16 Clever 3D Printer Projects To Upgrade Your Home

You might be wondering just how useful a 3D printer actually is if you don't own one yet. You may ask yourself if you'll make enough things with it to make it worthwhile. Coming from a household that owns three 3D printers of varying sizes and a stockpile of filament, I have never had to pause and consider what to make with them. There's always something!

Even a basic, budget-friendly 3D printer is guaranteed to broaden your horizons when it comes to what's possible to create. With a few accessories for your 3D printer, you can print almost anything you can imagine — or at least anything you can imagine and model in 3D.

The list of things you can 3D print is endless, from toys and models to spare parts for various household products and household items. Keep in mind, however, that 3D printing certain things can get you in trouble with the law. Fortunately, there are plenty of clever 3D printer projects that are legal to upgrade your home. 

I've lost count of how many times I've been in the kitchen, trying to open something that's meant to have a zipper seal, only for it to fail on me. Chip clips are actually on my list to print because this happens to me so frustratingly often.

Though the moniker suggests that these clips are only for keeping your snacks from getting stale, a chip clip is great for many different items around your kitchen. Like anything else made via 3D printer, you can make the design as elaborate or as simple as you'd like.

You can design your own, or head to a site like Printables to find chip clip designs you can download. Whether you want a simple clip shape (like the store-bought, snap-together ones) or a bread clip that looks like a cat's rear end (yes, someone made that!), there are tons of options and plenty of inspiration online.

Toothpaste squeezers are a household 3D printer project that can change your life. It might sound silly, but think about how often you fight your tube of toothpaste to get the last little bit out. Toothpaste squeezers come from a simple design, but they can help you get the last squeeze (or multiple) out of an almost-empty tube.

The best part of making your own toothpaste squeezer on a 3D printer is the ability to customize the design. In my house, we have three different toothpaste tube sizes and shapes, so one size does not fit all. Any time you download a design online, you can modify it to suit your needs.

We printed (or, if I'm being honest, my teenage son printed) a quick and easy design from Thingiverse, but there are tons of options. The more enterprising among us might choose to design one in a program like Tinkercad, but Thingiverse has toothpaste squeezer designs with everything from basic triangle shapes to buttons or knobs for cranking the toothpaste out.

One of the coolest things my teen printed on one of our many 3D printers is a video game cartridge container. If you have a Nintendo Switch, you'll know how giant the boxes are despite the cartridges being super tiny. Although I hate to throw away the boxes, I loved the idea of a miniature holder for the cartridges, especially when we're on the go. 

The design my son chose has a screw-on lid, and I was so impressed when I first saw it. It can be tough to clean up these smaller designs if you have any stringing (filament strands that resemble cobwebs between parts) or other issues with your printer, so be prepared for some sanding or cleanup using a heat gun. 

Even if you don't have Switch games, there are dozens of storage designs that could work for your preferred system — even old-school Nintendo games. You'll also find a variety of cartridge holders on platforms like Thingiverse, whether they have screw tops or are simpler designs with slots on a flat base. Search for video game cartridge holder designs, and you'll have a solid place to start.

Have you ever needed a specific size or shape storage container and couldn't find it at a reasonable price — or at all? 3D printing strikes again, helping you upgrade your storage solutions on a pretty reasonable budget.

The Gridfinity 3D printing trend is one way 3D printing can help you organize your games and other smaller items. Before you start printing, you can use online tools to generate a layout of Gridfinity containers to meet your needs. Add in some labels, magnets, or other accessories, and you'll be organized in no time.

Of course, you don't have to use the Gridfinity system to get organized or store stuff. Think about pencil holders, small boxes or bowls for items on your desk, or jewelry racks and boxes. Most small storage solutions you can find at dollar stores — like small cube containers, bins, and baskets — can be replicated with a 3D printer.

Once you purchase a 3D printer, one of the first things you might start looking for is a filament storage solution. The cool thing is you can use your 3D printer to make storage solutions for its own gear. Filament shelf brackets are just one possibility for upgrading your home (or your 3D printing space).

Beyond filament storage, users on sites like Printables have created tons of different shelf bracket solutions that are far less boring than the ones you can order from home goods stores. For example, you can print brackets that resemble tree roots, go Victorian style, or even have leaves holding up your shelves.

