Creative Storage for a Calmer Home

Do you sometimes feel as though your possessions are enjoying your home more than you are? No wonder some ‘tidy-up’ ninjas advocate a ‘one in one out’ policy when it comes to beating clutter.

It’s not always practical though. Possessions do amass over the years as you live your life, build memories, and generally accumulate your life history and legacy.

Of course, we all have stuff we’ve probably forgotten about and don’t really want any more, but I think most people don’t want to rid themselves of all the little things that tell the story of their life.

Squeeze in a Shelf or Two

When drawers are crammed full, cupboards are bursting at the seams and wardrobes overflowing, it’s time to think about some shelving. Just about every room in the house can use a shelf, and with styles to suit all decor tastes they can add the finishing touch to spruce up your home whether it’s for beauty or utility.

• Use shelves in the kitchen to display favourite cookware, recipe books or china and crockery.
• Add a shelf to the end of a cabinet run instead of having a spice rack in a cupboard.
• Add low shelves in children’s rooms, with handy baskets or tubs to encourage them to tidy up.
• Install shelves in the bathroom for spare towels or beauty and hygiene products. Pop one over the door if there’s no other spare wall space.
• Use shelves and concealed lighting in alcoves for elegant display areas
• Hang a shelf around the perimeter of a high ceiling (at picture rail height) in place of floor-standing bookcases or display cases.
• Create a faux recessed doorway by adding shelves around and over the door opening.

There are so many ways to use shelves, and they can make all the difference when you’re struggling to find cupboard space for everything.

Look for Concealed Storage Areas

Maybe you’re not using the space under the stairs as well as you could, for instance. If it’s your general dumping ground, try and figure out ways to make it more useful. Even the addition of a shoe rack, a plastic drawer tower, or a few hooks behind the door for coats can make it easier to store and find odds and ends.

Then there’s the space underneath kitchen cabinets. We never use that space, but there’s no reason why not if it’s clean and dry. Just take off the kickboards and fit hinged or sliding doors, and you have long, low storage for all kinds of things. Think racquets, bats, board games, bakeware that’s rarely used, mops and brooms. Anything that doesn’t need much height is fair game.

Another place that’s often overlooked is inside the wardrobe. It’s not hard to fit an extra rail if your clothes are mostly short (shirts, skirts, or jackets), or alternatively, add a cheap drawer tower here too. They’re great for folding items, accessories or even shoes.

Rethink Self Storage Use

Consider all the stuff you only use during certain seasons. The rest of the year those things are just taking up space. Seasonal self storage is a trend that’s fast-growing, and it’s a brilliant concept when you need more space at home but don’t want to downsize your possessions.

Keep garden machinery and furnishings in self-storage over winter to keep it all in good condition, then swap out for the stuff you’ve used through winter. Snow shovels, tyre chains, heavy coats and boots, or storage for winter sports gear until you need it again.

Personal storage units are also useful for the temporary storage of children’s items, whether it’s nursery furnishings, spare beds or cots, or toys they’ve stopped playing with for now. It’s handy to be able to remove things, then bring them back after a few months for a new lease of life.

Living with a haphazard collection of possessions that don’t really belong anywhere can soon get you down. You might not even realise why you feel hemmed in and restless.

Organising the things you own means you can enjoy them more, and you’ll create a calmer living space and a better sense of harmony in the house.