5 Home Storage Solutions You’ve Probably Ignored Until Now

Storage space is a hot commodity for most of us – there just never seems to be enough space for all the things we own. So how do we make the most of our homes without letting go of the stuff that we love and still enjoy an uncluttered living space? We’ve collected a few clever, unconventional home storage solutions that will help you achieve a neat, airy look where there’s less clutter and more room for fun.

Vertical Storage

There’s only so much floor space in your home you can use for home storage solutions – however, there’s plenty of vertical space that you probably haven’t considered so far. Here’s how to use the vertical space in your home for storage:

• Near the ceiling shelving – you can’t install regular shelving in narrow areas of your home, such as the hallways, because it makes it harder for you to move around the house. You can, however, install a row of near-the-ceiling shelves you can use to store items you’re not using every day. By lining up your hallways or your living room walls with such shelves, you create extra room for things like board games, books, extra blankets, or boxes with shoes and out-of-season clothing.
• Pegboards are a great way of using the vertical space in your home. You can add one on any wall – in your entryway, in your kitchen, above your desk in your home office. Fit the pegboard with a selection of S hooks and small baskets and use it to store miscellaneous items, depending on where you installed it. If it’s in your entryway, it’s very useful for putting away bags, hats, keys, sunglasses and so on. If you add it above your desk, you can use it to organize your papers and other office supplies.
• Overhead ceiling racks for your garage (or basement) are a great solution for putting away tools, seasonal items, home decoration and so on.
• Wall-mounted racks are a great option for storing your bike and other sports equipment if you’re living in a small apartment and don’t have access to other storage spaces.

Corner Storage

You can find home storage solutions not by cutting corners, but by exploiting said corners to their maximum potential. Many room corners are basically “dead space” – you don’t have furniture in that area, and you’re not using that space in any other way.

Rectify the situation by installing corner shelves – you can pick anything, from floating corner shelves to a floor to ceiling shelving unit. Another great idea for an empty corner in your living room, home office or a child bedroom is an L-shaped bench with storage with floating shelves on top to create a cozy and cute reading corner.

Kitchens can benefit a lot from corner storage – if there’s a free corner in your kitchen, you can use it to install a floor to ceiling cabinet that can be used as a pantry or a broom closet. Compact corner desks are also a possibility, particularly now, as so many of us are working or studying from home.

You can make the most out of corners even if you’re not planning on spending a lot of money or embarking on an ambitious DIY project – a simple bean bag chair and a hanging mesh tower will create a great spot for your kids to play and store their favorite toys.

Self Storage

Self storage is a solution to consider when storage space at home is scarce, despite your best organizing and decluttering efforts. There are many items you’re not using on a daily basis, but you still need and want to keep: sporting and camping equipment, out of season clothing, different tools, extra furniture, baby stuff you save from one child for the next and so on. All these items are great candidates for self storage.

Find a storage facility that’s located close to your home and rent a conveniently sized unit. A 5×5 storage unit is about the size of a small home closet and will hold several boxes with stuff, some gardening tools and some sports equipment. A slightly larger, 5×10 unit can also fit some small pieces of furniture like a table and chairs, a desk, or even a queen-sized bed along with some boxes. Pick one of these sizes, or even a larger one, depending on your needs, and you’ll be able to enjoy more space at home.

Over the Door Storage

Don’t underestimate the storage potential of your doors. Some simple accessories, such as over the door racks or organizers will help you expand storage space in your pantry, inside your kitchen cabinets and in your bathroom and bedrooms. Door pantry organizers can virtually double the food storage space in there, while a lid organizer will turn a messy kitchen cabinet into a neat and tidy one.

Even simple command hooks on the inside of you closet doors will make a big difference – you can use them to organize small items like scarves, ties, or jewelry. Add a transparent, pocketed shoe organizer on your child’s bedroom door and use it to store their small toys and other knick-knacks.

Storage as Decoration

If you’re a collector at heart, and finding the right home storage solutions is an issue for you, think about displaying your favorite items instead of keeping them in closets or drawers. Whether you’re into hats, shoes, action figures, sunglasses or anything else, focus on showing them off as an alternate storage method.

Add Command hooks on your bedroom or living room wall and hang your hat collection as artistically as possible. Mount some tension rods on the hallway and proudly display your colorful high heels there. A few narrow, floating shelves take little to no space but can host your action figures, model cars or Lego creations.

Let your imagination run free and incorporate your favorite belongings into your home décor – this way, you’ll be enjoying them more and saving storage space for other, useful but less visually appealing belongings.

This is a guest post from Aurora Mogosanu from StorageCafe.