Storage solution 6: Letter boxes

When I was younger my dad worked in an antique shop and restored both a writing slope and a letter box for me:

Now I'm not really a letter writer these days, what with email and text messaging, and if I do write to someone I tend to just write a card. Therefore I wanted to find a use for these beautifully restored boxes.

Now for those of you who don't know me, I am a big crafter, I sew and knit and create. Both because I enjoy it and because I am in the slow process of setting up my own business, Sew Beautiful. 

So I decided that some of the clutter taking up my work table could be stored in these stunning antiques.

Here it is. Well I have too much wool to fit in completely but decided it didn't spoil the look by propping the lid open, and this way there is no deception of what is in there. 

The writing slope is harder to use: 

due to the restraints of the slope inside. Therefore I have used this to store photos in in and when closed, I have made a little storage feature of it:

Like this.

So remember when finding storage solutions, don't worry about using boxes for their original purpose instead reuse, rejuvenate and re-home your clutter.