This year the award for The stupid thing you bought that always makes your life harder instead of easier goes to ... the hose reel.
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
Make sure your bucket isn't so flimsy that you could bend it with your mind.
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
- 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.
SLEEK/CONTEMPORARY
EVEN *MORE* COUNTRY
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!
Any large vintage tin or bucket with some sort of labelling is fun.
(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.
To the thieving chickens.
Think outside the bucket.
→Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←
Laura Bee
Just waiting for my hole holder to break.. . I have the bucket - but what will I use for weeds then?
Laura Bee
ummm, HOSE holder. The bucket would be the hole holder!
Shauna
Hey,
I kinda did something similar only with an old wooden crate. I put light stuff on the crate - shovel, chicken poop scraper, kid's plastic buckets and some chicken coop cleaning supplies under an upside down bucket that sits on top. I love the rustic chic look of this and my wooden crate;)
I hate wrapping hoses though, so I have one of those things that you just turn the handle and it winds it for you. I like the idea above about turning the bucket into some sort of chicken roost though;)
Ruth
'Dear Henry' should have bid 'Dear Liza' adieu and asked your advice... then he could have skipped the whole straw-patching fiasco, and put his holey bucket to better use. ;)
Gayla T
Martha doesn't do her own thinking. She pays people to do it for her where as you do your own. Even if you took advantage of her paying thinkers you still are way ahead of her in one spectactular way. You are FUNNY! I don't believe I've ever heard or read anywhere that she is or even comes close to being funny although I did see her smile once. I do think that you should use one of her ideas and that is to put a sign on you hen house. Her's says Palet de Poulet. That translates to Poultry Palace and if her's is a palace yours is the Taj Mahal and you can bet your sweet booty she didn't build her's. Which gets us right back to where this started....she pays people to do it for her. Not nearly as much fun plus her fella is, well, gone.
Debra
Great idea, I can even see a row of them on a fence for storage of small items. I have enjoyed your humor, often have thunk we think alike. Yes, Martha can pay others to do many things for her, wise idea as she's no spring chicken anymore, but one very smart chick...and I enjoy you both. And yes, she does smile, very much so when she talks about her time in the hen house/women's prison. She kept a sense of humor about that difficult time, held her head high and got right back to work making her entertainment and other ventures even better than before. Who else could do that? probably not many. Have a great week!
Marie
This is why I read your blog every day, to see what you'll thunk of next. Great idea.
Paul
Great idea! We have a local online auction that always has lots of this kind of yard stuff so I can get well worn buckets like that for $2-$6. I'm lazy and don't like to make small coils when I'm winding up my hose. So I recommend putting the bucket high like the picture.
Sarah A.
How did you know I was just fighting with a hose yesterday and trying to figure out how to hang it up? This is genius - and I will always say I learned it from you, not Martha!
Clare
I bet Martha never would have thought to make a super cool cushion out of car wash mitts! I visit your site every day, whereas I only grudgingly visit hers when I absolutely have to.
Love your work! And I love this bucket re-use. Brilliant.
Caroline
I have 50 lbs of hose so use a painted tire rim attached to the wall but really like the idea of a bucket for a single hose. Good thinkin!
SK Farm Girl
Sigh . . . you are so my hero; and a genius to boot! Pft to Martha; all hail the queen Karen!! Kind of off the topic, but every garage sale I go to and see an "orb" for sale, I compulsively tell the garage sale hostess about the brilliant orb light idea. Nine times out of ten they pull the orb off the sale table and vow to make the beautiful light themselves. I'm done buying orbs myself; I have about a dozen! I guess you could say I'm spreading the "good word"!
ruth
Love it. Going bucket-hunting now. And YOU will have the credit for the idea.
Lynn
I had an old short tine rake that the handle broke
on so I nailed it next to my garden gate to hold my trowel, cultivator, scissors etc. The tools all have holes in the handles so I can hang them on the tines. Looks great, works great - the perfect upcycle!
Melissa Leach
If you keep this brillance up you are going to have a signature color like Martha does...awesome!
Melissa Leach
duh...not enough caffine yet. You are going to have to have a signature color like Martha does. Hmmm, what color would you choose?
Bonnie
Freaking brilliant... again.
Spokangela
Well I am particularly impressed with the animation! It actually looks like a bucket sitting on a deck then... viola! Ingenious hose reel with storage! Nice work :)
I call my hose reel my pimp, it keeps track of my hose. HA! I know, groan.
nancyeileen
Brilliant!!
Barbie
Those gloves are WAY to clean!
I'm SO doing this idea of YOURS...and M's lol....she probably "didn't" think of it ya know.
cred
Ya, I love this- I wish I had an old pail with a hole in. Cuz galvanized pail is definitely my style- ya, I am that stylish, kinda ozark chic, very 2012!
Seriously do love the rustic bucket- I have employed 2 in my house that I "dip-dyed" the bottoms with white paint. One fireside for tinder and another with a chalkboard label stating it's purpose for compost.
Both the pails & chalkboard vinyl from dollarama. Sadly, they don't have the pails anymore. I really wanted to paint one in
a funky patio colour for drinks on ice for al fresco dining.
Seems everyone is thinking outside the bucket. Love this idea, thanks!
Jillian
Great idea!
Karla
The this idea. Unfortunately we already have a hose hanger thingy. But if it just happens to break one day (after the kids have been playing with the hose) I now know what to replace it with.