Besides those who build caravans and tiny houses, developers don’t do much for storage in homes. Whether you live in a flat or a house in the suburbs, you need to take matters into your own hands and create the storage space you need.
When we think of storage, the first things that come to mind are closets, cabinets, attics, and basements. In reality, storage can be anything that you keep your belongings. If you are tired of living in a perpetually cluttered home, go out of your way to create storage space:
Look For Self-Storage Units
The easiest way to get storage is to get more space. If you own your house, you can always try to expand your home with another room or build a shed in the yard. It is a major project given the local building codes, material cost and labour. However, it can be a long-term solution for those who are willing to splurge.
If you do not own your home or you don’t want to renovate, the next best thing is to look for self-storage in Hounslow. Since you are still in the Greater London area, you can look to Henfield Storage rentals. You can take away the items that you rarely use on the day to day and move them to your unit.
After you clear the space, you can give new meaning to the area by making it your personal study or a family room. You can also integrate the next steps outlined here, and make sure that this room has enough storage opportunities for the years to come.
Use Your Vertical Space
The most under-utilised part of your home is vertical space. When you look for organisers, cabinets and free-standing furniture will only continue to eat up space. The pieces that promise ample space tend to be bulky pieces that make your home smaller than it actually is.
While we try to create a home with storage opportunities, you should not compromise the design of the house or how it makes you feel. Instead of going side to side, try going up and down. It takes away the crowded feeling of the space. You can get floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, or install overhead cabinets. You can also DIY floating shelves in strategic places for storage and decorative purposes.
Vertical solutions also include hooks near the door for coats and jackets or smaller items like your keys. You can add a mirror near your entrance and make that area a place where you can check yourself before you leave your home.
Use The “Dead” Areas of Your Home
Another way to create storage is to change the layout of your home. Whether you live in a flat or a house, rearranging the furniture should be easy work. When you move your furniture around, try to remove the “dead” spaces in between pieces of furniture or hard to reach places. Every home has them, look for them and try to repurpose the space.
You can change the whole layout and remove them altogether. Or you can try to utilise those dead areas. Since they do not get a lot of use, you can always put something there instead, and it becomes storage. You can put a bulky item like sports equipment or a box of art supplies and pull them out when needed. Or you can add an organiser and fill the drawers with things that usually take up space on your table.
Use Space Saving Furniture
Another way to save space and create storage opportunities are with space-saving furniture. Space-saving furniture started as customised solutions for handy individuals and tiny homes. Since tiny-living is becoming more and more common, you can easily find pieces that take on more than one job.
A lot of these pieces on the market usually doubles as storage on top of their primary function. Some common examples that have become stylish over time are couches and ottomans with compartments inside them. You can also get tables with foldable extensions or tables with a bottom drawer for pet food.
There are so many options on the market, and it may be challenging to find the right pieces. Try to create a list of what you need out of your home and shop with those in mind.
Use Larger Things to Store Smaller Items
You can also try to change how you approach storage. Mari Kondo has many great tips for organising your home. To take a page out of her handbook, you can also use bags, boxes, and other container-like items to store smaller things.
In your closet, you can keep your bags within bags, or fill your bags with clothes. You can use old boxes to hold miscellaneous items. While smaller, more decorative boxes can hold things like loose change and your keys.
Creating storage space does not have to be about buying new pieces. You can always look for alternative solutions that can take the clutter away without crowding your home. Whether it is a self-storage unit or small changes in your home, residents in Hounslow and similar boroughs can enjoy their new mess-free home.
