How to organize your essential oils

Has the organizing bug bit you too? Everybody seems to be decluttering, organizing, and creating cute storage ideas. And I am all up for it. I have been going to the thrift shop regularly but mostly to drop things off! Gasp! I know what a revolutionary idea. Everything in my house has been exposed to the ‘keep or donate’ question at least once already and when it is deemed to stay it has to have a home. I am longing for a simpler, organized home, and I am getting there one little project at a time.

— which is why I love all the DIY home organizing projects that are collected in this post. There are 101 organisation projects you can try. —

I don’t know if you recognize it, but when things don’t have a home, when they are scattered all over the place and hard to find, I simply forget to use them. As was the case with my essential oils collection. I love creating little oily concoctions to rub on my skin (my anti-mosquito itch ointment is my favorite), mixing oils for my bathtub, or adding them to my diffuser in my home. But my oil collection was a mess and I hardly used any of them anymore. But no more! See here my essential oils organizing basket DIY.

How to properly store essential oil bottles

It is not a good idea to store your oils out and about, but rather in a dark place. To prevent exposure it is important that your storage container does not let in direct sunlight. It is also best to keep your container inside a closet or cupboard and away from a heat source or moisture. That way your oils will stay safe and good for a long time.

I am so happy. All my oils are together, easy to find and use, and in a safe – sunlight-free – organizer.

DIY essential Oil storage

The project was made with thrifted and repurposed materials so almost free.  And my little basket has got a bit of a beachy vibe too! A nice old repurposed wicker basket is so much better than a new plastic container. All the boxes are ticked by this project.

Okay. So where to start with my essential oils storage DIY?

Oil organizer supplies and tools

For this project you’ll need:

• a basket, box or drawer that is big enough to hold oil your oil bottles
• a piece of foam like a garden pad
• an apple corer or a sharp utility knife
• craft essentiels like fabric, oil cloth and paint to pretty up your container

After roughly deciding what kind of oil storage box I wanted I started shopping my house for the ingredients for this DIY project.

In my attic, I found this long-ago-thrifted-basket. It was a bit rough around the edges but I figured it was exactly high enough for storing my essential oil bottles.

Now I needed something to keep my little oil bottles secure and safe and that would help me sure they didn’t topple over.

My garden section delivered the perfect solution for that:

This is a garden knee pad and a quick measurement revealed that it had the absolute perfect width for my basket and after I cut off the blue handle it was exactly tall enough. A true match made in heaven.

Essential Oil Storage Basket DIY INstructions

With the apple corer, I punched holes through the foam pad. To my surprise, the holes from the apple corer were perfect for my little 5ml bottles. I widened the holes a little bit with a craft knife for my 10ml glass bottles.

And basically, at that point, all the heavy work was done. If you are not concerned with looks you are done at this point. But I couldn’t live with all those bright colors of the knee pad so I covered it with some leftover oilcloth. I adhered the drop cloth with spray glue and cut a cross where the holes were. Pushing the bottles in made the edges of the drop cloth cover the holes perfectly.

My essential oils storage DIY was finished!

With room to spare for more oils in the future and with a place to hold my essential oils accessories (like roller bottles, droppers, and recipes).

Now if you think this is a great idea and you want to follow my tutorial, but you can’t find a similar basket in your thrift store then don’t worry. The basic idea can be applied to a drawer or a wooden box just as easily. And if you can find any mini vintage suitcases, those make awesome essential oil storage cases too.

Decorating my Oil Container

Of course, I then went on to the really fun part and that is to spruce up that tired old basket. I decided to make it quick and easy and just use some white craft paint and some old brushes. Because this looks a bit like a picnic basket I decided to go for a beachy vibe. I simply painted a star on the lid and some stripes on the sides. Since I wanted it to look as if it had been shlepped to the beach many times, I didn’t need to make it perfect. It was almost ready but needed just a bit more.

I covered the handle in some cotton rope and fixed a quick little tassel ( a little label would have looked nice too, but I don’t need a reminder for what’s in the basket so I stuck to adding a tassel). It wasn’t until I took the photos that I realized that together they look a bit like an anchor. Happy serendipity!

I think my essential oils storage basket is cute. But most of all it works like a charm. I have already dug into my collection several times to mix a nice fragrance for my home. I am so happy that all my favorite oils are now so easy to find.

What ye think? Like it? Are you going to try this project yourself?