Put a wheel on it

Hey there! I’m back today with a super easy update that I seem to like…a lot. I started thinking about all the times I’ve made this little change to an item and they added up fast.

I think it’s a fun detail that also adds some functionality to a piece you already have. If it needs a little something -- just do what I do…put a wheel on it. ;)

These small castors are so cheap at the hardware store – I think two or three bucks for two of them. If that? You can get the plastic ones for even cheaper.

I added them to a little shelf I found at Goodwill years ago:

It’s easy to wheel it around wherever and they add a bit of height to something that may be too short otherwise.

I got an inexpensive ottoman for our basement last year that was super functional (there’s storage space inside):

But I wanted to be able to move it out of the way easily, so I picked up four of the slightly larger castors and screwed them into the bottom:

I love the copper color on those. :) They come in this copper color and brass. I think silver too?

Awhile back I added them to the coffee table in the family room so we could push it around if needed:

Still can’t believe the difference a new rug made in there. ;)

I’ve been thinking about adding them to my next victim for awhile. A couple years ago I made over a clearanced caddy for the kiddo’s markers and crayons in my office:

I wanted to add wheels to this too, but it was really deep underneath (the bottom wasn’t flush), so I didn’t do it back then because I’d have to add some wood to make them work. (I thought the wheels would have looked awkward because they would be so deep underneath there.)

Well, my wheel obsession continues and I decided to make the little update to this finally. The bonus was that I found four wheels in the garage clean out, so it didn’t cost me anything!

I emptied it out (this also gave me a good reason to go through the markers that seem to multiply) and measured the length I needed for the scrap wood:

See how deep that is? That’s why I wanted to make it more flush on the bottom. And yes, there’s a cat in there. There’s always a cat.

See the paws?

He likes to “help.”

So anyway, I cut down the wood and just used wood glue to secure it to the bottom:

I could have used a nail gun but I didn’t feel like dragging it out and I didn’t want to risk the nails to come up through the bottom of the caddy. I couldn't tell how thick that bottom shelf was.

Not helping:

And yes, there were a lot of markers in there.

Here’s the little castors I used:

They have more of an antique brass finish. Love it.

You’ll want to make sure the spacing is fairly equal when you install – I just eyeballed them:

And that’s it! You just want to make sure you have some kind of wood for them to screw in to. If there’s not you can always add some scrap like I did to make it more secure:

If you don’t have to mess with adding wood or anything it should only take you ten minutes or so to install the wheels. Or 30 if you have a cat helping.

There are also locking castors so you can secure something you don’t want floating around the place. :)

Now we can easily roll the caddy around my office:

Or take it all the way to the kitchen table for projects. This thing is heavy so being able to wheel it around is helpful.

Cute eh? I think it’s a fun little detail. I’m always looking for ways to make store-bought pieces more unique and this does it. Do you ever do this in your home? It’s such an easy and cheap project!

P.S. If a wheel doesn’t work you could always put a bird on it.