of my Dad as a Marine, and my big brother, an Army man.

A rule for myself though, is if I can’t find a use for it, then it’s got to go. Decorative pieces don’t really jive around here most of the time.

After a day or two I had an idea come to mind. You see, my littlest doesn’t have much space for things of her own right yet. We need to makeover our girls’ room, much like we did our boys’ room, and give her places to put her clothes, toys, etc. (remember, we live in a 3 bedroom home, less than 1600 sq. ft.)

Recently, it was time for me to go shoe shopping for her – when I head to the basement to dig through the tubs of shoes – since winter was around the corner. I brought out all the shoes her size and dumped them on the floor. There they sat for a week or so. (don’t judge, we’re CRAZY busy lately!)

Then it drove me crazy there they sat. The good ol’ ammo box came to the rescue. tee hee hee. Repuposed storage at its best!

I do have a stash of goodies that come to my rescue from time to time. I knew I had a few sets of small casters still left after I made my faux shipping crate table, and the storage boxes for my boys, so I grabbed a set and got to work.

The bottom of the box was pretty thin and I knew I would have to reinforce it in order to hold a caster and take the pressure of turning. A scrap strip of luan was the perfect width, so I cut up four pieces and painted them black.

After that, I placed them on the bottom corners with some glue, and then attached the casters to the four corners.

It was ready to go and went perfectly under my antique pew I talked about HERE. Doesn’t it look great? This is where we all get our shoes on before we head out the door, and makes life easier for mom.

I filled the box while my littlest was sleeping. When she woke up, she had a sweet surprise. ♥

She loved seeing her shoes all tucked away in a “secret” space. I loved seeing them up off the floor! ha!

I know her little tootsies won’t stay little forever, but until we can build our built-in shoe storage for everyone, this works just fine. I’ll probably use it to store our dog and cat essentials later on when we finish our kitchen remodel. (that brown flooring has got to go!)

Moral of the story…when you’re out and spy a potential storage piece, try to envision how you could use it. This ammo box would have also made an awesome wall unit or possibly a light fixture, etc. It’s fun to think outside the ammo box.

If you do have a project you’d like to share, just click on the “Submit YOUR Prodigal Piece” tab at the top of the page for a feature. I love seeing what you do!

Pin and share! ♥

More of my repurposed projects: