Finding Storage Solutions in Unexpected Places (like the Trash!)

Several years ago, when I moved into my first apartment at college, I purchased one of those ubiquitous MDF shoe shelves for my closet. I think I paid about $20 for it at Target. Definitely not aesthetically pleasing, but it met my college shoe collection needs. I've held onto it for over four years now, and through four different apartments/houses. However, I stopped using it a while ago, probably because I've paired down my shoe collection from 40 pair to about 7. So, it has been sitting in our Goodwill pile for a while...like many other things that we realized we no longer needed when we moved into our new house at the beginning of May.

On another note, I have been in search of a storage unit for Dmitri's toys. Until recently, I had literally piled all of them into his pack-n-play, trying to keep the baby-toy-madness from consuming my house! I didn't want to shell out a lot of money nor did I want something that took up a lot of room and would unlikely to work in a future home (who wants to pay $500 for a shelving system that would be too big to fit into different space). Who knew that the perfect piece was sitting in my junk pile....

I might still consider painting it, but I was shocked at how perfectly it held most of his toys (and the ones that are too big to fit on the shelf go in the basket on top). And, they are right at his level: he can access them perfectly. I can feel better knowing that it is getting more use and not ending up in a landfill, plus it saved me lots of money! 

Have you ever found a solution to a problem in your own trash pile before? (or someone else's!)