Tool Time Tuesday...French Drain Organization

The word French sounds romantic...then the word drain, not so much. Just ruins it, but that's what they're called. What are they really used for? Well, they keep water away from the foundation of your home. A trench is dug, filled with gravel and the perforated pipe (French drain) is placed to carry water away from the area.

Hey, maybe I should put a French drain around my sewing room. Some of you already know my 86 year old, forgetful dad lives with us and has flooded the house 5 times and the last time was my whole sewing room...that's why my new sewing room is where it is now, out of harms way. I think. LOL Maybe I should also put up a fire wall around it too...the lady's voice from our smoke alarm system is all too familiar. I think he needs to stick to cooking in the microwave.

I digress...back to french drains.

This bookcase is in my sewing room. These canning jars are full of buttons. The shelves in the bookcase are permanent and can't be adjusted, so just look at all that wasted space above the jars.




Well, not any more...French Drain Storage at it's best!



This is a French drain pipe. 10 feet long and 4 inches in diameter. $5.41 each at Home Depot. (That store really should give me a gift card to the store so I can have a give away with it for all of you...seriously, how many times do I mention their name! I think I might contact them)

Here are the perforations for the water to enter the pipe. For me, they were the spots where I started to saw the pipe into sections.

Don't worry about 10 feet of pipe fitting in your car. The first piece went into my van no problem. Then we went back for another piece and it coiled up nicely in my husband's Jeep Liberty.

The first step is to measure the depth of your shelf. Mine was 11 1/2".

I cut the pipe a 1/2" shorter than the depth of the shelf...so 11 inches. Adjust to fit your shelf.

This is the perforated spot where you will start to saw.

It's a very soft plastic and cuts like butter or should I say buttah!!

The edges can be a little jagged, just use little wire snips to trim evenly.

Now just stack them up inside you bookcase or shelf. Hmmm...what to fill it with?

How about all your yarn that you have stored away in bags or baskets?

It's the perfect size for each skein.

They can also hold all your needles, except the ones you are carrying in your pvc knitting needle holders you made from last week's Tool Time. Click here if you haven't seen that project.

How about all your spray paint cans that we use in our crafting projects. All stored neatly away and easy to see the color on the cap. I also stored all the bottles of different glues that I uses.

Now, for my original reason to make more room...all those canning jars of buttons. This is a picture of all the canning jars that were on the shelf in the beginning. Look how much more room I have left over.

I've started to glue one of the buttons on the cap of the jar. Shows what's inside each jar.

Each pipe holds one large canning jar...just slides right into the pipe. Oh, wait...French drain, that sounds fancier!

Also holds 2 small canning jars. See that one way in the back of the pipe? That's the space saving part.

So, what will you put in your French drains?

• great for a pantry...stores all your cans of veggies or soups. All the same kind in one pipe. Just mark the top of the can with a marker, so you know what's in there.
• in a work shop for extension cords, wood supplies like long dowels.
• in the garage or basement to store sports equipment, like bats even plastic play bats.
• wine bottle storage
• the possibilities are endless...

Have fun with your French drains. Not the ones for the "outside" of your house...the ones for "inside" your house. Although if you have a dad like mine, you'll need them for "inside" your house, LOL!
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Have a wonderful Tuesday. Don't forget to join in on the Sew Darn Crafty Blog Party. There are so many wonderful projects from beginning to end. You can add as many projects as you'd like.

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~Karen~