Storage

Space Saving and Stylish Bedroom Storage Ideas

The bedroom is one place in the home where you really want to have everything stored away and organized. You want your bedroom to be a relaxing space, and if everything is all over the place this won’t be the case. It is also a good idea to try and use bedroom storage ideas that keep everything out of sight, as this will reduce visual clutter making the space feel relaxing.

Space Saving Storage Ideas and Tips

Here are some ways to save space while storing and organizing in the bedroom. These solutions are ideal if you are looking for storage ideas for a small bedroom (Design Tips: Small Bedroom Ideas):

The back of the bedroom door can be used for storage. You can simply attach hooks to hang up clothes, keys, belts – as seen in picture (1). Or you can buy a ‘over the door organiser’.
The inside of closet doors can also be modified to store items. Hooks or an over the door organizers can work here too. Hanging up a peg board is another idea.
Having mirrors on your closet doors, just like in picture (2), adds depth to the room and reflects light around – making the bedroom feel larger.
The space under the bed is always a good place to hideaway and store items. You’ll need a bed that has some floor room. If you are able to see the things stored underneath the bed, you’ll want to get containers that look good – such as wicker baskets (3), or an IKEA under the bed roller container.
Another way to store under the bed is to get an ottoman bed. These are beds that are hinged so you can easily lift the mattress up, and have a large space to store items underneath (4). Perfect for a small bedroom.
Below the bed is great for storage, but so to is above. Take advantage of the height in the room. Place a shelf above the bed to store books, art pieces, and lamps. A built in cabinet will make the most of the space over the bed, just like in picture (5).
Built in closets are definitely the way to go if you are looking to save space. They will be designed to make the most use of the layout in the bedroom. They can be built all the way up to ceiling and you can have corner units built. Not only do they make the best use of the layout in the room, but they will be designed to blend with the space. What this does is make the bedroom look more uniformed, which will give the feeling that the space is larger and more spacious.
Really use the walls if you are tight on space. Have levels and levels of shelves. Floating shelves are great because they don’t take up any floor space, and there are no brackets to clutter up the look of the walls.
A bunk bed is a great space saving solution. It doesn’t just have to be for a kids bedroom. The top level can be the bed area while the bottom level can be a home office or living space.
If you don’t have space for a side table, then have a look at bedside organizers – seen in picture (6).
If you have a small closet then take a look at my post here for specific ideas and photos: Smart Small Closet Ideas and Storage Organization Tricks
Or if you have no closet, then these ideas here will help: Getting Creative: No Closet Solutions and Storage Ideas

A Wicker Door Storage Amazon | B Door Rack Amazon | C Door Organzier Amazon

D Bedside Caddy Amazon | E Bedside Folding Shelf Amazon

More Than 1 Room

If you need to use your bedroom for another purpose, such as a home office, home gym or a craft room, then look to DIY room dividers. I put together a mood board of ideas here: Ideas Mood Board: DIY Room Dividers. For example, if you need to have gym equipment or a home office in the bedroom, you can hang up a curtain so that when the gym or office is not in use you can hide it all away and still keep a relaxing feeling in the bedroom. Another way of adding a home office into the bedroom is to use the closet:

Comfort and Storage

If you’ve got space, put a bedroom storage bench at the foot of your bed (7). It will help when you need to get change, but it can also have a flip top so you can store things away.

F Afton Bedroom Storage Ottoman Wayfair | E Clair Storage Ottoman Wayfair

To make it easy to find things on your shelves and in your closet, look to have lights fitted just for them. They can be lights fitted to the top of the closet that point inwards. They can be lights that are stuck to the top of shelves that automatically come on when you open the closet door. For more ideas and pictures have a look at my mood board here: Closet Lighting Ideas: From Wireless to Walk In.

Creating Style Through Storage

You can add style to your room through how you store things away. The furniture pieces and storage containers you use can act as decor pieces. Here are some stylish bedroom organization ideas: wicker baskets and trays, wire baskets, enamel containers, vintage bottles (Home Decor Ideas: Using Vintage Glass Bottles), French hat boxes, and antique trunks are some elegant storage solutions. Even decorative picture frames can be used to hang up photos, jewelry or keys in the bedroom (Photo Display: Ideas for Shabby Chic Picture Frames and Stands). For more stylized storage ideas have a look at my mood boards here:

Ladders are also another decorative way of storing things in the bedroom. They can be used to hang up blankets, clothes, shoes or magazines (8) (Ideas for Decorating With Ladders).

