Storage is the unsung hero of interior design. You have a bespoke breakfast bar, a color scheme that complements the upholstery, and under-cabinet lighting that bathes your kitchen in delicious light. But now you have to live in it and that means finding space for all your stuff.
Your perfectly organized home can end up with piles of shoes in the hallway, bottles of wine strewn across your desk, and ugly plastic storage boxes tucked under your $2,000 bed.
To help you organize all your clutter while still maintaining a classy look in your home, we’ve brought you 5 storage ideas so you can see your things differently.
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Turn your things into decorations
You’ve spent ages trying to find the right items to fill your home, so why hide them in the cupboards?
Choose shelves, hooks and hanging rails that will turn your everyday items into decorative items in their own right.
Organize clothes by color to stand out, hang jewelry and belts along the way to get a better idea of what you’ll want to wear each day, and install shelves at a slight angle so you can make guests jealous with your shoe collection.
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Take advantage of the wine rack
The humble wine rack is often overlooked as a storage device. Ostensibly they are for storing wine, but they can also be used to organize a large number of items so you can see them in a whole new way.
Try stacking with magazines, toiletries, rolled towels, shoes, plants and more. When stocked with tasteful items and knick-knacks, a wine rack can be transformed into a statement item in any room.
Wooden wine rack they’re also a fantastic way to bring a woodsy, rustic feel to a room while storing things more efficiently than multiple shelves can.
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Get rid of the packaging
Nothing changes the quiet kitchen scene faster than worn cereal boxes, tattered packets of pasta, or tacky store packaging all over the place.
By purchasing a few jars, containers, or pots, you can keep your food and sundries looking fresh in a way that matches your preferred aesthetic. They can even free up extra space after you get rid of large boxes and cartons.
You can take this even further and pour your toiletries, medicines or office supplies into the holder or dispenser that comes with the original characters.
Choose a theme and take a trip to the local antiques market to find hidden gems.
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Versatile furniture
A good storage design should free up as much space as possible without requiring you to compromise on the number of items you want in your home.
Versatile furniture doesn’t always have a great reputation among purists, but it can meet your storage needs with a lot of class.
Choose a desk with built-in shelving, find beds and sofas with storage underneath that can hold a lot of your clutter, and treat your stairs like a smaller set of shelves.
You can go the other way with this too. Use an old chest or dresser as a coffee table or side table.
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Compartment everything
You may have storage facilities in place, but you don’t want to just move clutter off the floor or counter into drawers or cupboards.
Compartment everything so it has defined space and doesn’t end up being one.
Place dividers in drawers to separate things and consider using peg organizers so you don’t have to stack pots and plates on top of each other. For cabinets, you can install shelving partitions or install tension rods to hang your own bottles and utensils.
