Here are some great storage solutions to help declutter your home
Are you obsessive about tidiness or are you a complete hoarder? Whichever category you fit into, everybody needs a storage system at home and let’s face it; few of us are blessed with the luxury of massive walk-in cupboards.
Most of us have too much stuff anyway but even our everyday essentials need somewhere to go. There’s an old saying – A place for everything and everything in its place.
Sound good? Read on…
You might be a bookworm who has loads of paperbacks stacked up, letters and old post covering your kitchen worktop or maybe it’s the kids’ toys that are making it hard to see the floor. Whatever is causing the mess in your home, there are cheap and easy ways to restore order that will get your place looking ship-shape in no time.
Maximising your space with smart storage tricks is key, especially if you live in a smaller house or flat. With little tweaks and easy, inexpensive additions, your home can look and feel more functional and more importantly, tidier!
Hallway Harmony
Let’s start with your entrance hall. Some properties have wasted space in the porch or hallway that could be put to better use. A vacant corner, no matter how big or small is not be sniffed at. Don’t rule out the potential of any bit of dead space that could be transformed into discreet extra storage. Instead of a big potted plant, a corner of your hallway could take a slim chest of drawers or a stack of pretty boxes. This can free up valuable space elsewhere and, you can tidy away all sorts of stuff that’s lying around. You can even add in a shoe rack if there’s room which will look a bit nicer than discarded footwear all over the floor as you come in the door.
If you live in a house with stairs, quite often there’s handy yet unused space underneath. Unless you’ve got a young wizard living in there, this area can be utilised more effectively. A few shelves in the recess can make an attractive book display or entertainment library but if you want stuff hidden away from view, check and see if there’s scope to be more creative.
Obviously, if you’re renting, you’ll need to check with your landlord before opening this up but some properties may already have small doors which lead into the under stairs area. This space can be invaluable in keeping clutter at bay. Check out the sizes and stack it with as many storage boxes as it will take. Alternatively, hang a few wall racks or hooks for storing jackets, shoes or cleaning equipment – all tucked away nicely and out of sight!
If your bathroom happens to be under a staircase, there’s probably scope for some hidden storage opportunities there too. Stack a few boxes in and hide them behind a decorative screen. Nobody needs to know what is behind it – unless they’re really nosey! Under stair toilets will run to a narrow point that nobody could stand up in any way, so it would just be more wasted space. Use it!
Good Karma Kitchen
The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the house and it’s also an area where a lot of stuff is needed and used daily. Wall shelves will be your best friend if you’re looking to free up worktops and counter space. Shelves can take pasta jars, herbs and spices and you could also hang light-weight pots or utensils which will also make room in the kitchen drawers for other things such as your dishcloths and tea towels. Lakeland has some really cool hooks, wall racks and expandable shelf organisers that will help with the decluttering process but they’re also stylish. Just because you don’t have a massive fancy kitchen, doesn’t mean you can’t make it look great – and even if it’s not exactly luxury designer chic, you can still make the most of what you have. With clever storage and wall hangings, it’ll start to feel a lot bigger and less chaotic, which is the object of the exercise.
Bathroom Bliss
The bathroom is another hot spot for clutter – especially if there are a few of you in residence. Even if you live on your own, it’s easy for the powder room to become a breeding ground for junk – toiletries, hair products, towels and everything else you can think of.
Fear not, help is at hand and soon the bathroom will be a clutter-free zone and no longer an eye-sore that you quickly close the door on.
Consider buying a vanity unit that simply fits under your sink. These can be a God-send if space, in general, is tight. The extra storage underneath will take all your bits and bobs. Or, if you’d prefer to keep your grooming and beauty essentials in a wall-mounted cabinet, you can always use the under-sink cabinet for storing your hand towels and face-cloths, freeing up room in your linen cupboard. You can usually pick up matching drawers or caddies which will give your bathroom a stylish finish but also more places to put stuff.
If you can fit in a slimline storage box or cabinet between your WC and the wall, you could hide away toilet rolls and cleaning products in this – these things definitely contribute to a cluttered, untidy look and can take up a lot of space. Tuck them away out of sight!
Checkout Dunelm for bathroom furniture. They have a great selection of cabinets, drawers, and ladder-style shelving all at reasonable prices.
Another great space-saving tip for any sized bathroom but especially small ones is to invest in some over door hangers, wall racks and shower caddies.
Bedroom Secrets
This is one room where you can make use of the space for stowing away your stuff. As a rule, nobody except you and/or your partner will be going into your boudoir so you can afford to have a few little storage secrets going on in there. An obvious hiding place is under the bed – if you have a bed frame that doesn’t reach the floor, you can fit quite a few long, flat boxes under there – ideal for spare bed linen or out of season clothes and shoes. Try to use boxes with lids to avoid dust settling on your items.
If you don’t have a wardrobe or the one you have is bursting at the seams, invest in a portable clothes rail – like the ones you see in shops or backstage in a theatre. You can also buy over-door hangers which will take two or three garments on each. You can hang your attire on these and it saves clothes piling up on a chair or worse, on the floor! These will also come in handy for indoor drying if you don’t have a washing green or when the weather is lousy. You can pick these up from the likes of Argos, The Range, Ikea and Amazon. They’re pretty inexpensive too so won’t need to blow a lot of cash.
You could also stack some stylish storage boxes for decoration purposes but fill them with make-up, brushes, books, hairdryers – indeed anything that’s likely to be lying around your bedroom that will make it look messy. Remember you can always close off any piled-up boxes with a room divider or decorative screen – they can add a touch of Parisian chic but will also hide a multitude of sins. Either way, it’ll look better than having everything lying around.
Happy tidying!
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