You can end up with some seriously small spaces in your house for a variety of reasons.
Maybe you fell in love with some new pieces of furniture that, once you got them home, ended up taking up more space than you anticipated.
Perhaps you’re downsizing, or finally managed to eliminate that pesky storage unit, but are now stuck trying to figure out how to stash the same amount of stuff in a smaller space.
Whatever the reason, the problem is the same: you have to figure out some creative storage ideas for small spaces that don’t result in clutter.
But never fear — as long as you’re willing to try some different approaches, you’ll easily be able to fix the problem with any (or all?) of these six ideas for small space storage hacks.
6. Invest in furniture with storage capabilities
Rather than stuffing things under your bed and hoping no one will ever see the mess that lurks below, buy furniture pieces that have storage built in instead—everything will look much more chic and thought out.
There are plenty of beds that have drawers built in, coffee tables that have epic storage capabilities are becoming more and more available, and ottomans and benches are classic furniture-with-storage approaches.
The best part is that going this route requires simply rounding up your things, tossing them in a pre-determined space, and closing the lid or shutting the drawer in order for our things to be stored out of sight.
5. Try a peg board wall
Peg boards are no longer relegated to garages and wood shops. If you paint it a nice colour, pick up some cute hanging knobs or hooks, and hang a few decorative items alongside the essentials, you’ve got an incredibly cute and wildly functional way to store your stuff.
Plus, you know those headphones or that adorable stapler you were gifted when you started your first job? You know, those things that are too cute and sentimental to be in a drawer anyway? This solution is perfect for displaying them for everyone to see while still keeping your organisation game on the up and up.
4. Craft floating features
If you’re turning, say, an office into a bedroom that has totally different storage requirements, adding them yourself can be a fun creative project to undertake that lets you craft the storage you need without taking up a ton of space.
You can buy a bland piece of piping and spray paint it a fun colour before you hang it from the ceiling with a bit of wire, or you can repurpose a tree branch for that rustic chic feel. Floating shelves are another fun way to add small amounts of storage space that take up zero floor or wall space.
3. Make the most of wall space
When you’re trying to do a little with a lot, you have to make the most of what you’ve got and, no matter the size of the room, you definitely have plenty of wall space on your hands.
Whether you’re trying to transform a teeny tiny bedroom or need to find ways to store the whole family’s shoes in an entry way, using crown moulding to store shoes and jackets is a handy solution. It’s easy to install and, depending on how you paint or decorate it, it can blend right in, or add a pop of colour to a space that needs it.
2. Find folding opportunities
Everyone knows the good old Murphy bed trick, but even though the idea is old, there are plenty of fresh approaches to the hidden Murphy bed. You can build one right into a bookshelf or behind a desk instead of following the more traditional route of putting it into a wall.
Folding desks are another trick that allow you to only take up furniture space when you need it—fold it down when you’ve got work to do, and tuck it seamlessly away when you don’t. You can even go for a folding coat rack that takes tucking even the littlest things away to the next level.
1. Maximise ceiling storage
Unless you have really low ceilings, there’s plenty of unused space up there that you can certainly take advantage of. If, for example, you’re using up your wall space in other ways and can’t find room for your precious books, just move your shelves to the top of the wall and use a step stool to access your books when you need them.
You can take the raised bookshelf idea into a small kitchen as well. Just install some shelves near the ceiling and store your cookbooks or less-used fancy dinnerware up there. To take it one step further, you can attach hooks to the bottom of the shelves and hang things like coffee mugs or pots and pans and save on space double time.
Got any more handy space-saving ideas? Tell us in the comments below and we’ll add it to the list.