If you decide to have a vanity in your bedroom, this can also add to the style of the space. Check out the antique style vanity in picture (9). You can also find more modern streamlined vanities too.

For a step by step plan on how to declutter your bedroom, have a look at my post here: Stress Free Living: How To Declutter Your Bedroom

More storage and bedroom mood board posts:

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

April 17, 2014 in Bedroom, Storage

Kitchen Storage and Organization Part 2: Pot and Pan Storage Ideas (and Lids)

This post is part of a 2 part series on kitchen storage. Part 1, which you can see here, went over general kitchen storage solutions, everything from clever draw hacks, over the door storage ideas and styled storage pieces. In part 2, I go over ideas on how to store your pots and lids.

Pots are probably the hardest items to store in the kitchen because of the different sizes and you’ve got the pairing lids to deal with. Some ideas on how to deal with them include:

You can get chandeliers that hang over the kitchen island, making it easier to see what you are doing. But these chandeliers can also have a rack and hooks on them so you can hang your pots up. Or there are just hanging racks without the chandelier – seen in picture (1).
Ladders with hooks – seen in picture (2)
Wall railings (3)
Peg boards with hooks will also work (4)
A pull out draw hanger – seen in picture (5)

But my favorite kitchen storage ideas for pots are the ones that keep the lids close by:

Picture (6) shows a large draw that has been modified to keep pots and lids organized and stored on their sides. You can use tension rods to do this in your kitchen draws.
Cheap adhesive hooks have been stuck to the inside of the cabinet door in picture (7) to hang up the pot lids.
A railing fitted to the wall hangs up the pot lids under the pots in picture (8).

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

Kitchen Storage Ideas and Organization Tips | Part 1

There is so much that needs to be stored and organized in the kitchen. No wonder this is a long post. This post on smart kitchen storage ideas and organization tips has been split into two parts. Part 1 goes over general storage ideas for the kitchen. Part 2, which you can find here, goes over creative ideas on how to store your pots and pot lids (which can be tricky).

Clever and Creative Storage Ideas For Your Kitchen

A very useful furniture piece to have in the kitchen is a rolling cart, especially if you have a small kitchen that doesn’t have a kitchen island. It can help create the ideal kitchen layout. This cart can be rolled around, put next to you when you are preparing food or cooking, then it can be rolled and stored out of the way when it is not in use – just like in picture (1).
Extendable tables are useful as kitchen tables. They can also be used as kitchen islands.
The inside of cabinet and pantry doors can be modified to store items. Hooks can be fitted to hang up towels. Towel bars can be fitted to store rolls of trash bags, aluminium foil, or paper towels (2). A bracket can be fitted to store cutting boards.
All those rolls of aluminium foil, cling film, paper towels and trash bags can be hung up and organized on towel hangers.
Some knife storage ideas include using a magnet strip on the wall to hang them up, a floating shelf slat (3), they can be stored on the inside of a cabinet door (4), or stored in a knife block or a DIY knife block seen in picture (5).
Most cabinets under the sink are a bit wonky since you’ve got all the plumbing work there. Try and make the most of it by fitting hooks, shelves or a tension rod to create your own customised storage space.
If you don’t mind having more informal seating around the eating table, then you can get a kitchen bench that opens up to storage space underneath.
Ideas for how you can modify your draws is endless. Check out the food storage baskets and closed containers in the draws in picture (6). Or how about putting utensil containers in the draws to keep the countertops clean and clutter free (7). You can even have your spice rack fitted into a draw (8) (Creative Kitchen Spice Storage Ideas and Solutions). You can also have pull out chopping board draws.

To keep the area around the sink clutter free, see if you can fit a floating shelf above the sink to store items.

Peg boards are great for personalized storing and organizing. Hang things up with hooks and pegs, or put a plank of wood between pegs to create shelves. The peg boards can be hung on the inside of cabinet doors, or on a wall. You can also paint them to suit your kitchen style.

