Simple Ways to Improve Storage in Your Home

As a professional organizer and interior decorator, I spend a lot of time helping my clients design functional yet attractive ways to store their possessions. In fact, practical storage is one of the key elements in maintaining an organized home. If you are wondering how to improve storage in your home, please read on.

The Advantages of Improved Storage in Your Home

Before I share how to create better storage, let’s consider why you should invest time and money in storage solutions.

1. Putting Away and Finding Things is Easier: When you invest in proper storage, you designate a place for everything you own. This will allow you to quickly put away and find what you need when you need it. You will spend less time looking for things, which will reduce your stress level every single day.
2. Your Home Will be More Functional: Maximizing storage allows you to use every nook and cranny of your home effectively, making it more functional. The key element to consider is that when your storage spaces are full, you must remove old items to make room for new ones. When you consciously reduce what you bring into your home, you will keep chaos from returning.
3. A Clutter-Free Home Will Make You Happier. Clear surfaces and less visible clutter will help you feel calm. Additionally, when spaces are clutter-free, you can display decorative items, infusing your personal style into your home. It will increase your overall happiness.

Own Less and Buy Quality

Before you try to improve storage in your home, reduce the quantity of what you own as much as possible. That’s right! Declutter first! And please commit to lowering your level of consumption while you are at it. I guarantee that these two important steps will make designing effective storage solutions much easier and more affordable. The less you own, the less storage you need.

Next, please invest in quality pieces. Finding the right container isn’t always easy, but choose durable furniture and containers and always opt for function over aesthetics. For example, soft-sided felt bins might look nice but wear out quickly. Instead, choose a sturdy woven basket or wood bin. I quite like unfinished wood crates from Home Depot or IKEA because you can paint, stain, or even cover them with fabric to match your décor.

Creating More Storage Space

Here are a few ways you can improve storage in your home.

Maximize Vertical Space

Utilize shelving in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom to give you places to store items instead of piling them on visible surfaces. Wherever possible, replace small pieces of furniture with tall cabinets, bookcases, or storage units. Please don’t add more small furniture pieces to increase storage. It will cause your space to feel even more crowded.

Look for Unused Space

One of my favourite places to add better storage is the back of a door. The inside of closet doors is prime real estate for a series of hooks, a rack for pantry items, a shoe organizer, and so on.

Use Multi-Functional Furniture

Don’t just settle for a piece of furniture because it’s easy to find and order. Spend time finding the perfect piece. For example, instead of buying a generic media unit when you buy a new television, invest your time and money wisely and choose a cabinet with storage. Choose the widest piece you can fit in the space. Also, ensure the combination of doors and drawers makes sense for the items you need to store. IKEA’s Bestå series is one of my favourite solutions because you can customize the design to your needs and choose from different finishes.

Use Bins and Baskets

Adding labelled baskets and bins to shelves to keep things together can be life-changing. For example, instead of spending time keeping your T-shirts neatly folded on a shelf, simply place them in a container, and you’re done. No more clothes falling on the floor because the pile toppled over. I like using containers of the same size and colour to reduce visual clutter. Often, I can dig around in a client’s home and switch around bins and baskets so we have a few that match. Please check to see what you have before you shop for new containers. Only purchase new ones if you absolutely have to.

Investing a little effort into improving your home’s storage can lead to a more enjoyable, efficient, and visually pleasing living space. However, if all this sounds too much to wrap your head around, give me a shout; I’m always happy to help.