• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Art of Doing Stuff
menu icon
go to homepage
  • HOUSE
  • COOKING
  • GARDEN
  • HOW-TO
  • EXTRA
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • HOUSE
    • COOKING
    • GARDEN
    • HOW-TO
    • EXTRA
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » House Stuff

    The 5 Minute Backyard Hose Hack for Spring 🌷

    March 23, 2023 by Karen 93 Comments

    Pin13K
    Share
    Email
    13K Shares

    This year the award for The stupid thing you bought that always makes your life harder instead of easier goes to ... the hose reel.

    Galvanized bucket screwed to fence with hose wrapped around it and gloves hanging out.

    Hose reels are bulky hunks of indiscriminately designed plastic boxes where hoses learn to be knotty. After exhausting all the store bought options for a hose reel I gave up and screwed a bucket to my fence, coiled my hose around it and never looked back.

    Is it beautiful? Not particularly. But it's not offensive, it's not plastic and makes putting the hose away easy. It is plain & sturdy like a bucktoothed farmboy.

    Until the day someone invents a compact, attractive hose reel for a ⅝ths hose that works smoothly I will continue with my bucket system.

    If you want a QUICK DIY WIN this spring - screw a bucket to a wall. Anywhere you want to keep the hose rolled up and tidy.

    Do it Yourself Bucket Hose Holder

    (the more hose you have, the taller the bucket should be to allow more space for the hose)

    MATERIALS

    Galvanized bucket
    Ryobi cordless drill

    BUCKET

    Make sure your bucket isn't so flimsy that you could bend it with your mind.

    DRILL & 4 screws

    The bigger the bucket, the more hose you can put on it, but if you have a small space use a shorter bucket like the galvanized one above. It won't stick out from the wall as much and therefore you won't accidentally bang into it as much.

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Screw the bucket to a wall, fence or even a tree at whatever height you'd like.

    So yeah, that's it for instructions. 🤣

    If you're drilling into the side of your brick home or building, This is how you drill into brick and what kind of drill bit you should use.

    Aren't into the Hee Haw hygge of the galvanized bucket?

    No problem - you can use anything that's:

    • Basically cylindrical
    • Is suitable and/or treated for outdoor conditions
    • Can be screwed into a fence.

    Would you like to save this stuff?

    We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

    Black paint can
    Chippy white vintage-look jug
    Red metal tub with handles

    SLEEK/CONTEMPORARY

    A black straight sided bucket

    EVEN *MORE* COUNTRY

    A shabby chic cottage bucket

    TUB STYLE

    It doesn't have to be round and can definitely be red

    Vintage white enamel pail with red and green flowers painted
    Vintage minnow bucket with red painted label.
    Large wood footed bowl

    Vintage Enamel

    Search out the cheap enamel with chips at antique shows or flea markets. It'll give you something to look for at those places this summer!

    Minnow Bucket

    Any large vintage tin or bucket with some sort of labelling is fun.

    Wood Bowls or buckets

    (think about old wood salad bowls or ice buckets)

    Treat them with a weather proofing like Thompsons Water Seal.

    This basic utilitarian object, a hose reel, common to anyone who owns a house, seems to have eluded the worlds best product designers. It's a hose reel. How hard can it be to design a good looking one that works well?

    I'm not trying to find  a full sized Merry-Go-Round outfitted with genuine Lippizaner stallions sporting pink feather plumes on their heads. I just want a useful hose reel.

    I didn't have any luck finding one I liked so I screwed a bucket to the wall. That was close to a decade ago and it's still hanging off the fence, keeping my hose organized.

    You'll use the interior of the bucket to hold things ALL the time.

    And I use the interior of the bucket for storage constantly. Especially when I'm setting up my water timers and bibs in the spring which are right beside the hose.

    All my parts and tools and gaskets get set inside the bucket so I don't lose them.

    Hose wrapped around bucket screwed to fence.

    To the thieving chickens.

    Chicken in straw run with Boston fern.

    Think outside the bucket.

    →Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←

    The 5 Minute Backyard Hose Hack for Spring 🌷

    More HOME stuff

    • How to Clean a Crystal Chandelier
    • 67 Spring Cleaning Tips — But Just Pick 5 😆
    • 12 Cleaning Tips You Need To Know
    • How to Stop Your Crisper From Freezing

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      The maximum upload file size: 512 MB. You can upload: image, audio. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here

    1. Sandra D

      May 17, 2023 at 10:15 am

      I've never known how to use those reels - good thing I got the one or two I have (years ago) free! Great idea to use a bucket!

      Reply
    2. Garth Wunsch

      March 25, 2023 at 8:38 am

      I used a couple of discarded wheel rims. Drilled two hole about six inches apart to accommodate screws... Painted them up to match brick... They'll NEVER give up.

      Reply
    3. Jan in Waterdown

      March 24, 2023 at 7:28 pm

      “Hee Haw Hygge”? Well there’s 3 words I never expected to read in the same sentence 😛….
      I’m particularly observant these days since I just finished reading “My (or The?) Year of Living Danishly”. Now I want to live there or at least visit Denmark. Have you?

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 25, 2023 at 10:09 am

        I haven't, but I'd love to. The Nordic countries seem to have living figured out! ~ karen

        Reply
    4. trish

      March 24, 2023 at 4:41 pm

      yes ! ! ! -- as always Karen you are genius thank you! (but maybe not so grateful for this moment's realization of all the wasted YEARS of battling with obstructive store-bought reels or nothing at all and always ! losing). But .... thank you !

