Living cluttered can be detrimental to your ability to focus and even affect your health if your clutter becomes out of control. It can be difficult to remember where you’ve put something down or things can quickly go missing in your ‘controlled chaos’. Whether you’ve been living out of boxes after a recent move or simply haven’t got a handle of where everything should live, here are some contemporary storage ideas to help you find a place for everything and put everything in its place.
Display Storage
Not everything has to be tucked away into a drawer and out of sight or put into the cupboard until you next need it. If you’ve got bits you use regularly or items that you are proud of, use a display storage shelf or cabinet to put your belongings on the show and ensure they are easy to access if it’s something you use every day.
Cube display units are a popular option, with plenty of space and shelf depth to create displays that look aesthetically pleasing and even create a focal, talking point for when you have guests visiting. Use with spotlights and LED strip lights to highlight favorite pieces and add a bit of atmosphere to the room. For the kitchen, self-assembly wine racks in various sizes can be slotted into empty cupboard spaces or built into your kitchen islands, ensuring you’ve always got a bottle on hand for cooking, entertaining and tasting.
Hidden Storage
For the pieces and belongings you’d rather have out of sight and out of mind, hidden storage is an excellent option for keeping things safe and out the way. There are options suitable for every room setting from comfy Ottoman beds that can be used to storage bedding, clothing, towels, and other soft furnishings to a coffee table with a handle-less drawer or a lift up top.
There are plenty of hidden storage DIY ideas out there that can provide inspiration for additional storage in your home. Some favorites include using book spines glued together to create a secret storage area on a bookshelf, hidden compartments and drawers in floating shelves and turning the door to a spare room into a bookshelf, creating a secret room with a funky entrance!
Using Space Practically
Any spare space can be utilized into effective storage and people have got quite clever with using their available space in a practical way. For instance, got a slither of space down the side of the fridge? Build your own roll-away spice rack that can be accessed quickly and easily. Have access to amend your stairs? You can build drawers into the individual steps and make use of otherwise wasted space.
Other spaces that would otherwise be left for the cobwebs and dust bunnies but can be easily changed into useful storage include:
– In the small space underneath kitchen cupboards, often covered by a kickboard
– Within the seat of dining room chairs, add a hinge for a convenient flip-top lid
– The space beneath the bathtub, often covered with panels but with some convenient catches and hinges, you can create an easy to access bathroom storage area for shampoo, conditioners, and other cleanliness products.
Homes don’t always come with a ton of storage options built-in and sometimes you need to get creative with the space you have available, utilizing all the space between the ceiling and floor. In rented accommodation, this can be tricky but is supported with temporary fixtures such as Command Strips whereas you have a lot more freedom in a property you own. With tiny living on the rise, look to the web for more inspiration on the ways furniture and appliances can be adapted for a smaller space and take back control over your space.