Depending on the type of filament you use and the size of the shelves and brackets, weight limits could be an important consideration. You'll also want to study up on the types of filament available and what's best for the job. For example, most printers come with PLA filament to get you started, but other varieties like PETG are more heat resistant and better for sunny spots in the house.

Shelf brackets are one thing, but have you considered 3D printing an entire shelf? Shelves might be one of those 3D prints you'd never think to try, but you may change your mind once you scroll through home goods sites and see their prices. At least, that's what's happened the last few times I've thought about shopping for shelves for my house.

While so far I've only had experience with very small shelf units made of PLA filament, the appeal of a custom-printed shelf is real. Not only can you choose the color and material, but there are countless designs online, or you can experiment your way to the custom shelves of your dreams.

Depending on the size of the shelf, you can add or remove brackets, which you can also custom print. The only other items you'll need are screws for hanging the shelves. One word of caution, since it's hard to figure out the maximum weight limit for filament: Don't put anything valuable on the shelves until you test their weight capacity.

Although I have never once lost my car keys, I sadly can't say the same for the rest of my family. They've misplaced car keys, house keys, mail keys, and the key to our shed — the shed where our 3D printer assembly resides. For our household, a key holder (actually, multiple key holders) was a necessity. Now, we have one by the front door, another in my kids' bedroom, plus one on my desk, and now life is a lot less stressful ... as long as they return my car keys after they use them.

The cool thing about key holders is that you can make anything you want with your 3D printer. You can print a single-hook hanger in any shape or size you like, or create something a bit heftier with spots for multiple keys to hang. You can even add hooks for other items (like the umbrellas your family also misplaces) or a shelf to put mail on. Like other 3D printer projects that involve hanging things up, you'll need some screws or other hardware to install your key hanger.

A phone or tablet stand might be the kind of helpful device you consider buying but can never quite justify. After all, your phone is probably in your hand or pocket most of the time. If you're like me, you may have charging stands that let you see when notifications come in and keep your phone in sight. However, sometimes you need a little something to prop up your device while you're, say, tinkering at the 3D printer or following a recipe.

In that case, a stand is one of those 3D prints that solve everyday problems. Whether you want your iPad held up by octopus tentacles, want something that folds flat, or want a simple design that looks like something you'd order online, there's a Thingiverse phone stand design for the job. As with any other 3D-printed item, you can also DIY your own and design something that fits your needs and aesthetic.

Before our household wound up with three 3D printers, my dad was the first in the family to own one. Among his first print attempts was a security camera mount, which he then installed outside. As expert printers among us know too well, standard PLA is probably not ideal for outdoor installations, especially in warmer climates. The mount, installed on an exterior wall of the house in the backyard, warped, and the camera dropped out of it.

PLA (polylactic acid) filament has a relatively low melting point. Practically speaking, that's a good thing — you don't need to crank up the heat on your printer and subsequently run up your energy bills. However, some projects, such as items you'll use outside or in sunny spots like windowsills, are best printed with a more heat-resistant filament.

PLA filament is weaker than ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). ABS has exceptional heat resistance compared with both PLA and PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified). In short, learning more about each type of filament will help you choose the best product for the job.

For my family, 3D printing has been quite an adventure. There is always something happening that disrupts the prints my son starts, so we've learned a lot about troubleshooting in the few years we've owned three different printers. One of the most recent issues occurred when his Elegoo printer's cables tangled up in the hot end and got melted. After we addressed the immediate safety issue of exposed wires, the next step was to print (on another printer!) some cable management brackets to prevent the scenario from recurring.

All that to say, some of the most useful things you can print are accessories for your 3D printer. Cable management solutions are perfect for cleaning up your print area, a spool holder for your filament can help prints go more smoothly, and a bed scraper can help you remove prints from the print bed. Because you can print so many things for your printer, or replace the parts altogether, it's clear that 3D printers are worth buying used, even with some missing components.

Getting a handle on storage might be the biggest part of upgrading your home in general. Food storage, especially, is one of those areas where it's important to know what you have and where it is. To that end, a can stacking ring could be one of the coolest yet simplest things you print for your home.