      Reply
    5. Lynn

      March 24, 2023 at 12:58 pm

      Love your hose bucket . One of the reasons I believe it works so well is the shape of you bucket. The outside keeps hose an in place yet easily allows you to take off or put back on. The insid allows moisture to run out keeping tools dry 💕.

      Reply
    6. David G.

      March 24, 2023 at 12:00 pm

      Try this. Pull out the hose and get it totally untwisted (relaxed). If the hose has a straight line the entire length, get the line straight, not slowly winding around. Then put 1st loop on the bucket. Take the 2nd loop and give it a half turn (say.. clockwise). Now put the 3rd loop as the 1st loop, a circle. The 4th loop as the 2nd (half turn clockwise). Keep doing this until it's all done. So one loop is a circle and the next a figure 8. It won't look as neat but when you pull it out, the hose will always be untwisted. This also works nicely with extension cords.

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 25, 2023 at 10:04 am

        Thanks David. I can barely take the time to throw my own hose on the bucket, but that is a good technique. I actually learned it when I was working in television - that method is how all the cables and cords are coiled. :) ~ karen!

        Reply
    7. Vicky

      March 24, 2023 at 10:41 am

      I've got those shrinking hoses. I put a hole in the bottom of a kitty litter bucket and hooked the hose up to the house from the hole and the hose stays in the bucket with the top on when not in use.

      Reply
      • Robbie B.

        March 24, 2023 at 1:56 pm

        I loved my shrinking hose!! Like loved it. Kept in a nice basket in front garden near my house. Then it backed up and leaked into basement where the faucet was attached every time I used it. Bummer! Sadly, I had to give it up.

        Reply
    8. Sandy

      March 24, 2023 at 10:39 am

      We had a vintage hubcap covering the spool for our hose at our last house and it looked pretty cool. It would fit nicely on a bucket.

      Reply
    9. Mary W

      March 24, 2023 at 9:14 am

      I don't like to coil hoses, even just on the ground - they remember the shape and make it so hard to use the hose. I prefer laid out along the edge of a path - quick and easy to use. BUT, if I wanted to hang one I love the look of your pail along with the usefulness. As I read your post, an ad to the side was for mailboxes and I thought, boy they would make a good reel, also, and have a door to close, too. Of course, wrens would claim it, if left open.

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 24, 2023 at 11:06 am

        It might be fun to have it full of birds. It would make getting the hose an exciting adventure for all involved every day. ~ karen!

        Reply
    10. TERESA KENT

      March 24, 2023 at 9:14 am

      Try the expandable hose. It's a life changer. I will never buy a stiff rubber hose again. 100 ft curls up into a cute 2 gallon pot.
      One of the best inventions since sliced bread.

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 24, 2023 at 11:05 am

        I've tried 4 of them. Four. Each and every one of them exploded. Even the ones that said they wouldn't. Mainly because I'd often leave them expanded, full of water. But I also know I would continue to do that so no more expandable hoses for me. Although as you say they are FANTASTIC. ~ karen!

        Reply
    11. Sandra Blackwell

      March 24, 2023 at 9:10 am

      My hose is out all the time in the summer, cause I aint draggin it in and out every day. When it is time to put them up for the winter they hang on 5 gallon buckets on the back of my garage.

      Reply
    12. Melody Wright

      March 24, 2023 at 8:44 am

      I love it. I like ALL things country or rustic. I'm going to definitely do this as my hose reel needs replacing as do my hose pipes with all their kinks.

      Reply
    13. Babs

      March 24, 2023 at 8:24 am

      Genius and stylish too! How are those chickens by the way?

      Reply
      • Karen

        March 24, 2023 at 11:00 am

        The chickens are geriatric and good, lol! I'm hoping to restart a flock from scratch but my last 2 chickens are determined to live for decades I think. ~ karen!

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Primary Sidebar

    SHOP ON AMAZON

    Use it 👆 to support my work. LEARN MORE

    My name is Karen Bertelsen and I was a television host. In Canada. Which means in terms of notoriety and wealth, I was somewhere on par with the manager of a Sunset Tan in Wisconsin.

    I quit television to start a blog with the goal that I could make my living through blogging and never have to host a television show again. And it’s worked out. I’m making a living blogging. If you’re curious, this is how I do that.

    So I’m doing this in reverse basically. I’m the only blogger who is trying to NOT get a TV show.

    More about me 👋

    Seasonal Articles

    • Turtles Can Fly, and Other June Discoveries
    • Garden Tool Handle Repair
    • 👉 14 Common Garden Oddities (and What to Do About Them)
    • How Does a Venus Flytrap Work? Meet Maureen
    • Garlic Scapes 101: Harvesting and Cooking Guide
    • How to Light a Charcoal BBQ Without Lighter Fluid (In 2 Minutes)

    Popular Articles

    • This Is Where I Try To Buy Your Love
    • Guaranteed Crispy Sweet Potato Fries & Sriracha Mayo Dip
    • A Year Full of Pots: Win Sarah Raven's New Book
    • The Difference Between People Who Eat Mayo & People Who Eat Miracle Whip
    • Your FIRST look at my new kitchen in Canadian Living Magazine.
    • How to Print an Image on Wood.

    Footer

    as seen in

    About

    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Social

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    12841 shares