Oh, Faux You Didn’t: $6 Office Organization with This 15 Minute Faux Stoneware Idea

I picked up these sapucaia monkey pods (a natural tree pod that grows in South America) from the wholesale florist on my block for $6 a piece. They’re pretty good size – each at 5-7 inches. So, I bought a handful and took ’em back to the studio to play around with later.

Then, a couple days ago, I finally got around to tinkering with these strange little guys and realized they’d make really good storage containers for office supplies (and plants too). So, I thought I’d share them as DIY organizational inspiration for the new year.

And, as it urns out, after a little makeover in the paint department, they look a bit like stoneware, or even stained concrete, as far as the texture goes. Don’t you think? And the pods themselves are relatively heavy, which helps too.

There’s not much to this DIY, since its really more about reusing ‘out of the ordinary’ items for storage, than anything else. But if you want some instructions, I am happy to provide… Firstly, finding these pods will either be super easy or a bit challenging. It all depends on whether your local florist has them or not. You can find them online here too, but they’re a lot more expensive.

So once you have the pods, start by cleaning out any weird / rough stuff on the inside of the pod. Before they’re hollowed out, the inside actually housed nuts, similar to Brazilian nuts. So, there are some rough edges where the nuts once were, etc. Next, sand the outer surface, if necessary. You may not need to do this, FYI. Just use your best judgement.

Then, grab a paint brush and some interior wall paint (it covers better than regular acrylic paint) and paint two coats on the outside of the pod. You can paint the inside too if you’re only using the pods as office storage. Once the paint has completely dried, they’re ready to use for office / desk organization. Super easy!

Photography by Amelia Tatnall
Styling by Brittni Mehlhoff
Assisted by Anissa Saxton

Think you’ll give this organizational DIY a try? How are you getting organized in the new year? Any tips?