Can stacking rings allow you to stack similar (or dissimilar, depending on the design) canned goods on top of one another. You would think the food industry would have evolved to ensure that at least canned food from the same brand could be securely stacked, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Rather than playing a balancing game with your cans, you can measure them or look up dimensions, then find a ring to match.

For example, there's a Heinz-specific can stacking ring that a user created on Printables, and there are tons of other can stacking ring options on Thingiverse, too. Some are for generic cans, some for cat food brands, and even some for organizing your ramekins.

If you've ever had an infant in your life, you probably recognize the baby-focused bottle drying racks you can find in stores and online. For us grown-ups who like to stay hydrated, a full-on drying rack might be a bit much. In my experience, those bottle racks were always hard to clean anyway.

A fun 3D-printed solution to keep your bottles clean and dry is a bottle dryer stand from sites like Thingiverse. A simple two-prong dryer can fit most bottle styles, but you can also find customizable designs and single-bottle dryers in various shapes. Some bottle drying stands also have a spot at the bottom to catch water, while others can work with a fan to circulate air through the bottle, drying it faster (at least theoretically).

Even a simple Christmas tree stand-style bottle dryer could be handy, and it's a print that probably won't take too much time, either. Some versions of bottle drying stands on Printables are even stackable for storage when the dishes are all done.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have at least one light switch in my house that has yet to reveal its purpose. Hopefully, leaving it off isn't causing any issues in my house. If I did need to leave the light switch on for some reason, I would definitely need a light switch lock to keep everyone else from turning it off.

The compulsion to switch off every light as you leave a room probably inspired one Redditor's motivation to create a light switch lock design. The lock is a 3D-printed part with two screw holes, so it can be attached to the light switch plate. Depending on how you install it, it can either prevent the switch from being turned off or on.

Similar light switch locks are common on Printables and Thingiverse, or you can take a stab at designing your own. Whether you have standard light switches or rocker switches, there's a 3D-printed design that can solve the problem of a switch being turned on or off by accident.

One of the things I hate most about buying new stuff is figuring out where to put it. While 3D-printed designs can help make your entire house more organized, hair accessory holders might not be something you've considered yet. Or maybe you have, if you're someone like me who winds up the hair dryer cord and stuffs the whole thing back into its original box every time they use it.

To avoid a cardboard box pileup, consider 3D printing some styling tool stands or holders for your bathroom. A simple bracket could give your bathroom more of a hotel feel, keeping tools and their cords off the floor. Even a simple bracket can keep your dryer handy without taking up too much space.

The specific design will depend on the size and shape of your hair tools, but there's a solution for everything from dryers to straighteners to curling irons. There's even a design for hair straighteners that holds the appliance by its hinged end, letting the heat pads cool down safely.

Call me stingy, but I dislike paying money for things like soap dishes and sponge holders. I would rather have a mushy bar of soap than shell out cash for a piece of plastic with holes in it. Since I own multiple 3D printers, it's much more palatable to my wallet to use a bit of electricity and some filament to print those things at home.

Plus, rather than the same old oval-shaped tray with little nubs for feet, you can custom-design a soap dish that fits your style and decor. Some soap dish designs on sites like Thingiverse look much cooler than store-bought ones. You can also choose different features, like a tray with a single drain cutout rather than holes across the bottom that leave your counter soaked.

You can even print a snap-on soap dish that attaches to your showerhead handle or existing shower caddy. Pro tip: don't sleep on searching for "sponge dish," because plenty of creative designs on Printables and Thingiverse will work for either soap or a sponge.

There are a few different scenarios where it might be useful to have a faucet extender, particularly on a bathroom sink. For example, small children might not be able to get their hands under the faucet without help, which can make handwashing a two-person job even if your child is otherwise capable. I also prefer a faucet extender's reach for rinsing toothpaste from the sink rather than splashing water around with my hands. Plus, it's less anxiety-inducing to clean things like jewelry if you aren't holding them directly over the drain.

Whatever your motivation, a faucet extender can be a small but functional upgrade for your home, and even look cool while doing it. The ideal design will, of course, vary based on the faucet style, the sink size, and how the extender attaches. Some snap on, while others you'll find on Thingiverse require a zip tie for installation.