Moongreen Fashions: The Joy of Wine Racks!

Occasionally I'll slap some ideas up here that are both green and money saving, as I like to be stingy AND environmentally friendly. This includes new uses for some easily accessible items that can be used as part of, or to store, your fashions. Today's item - wine racks. There are all different sizes, shapes, and colors of wine racks and they are easy to find on the cheap at thrift stores, antique malls, yard sales and even along the curb (that's right, Moonqueen fully advocates trash picking). You may even have one, or several (you whino) around the house already that just aren't as full as they used to be. Here are a few ways I've utilized them.

Use a wine rack like this to store rolled up bedding in your room - cuter than plastic bins, cheaper than a trunk. 

Repaint an old wine rack like this with a water-proof interior paint and use in your bathroom to store rolled towels.

Use in your kitchen to artfully store paper towels if you buy in bulk or various sizes of cookbooks.

Use one or two as a base for a coffee table or side table - books & magazines can be stored in the openings and most any flat, salvaged surface can be used as the table top - a large piece of glass, sturdy mirror, painted piece of plywood, etc.

Use wine racks like the one to the right to store bulky shoes, like platform sneakers or fluffy slippers, in the bottom of your closet.   

Accordion versions of this also exist - they can be manipulated to different sizes just like the adjustable coat rack shown to the left. I mounted a large accordion wine rack to the back of a closet door and used it to hang scarves & ear muffs. Hats & gloves can be stuffed in cubbies between the rungs.

Use a wine rack like this sat on one side to store umbrellas and parasols. I had a wine rack made like this but vertical with a base on it (made to stand the bottles of wine vertically instead of on their side) that served that purpose for many years.

Hang a smaller wine rack like this from a nail or small cup hook on your wall and hang necklaces and bracelets from it.