Sort Out Your Storage for More Space at Home

If you’re feeling a bit cluttered or overcrowded at home right now, it’s understandable. With more people working from home, not to mention home schooling, a lack of space can really start to get you down.

Of course, not everything you present in the home has to have a practical value. If it makes you happy, it’s valuable, such as by displaying your high quality antique silver. But if you’re genuinely hurting for space, it’s good to consider a few space-revealing steps..

You can’t magic a house extension, but you can sort out some better storage so your possessions aren’t crowding you out.

Consider a Seasonal Storage Approach

Spring is just round the corner, and while you may not be ready to ditch the woolly jumpers and big boots just yet, preparing for a bit of seasonal storage can help you get started with making more space.

Seasonal storage usually involves having a self storage room where you put things you’re not going to use for the current season. Item categories to consider could be winter clothes during summer, and vice versa. Also, garden furnishings and barbecues through the winter, or store your winter sports kit through summer. You get the idea. Basically, instead of keeping everything you own at home, you take a more selective approach and only surround yourself with what’s useful right now.

Because storage facilities are normally handy to get to in most towns and cities, it’s quick and easy to fetch something if you decide you need it back at home.

Storage Furnishings and Shelving

From ottoman or divan beds to lift-top coffee tables and storage footstools, there are lots of neat furniture designs that help keep a room tidy. Just having an end table with a drawer or shelf beneath can help corral phone chargers, TV remotes, magazines or spare batteries and games controllers. It makes a big difference when surfaces are clear of clutter.

Vertical space is often overlooked when you’re figuring out how to get more storage space. 

• Could you a squeeze a shelf or two into the space under the stairs? It’s especially useful for keeping all kinds of bits and bobs together, from cleaning supplies to DIY tools and equipment.
• Add more shelving in alcoves. Decorative shelving, with some concealed lighting, can be an attractive and practical way to display ornaments, photos, or collections of items.
• Be creative in the kitchen. Add a narrow shelf onto the end of a kitchen cabinet, with a rail in front to hold cookbooks or spice bottles. They’re easy to find, and you have space in the cabinet for other things.
• In living rooms, a shelf above a door is a way of using neglected space. It’s a good place for books if you don’t want a bookcase taking up room on the floor.

Converting Spare Rooms and Communal Spaces

A spare bedroom that stands furnished and ready for guests could be better used when you’re short on space.

By putting bedroom furniture into self storage, you can save yourself the trouble of having to buy new when you want to host guests. With bedside tables and wardrobes in storage, you have lots of space for a hobby room, a home office, a playroom for the kids, or just a quiet place for reading or reflecting. Family dynamics change all the time, meaning storage needs change too. It’s nice to know your furniture is ready and waiting to meet fluctuating future circumstances. 

Another option if you don’t have a spare room is to organise things in a communal room to make it more flexible.

Ideas here include creating a ‘work’ area in a living room so anyone working at the computer feels a bit more private. You can create the illusion of privacy with a bookcase turn out from the wall, or an actual room divider or screen if you have room for one.

If you need to keep an eye on young children while you’re cooking, consider clearing out a cupboard so you have somewhere handy to keep stuff to occupy them. Colouring books and crayons, puzzle books, reading books, building blocks — whatever activities they can do by themselves at the kitchen table or breakfast bar while you’re cooking. And if you’re wondering what to do with the kitchen things that once lived in the cupboard, remember self storage is a great place to put utensils and gadgets that take up space when you’re not using them.

Making space at home can be a challenge, especially if you’re already careful about the things you buy and bring home. Self storage can help you have the best of all worlds: possessions you love, and the space to store them all.

*This is a collaborative post.