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The older I get, the more importance I seem to place on storage solutions. My wife and I were never ones to purge our belongings in order to live in a minimalist household, and as we’ve had a few children along the way, the need for adequate storage has increased. We’re lucky enough to have a good-sized garage that houses all of our bulky items that we can’t bear to part with, but even so, we’ve found ourselves hunting for extra storage space after Christmas and the kids’ birthdays.
Here’s just a few ideas of how to really get the most out of a small space, without it quickly becoming too cluttered.
Use the height of your rooms
Take a look around your room. Even if you can barely see any floor because of the sheer amount of items you have in it, I bet there’s a large portion of the room that’s unaccounted for. That’s right, if you can see your walls, you can see potential storage space. By stacking your belongings high rather than across the floor, you can instantly create more room.
This is a relatively easy fix too, and is as easy as putting up some shelves and investing in bookshelves or storage cabinets. Make sure that you keep these looking tidy though. Left to their own devices, shelves and bookcases have a nasty habit of accumulating any items that are hanging around it seems, and can start to look a little chaotic.
The best thing to do in this scenario is to use storage cubes. These collapsible life savers can be filled with much more than you’d normally be able to fit in the same spot, and have the added bonus of hiding any mess entirely. Lifewit offers a range of different cubes that are perfect for this use.
Is your furniture wasting any room?
Be sure to pay attention to your furniture and what potential storage room it could be wasting.
Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that you throw out your sofa and sit on storage boxes instead. What I’ve found though, is that many items of bulky furniture actually provide space that isn’t utilised to its fullest.
Many have cottoned on to this idea, and if they don’t already own a bed with built-in drawers underneath, they can purchase special under-bed storage bags that slide in and out. These are absolutely perfect for clothes and blankets, negating the need for larger chests of drawers. Again, Lifewit have plenty of options for those looking for under-bed storage, with several available from them via Amazon.
Strangely, people don’t seem to utilise their sofa space in quite the same way. Many of us own sofas that provide adequate enough clearance from the floor for storage, yet only use it to gather dust and lose the remote control in. You may find that you can even fit an under-bed storage bag beneath your sofa. It’s a great place to house board games, games consoles, or even fold out chairs for when your guests outnumber your seating arrangements. If you find you need more room at home, you can also explore Storage Manchester services to keep your belongings safe and accessible.
Make use of hooks
For smaller kitchens, ceiling hooks can be an absolute godsend. Saucepans, woks and frying pans are some of the bulkiest items found in kitchens. They don’t stack very well, are sometimes too wide to fit in cupboards, and are frustratingly near-essential to have in the kitchen.
That’s why ceiling hooks can free up so much cupboard and drawer room. Almost all pans and utensils have a hole at the end of the handle to allow them to be hung. If you can find a suitable spot near the edge of the room, or even dangling from a fitted kitchen cupboard, you’ll not only be able to find your pan of choice in a hurry, but it also looks pretty good. Of course, your dangling kitchenware’s aesthetic value depends on what condition your pans are actually in. If they’re anything like ours, they’ll be a non-matching group of burnt pans with slightly melted handles!
Do you have any other tips for creating storage space in your home? Tell us your best hints in the comment section.