Are you tired of searching for your keys or trying to remember where you last left your sunglasses? The struggle is real in most busy households but I've got a simple solution for that. With a few inexpensive items from the home improvement store, you can make these two easy DIY ideas to keep you organized and have them hung in less than two hours.

Two Easy DIY Ideas To Keep You Organized

One is a handy key and sunglasses holder to keep them corralled in one place by the back door and the other is a kitchen apron holder but it doesn't have to be used for aprons.


Seriously, these are so easy to make and inexpensive too. You can make them as fancy or simple as you like, depending on the type of hooks you use. No fancy tools - no fancy hardware required!


This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. At no cost to you, we receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

I stumbled upon these large unfinished wooden plaques in a clearance bin for $3.20, marked down from $32 each. No twisting my arm, I grabbed every.single.one for future projects. While they look like the perfect house number plaque, I saw wall hook potential.

The plaques were used for both projects that I'm sharing today. If you can't find these particular ones locally, you can find several unfinished wooden plaque ideas online.

Project One - Key Organizer with Sunglasses Holder

Let's begin with the key organizer with sunglasses holder because it is something most of us could use at our back door, mudroom, or beside the garage door.

I used milk paint for both projects but you could use chalk, latex, or acrylic craft paint. As long as the paint adheres to unfinished wood, you're good to go.

Painting the large wooden plaque

These are the supplies I used to make the key organizer with sunglasses holder. I used inexpensive hardware because frankly, once all the things are hanging on them, you hardly notice the hardware anyway.


The first thing I did was paint the wooden plaque with two coats of white milk paint. The milk paint I used is called Ironstone from Miss Mustard Seed's milk paint line. I added a bonding agent to the paint so it wouldn't crackle like milk paint is prone to do.


Next, I painted the oval center with sage green milk paint. My milk paint color is called Upper Canada from the Homestead House Paint Co. line.

Giving the wooden plaque aged charm

To give the painted plaque a lovely timeworn appearance, I brushed a coat of clear wax over the painted wood. Next, I brushed a layer of dark wax, making sure it nestled in the grooves and along the edges of the wood-carved applique. With a lint-free rag, I wiped away the excess dark wax. The dark wax adds depth to the sage green color too.

Attaching hooks and pulls onto the painted wood plaque

The five white hooks will hold several keyrings and the white pulls are to hang sunglasses. You can hang two to three pairs of sunglasses per pull - that's a lot of sunglasses storage!

Hang the hooks along the bottom of the plaque so the keys hang down from the holder. You don't have to follow the oval pattern for placement like I did. To be honest, I wish I had hung mine straight across the bottom so there was more space between the sunglasses and keys.

Hang the two pulls side-by-side near the top.


If you are not a fan of my simple stark white hardware you could fancy it up with decorative hooks and pulls in bronze, silver, brushed nickel, or cast metal. Whatever suits your decor.

No more lost keys and sunglasses and enough storage potential for the entire family! Because take it from this empty nesting Mama, once the kid's start driving, the keys and sunglasses will be everywhere.

Hang them up as soon as you enter the door and grab them as you are walking out. So handy to have them corralled in one place.

Project Two - Kitchen Apron Holder

If you and your family like to cook chances are you have at least one apron in your kitchen. Instead of shoving them inside a drawer, what about hanging them on pretty hooks on a kitchen wall? How fun to collect pretty aprons or ones with funny sayings and like art, have them on display. Now that I have an apron holder I'm on a mission to find some new kitchen aprons.

What other uses could this holder have?

Coat Rack

Hang sweaters or light jackets on the hooks by the back door.

Necklace Holder

Hang necklaces from the hooks in a bedroom. Perfect for a teenage girl's room.

Towel Rack

Use it in a bathroom to hang bath towels.

Kitchen Towel Holder

Much like an apron holder, hang your favorite kitchen towels from pretty knobs.

Herb Drying Rack

Wrap twine or ribbon around bundles of fresh herbs and hang them from the glass knobs to dry.

Grilling Tool Holder

Hang it on the fence or wall near the grill to keep your most-used grilling utensils.

Painting the wall hook organizer

These are the supplies used to make the wall hook organizer.


We're going to use the same milk paint colors as the key and sunglasses holder except for this one we're going to paint the colors in layers using a dry brush technique.

The first layer is painted with two coats of green milk paint. Once the paint is dry, lightly sand to remove any lumps with 220-grit sandpaper.


With an inexpensive chip brush, dip just the tips of the bristles into white milk paint and offload the excess onto a paper towel. With little pressure, swipe the bristles across the wooden plaque in random brush strokes. Don't cover the entire plaque because we want some of the green colors underneath to show (as pictured below).


Like we did with the other plaque, protect the paint with a coat of clear wax followed by dark wax to give it a timeworn appearance. Again, making sure the dark wax nestles into the grooves and the details on the wooden applique and wipe the excess with a lint free rag.

Adding decorative hooks to the kitchen apron holder

I used pretty glass cabinet knobs for apron hooks. The possibilities are endless for what style of knobs or hooks you use.


And there you have it, two easy peasy DIY ideas for kitchen and back landing organization. Because I had most of what I needed on hand, mine cost less than $5 each to make. It's up to you what price point you spend depending on the type of wood plaque and hardware you use. The possibilities are endless!

More Wall Hook Organization Ideas

DIY Dog Leash Holder
DIY Rustic Coffee Mug Holder
Rustic Garden Tool Holder
Repurposed Door Chalkboard Message Center
Wall Mounted Coat Rack For Under $5


If you have any questions about this makeover, please leave them in the comment section below or press the Contact Me button at the top of the blog to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!



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