Decorative tin cans can have magnets attached to them. Now they can stick to the fridge and store small items like pens, receipts, shopping lists, or coupons (9).

How about creating a command centre in your kitchen to group together to do lists, recipes, schedules, and mail (10). There are a few ways to create a command center, have a look at my mood board here for ideas: Ideas for Setting up a Family Command Center in the Kitchen.

Look up. Take advantage of the height in the kitchen. Built in kitchen storage cabinets can make the most of height space. So can an overhead beam. You might need a stick with a hook to hang things up. Or you can have the beam on a pulley so it can be lowered. Another way to take advantage of the height in a kitchen is to use the walls as much as possible. Floating wall shelves is one way to go, or simply hang up rails.

Look down. There is storage potential at the base of your kitchen cabinets. Toe kick draws can be fitted here to store some non essential items (11). It can also be used a pet feeding station that can be hidden away when not in use.

Adding lighting to your storage units will help make it easier and quicker to find things. You can get door jambs, so when you open the cabinet doors the lights automatically come on. Under cabinet lighting is helpful for lighting up kitchen counters when preparing food.

1 Canisters: $30 Amazon | 2 Jar: $7.50 Amazon | 3 Stackable: $26 Amazon

4 Organizer: $11 Amazon | 5 Mount: $25 Amazon | 6 Rack: $14 Amazon

7 Dispenser: $9.99 Amazon | 8 Baskets: $10 Amazon | 9 Mason: $16 Amazon

10 Pots: $16 Amazon

The Kitchen Island

A kitchen island creates an ideal layout for cooking, as you don’t have to move around the kitchen so much. If you don’t have space for a kitchen island, then a rolling cart would be a great alternative. A kitchen island can be built to have draws or shelves built into it. You can even have a small fridge if you wanted to. Having plug sockets built into the island can be handy.

Styled Ideas

Stylish and good looking storage containers will help decorate and style your kitchen. Here are some ideas for kitchen storage solutions and pieces that look good.

Wicker baskets and trays
Wire baskets and wire wall racks
Enamel containers
Glass jars (much better looking than plastic ones) (12)
Vintage bottles. You could pour any liquids you have around the sink, hand soap/dish liquid, into vintage style bottles or just glass bottles. Now you’ve gotten rid of those branded plastic bottles, creating a more elegant space around your sink.
Wooden ladders can be used to hang up pots, towels, and magazines.

Have a look at these mood boards here for more stylized storage ideas:

Kitchen Layout

The overall layout of your kitchen makes a big impact on how you store your kitchen ware and how easy it is to move around and prepare food. You want to have everything as close to you as possible when you need it – like pots and pans near the cooker. Have a look at these mood boards for ideas on different kitchen layouts:

Mood Board Images: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12

Finished and Unfinished Attic Storage Ideas

Here are some attic storage ideas ideal for both finished and unfinished attics, along with some flooring ideas for unfinished spaces.

Storage Ideas for Finished Attics

The best type of attic storage to go for will be built in units. This is because an attic space has weird angles and layouts. Built in units will make the best use of the space. Also the design of the built ins will be created to blend in with the style of the room, and this helps makes a room feel more spacious. Check out pictures 1 – 3 in the mood board to see attics making use of built in closets, draws, and railings.

Railings (4), floating shelves (5), desks, and tables are some other finished attic storage solutions.

Unfinished Attics

In an unfinished attic, you’ll need to have some sort of flooring so you can walk around. It is also an easy way of adding storage in the attic as you can just stack boxes and containers on the solid floor. Some options for flooring include fitting sheets of wood between the trusses, beams (6) and rafters (7). You can also find interlocking floor panels.

Once you’ve got the flooring sorted out, now you can start adding storage solutions around the attic. One idea is to hang shelves in-between the rafters – seen in picture (8). You can also just screw wire panels in-between the rafters to hold items up (9). Free standing shelving units can also be used.

Garage Attic Storage

The attic space above the garage is another area that can be used for extra storage. The good thing about this space is that it will be directly over the garage, so you can have a storage lift system fitted to hoist big boxes from the garage into the attic (10). 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

For ideas on creating a bedroom in an attic, have a look at my mood board post here: