Back when i was famous and people asked me to go onto the radio and stuff, i received a lot of love for the covered magazine folders featured in this post ,which were discussed on the salvage sisters ‘Saturday Morning Show’ radio slot. So here i am at it again, covering every white ikea file in sight including these ones used at the front door to organise all the messy pups living in this house (if you live here and are reading this – just saying that to make the task seem more important and necessary.)

Here are some tips i have learned along the way, for those who might be interested in pimping their very own box files. Step one involves cutting out the basic shape from some lightweight fabric, leaving a margin of about 2 inches all around. I like to mix up floral and stripes when doing a set of boxes.

The two key tools for the job are good quality spray mount, and micropore. They are both ideal for fixing material, especially the micropore which comes in handy for finishing touches. It is fairly easy for me to get my hands on, but if you are a non-nhs worker, you could try bribing your local doctor for some. (Note how i have laid paper on the desk whilst using spray mount. i won’t even go into what happened the first time i used the stuff without adequate, ie extensive, covering.)

Fix the material onto the sides, front and back. Cut the overhang at the top into 1 inch intervals, to allow you to wrap it around the curved edge of the box. Then fix the strips to the inner edge with spray mount. Its tricky to not get the sticky substance all over the inside, resulting in magazines becoming permanently attached to the side, but there are worse things in life that could happen.

Then, fold the material at the bottom in the way you might wrap a present, and fix it to the bottom using spray mount, then secure the edges with micropore. Oh, and do the securing edges thing to the material at the top as well otherwise the flux of important things going in and out of your box with eventually unstick the material. Here are some fine pictorial examples….

Voila! Your lovely set of box files all pretty and unique for your hallway. Not a sniff of ikea identi-kit round here any more.