8 Storage Ideas to Keep Your Home Clutter Free
Downsizing isn’t easy especially when you have to find storage for all your things but here are eight amazing storage ideas to make sure that you have all the room you need for your things.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for decluttering and throwing out what you don’t need but finding room for the things you need or want to keep can be a challenging task especially when you are moving to a smaller place or somewhere with limited storage.
Time to plan the areas you can improve in your home to allow for maximum storage. From the hallway, to bedrooms, to living rooms, kitchen and dining, we have all the rooms in your house covered. Read on…
1. Under Stairs Closet
If you live in a multi-storey house, make the most of your under-stairs closet and if there isn’t one, think about putting one in. A well constructed under stairs closet can swallow a lot of things from coats to shoes to luggage bags, golf clubs, umbrellas and more.
If you have to get them custom built, consider adding drawers either inside or accessible from the side. That way, you don’t have to reach too far under the stairs for the things you need. Outside drawers can make use of the space in the hallway. Pull out your drawers from under the stairs and take whatever you need without actually going under the stairs. This also means that the use of space is maximised. If you do not have room for pull out drawers, consider cupboard doors and shelves. These cupboards can be as deep as the stairs itself giving you ample room inside.
RELATED: A Quick Guide to Decluttering Room-by-Room
2. Ottoman Storage Beds or Bed with Storage Drawers
Ottoman storage bed frames are great for keeping things that you seldom need or used seasonally. These may be extra bedding for the winter, extra pillows for the guest room, heavy winter clothes, luggage cases or anything you wish to keep and not chuck out. When picking the right ottoman bed for your bedroom, consider the size of the room, the space around the bed and how you wish to access the things under the mattress.
Search Ottoman Bed Frames on Amazon
Depending on the space in your bedroom, the layout of your bed and how you prefer to access the things inside, you can get a side lift or back lift ottoman bed.
Kept away from view, things under the Ottoman Bed can be forgotten, keep a list and leave this in the bedside table so you know what goes in. It is amazing how much it can keep given its size. If you go for a king or super king ottoman bed frame you get even more room. Also consider the height of the bed frame, this translate to the depth of the storage space.
Search Ottoman Bed Frames on Amazon
We love our Super King Ottoman bed frame. Depending on the shape of your bedroom, you may wish to consider a side lift or end lift. Ours is a side lift as we have a longish room. These options are shown in the images above. Whichever one you choose, you will be guaranteed extra storage space for all your things.
RELATED: How to Achieve the Modern Minimalist Bedroom Look
3. Livingroom Sofa with Storage
Our favourite furniture in the living room is the L-shaped corner sofa that not only deploys into a double bed for guests when needed but has a built-in hidden storage. The sofa offers plenty of room underneath the deepest seat giving you ample room for things you wish to put away especially in the living room.
Search L-shaped sofa with pull out bed and storage on Amazon
You can also find sofa and coffee table with storage drawers. These can sometimes be hidden or designed as actual drawers complete with knobs to help you access the storage space easily. They may not convert into a guest bed but will have more storage than one that does.
4. Choose Living Room Furnitures with Storage
Other living room furnitures with storage includes the side tables, sideboard, cabinets that make the most of corners in the room, media unit or long sideboards that not only offers space for your entertainment systems and TV but extra storage for things in the living room.
Sample side tables, sideboards and cabinets on Amazon offering plenty of storage for the living room. Click on the images below for further details.
RELATED: Glass and Chrome Coffee Tables for the Perfect Modern Look
5. Storage Ottomans: Foot Stools, Tables and Benches
Remember the ottoman bed frame we wax lyrical earlier. What if you can take the same idea and use it in any room (or furniture). From small foot stools to coffee tables and benches, there is an ottoman in there waiting to swallow all your things.
Storage ottomans are great to add hidden storage in any room be it the bedroom, living room, dining room or even the hallway. You can put things away easily as they typically come with easy lift hinges. These ottomans do not take up any more space than they need especially when you are going to have a bench, coffee table or foot stool anyway.
We list some of the best examples of ottoman bench, coffee tables and foot stools, click on the images and links below for more details on Amazon.
RELATED: Coffee Tables with Storage: Ideas for a tidier living room
6. Kitchen Cabinet Extensions
Often you find that standard hanging units do not make the most of the space on the wall leaving plenty of room above the unit. You can start piling up things on top of your wall hanging cabinet but that may not be safe or doesn’t look as tidy.
Look for additional wall cupboards or wall units for your kitchen that can go above the existing wall hanging cabinets that fit the empty space between the cabinet and the ceiling. That way, you get extra covered storage in your kitchen and take advantage of the otherwise wasted space above the kitchen cabinets.
The extra storage is great for those guest plates or serving dishes that you seldom use, additional cutleries, extra pots and pans or even kitchen linen. Remember to also get a foldable step stool. You will need them to reach the things in these higher units.
7. Custom built Alcove or Bay Window Seating with Storage
If you have a bay window in the house, you can have a custom built seating that comes with storage. These are cushions or sofa seats designed to fit into the alcove or bay window area maximising the use of the space.
You can then decide if you want the seats to flip open to access the storage underneath like a trunk or have built-in drawers or cupboard doors. Personally, a drawer will be easier allowing you access to things deep under the seat.
8. Floor to Ceiling Wall Cabinets & Tall Wall Hanging Cabinets in the Kitchen or Dining Room
We covered making use of the space above the kitchen cabinets earlier and you can make use of this by simply adding more hanging cabinets or extending the cabinet by getting taller doors and building extra cabinets above it. What about change it completely to a tall hanging cabinet? This typically adds up to 50% more storage space just on the wall cabinets alone.
If you do not need the counter space, you can also replace the counter unit with a floor to ceiling wall cabinets, removing the wall hanging unit. Such a cabinet is typically used for the fridge and freezer so it offers plenty of room inside.
Floor to ceiling kitchen cabinets are a lot deeper than wall hanging cabinets. With all that depth you can get clever with the interior space. Add door hanging shelves, divide the space to include room for tall appliances or furniture like ironing board, brooms, vacuum cleaner or even ladder, add an internal counter space and more.
These floor to ceiling and tall wall hanging cabinets not only work in the kitchen but can be added to the dining area too.
We leave you with some clever, contemporary and modern kitchen pantry and larder design that are built into floor to ceiling kitchen cabinets that use a combination of door hanging shelves and drawers or
