DIY Decorative Stacking Cardboard Storage Boxes

Spring is right around the corner which means time for spring cleaning and organizing! Storage boxes are a great solution for office spaces, bedrooms, or craft rooms. They allow you to sort and store unsightly items, papers and other odds and ends while keeping shelving visually clean and pleasing.

Cardboard Storage Boxes

With loads of options out there for storage boxes, we show you one of the easiest ways to embellish these simple craft boxes which can give you customizable style on a budget. Read on for the easy 3 step tutorial and additional (optional) customizable ideas!

Storage box DIY

Supplies you’ll need for these decorative storage boxes:

  • spray paint in 3 different shades
  • high gloss spray lacquer or finish (optional)
  • set of 3 stacking craft boxes (available online or at your local craft store)
  • labels
  • pen
Storage box DIY

Instructions of how to craft/update the storage boxes:

1. Separate the top and bottom of the craft boxes and spray with spray paint. Here we used 3 shades of blue green and painted the smallest box the lightest and the largest box the darkest (visually having the darkest box on the bottom keeps the vignette weighed down). Your options are unlimited here- go for a monochromatic look like we did here, get crazy with 3 different bold and bright colors, or totally change things up and cover your boxes with patterned paper or fabric instead!

Helpful hint- if you spray these boxes you will need to apply a few coats as the cardboard may soak in a bit of the first coat. If you use spray paint with paint and primer the coats will be thicker and you will need to apply fewer. Also the lighter the color the more coats of paint it will take to completely cover the box.

Storage box DIY

2. To protect the paint and give it a high shine, we finished off the paint job with a clean high gloss lacquer finish. We sprayed 1 evenly applied coat of this to get the desired look. This can be used to cover fabric or paper also.

Storage box DIY

3. Place your label in the center of the front end of the box. Here we used simple craft paper labels from the office supply store. Just a few other ideas for labels include chalkboard stickers, metal book plates, or sticker letters.

Storage box DIY

Write, stamp, or print the name of the box on your label and fill it up! Neatly stack your boxes in the office or other home space. They look great on a shelf full of books or left simply stacked out on a desk or dresser top. Use them all together or split them up based on your needs. Make a few sets to keep everything in your workspace neat and organized!

Storage box DIY
Storage box DIY