Hello World! Welcome Friends! While downsizing your home or living in a small apartment is typically more manageable than maintaining a large house, you may need to get innovative to optimize your storage space.
According to the 2021 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, 94% of renovations improved cabinet storage in 2020, while 63% of homeowners opted to replace their kitchen cabinetry entirely.
Storage matters no matter what room of the house you’re in. If you’re looking for clever ways to organize and tidy up your living area, these six tips may help you get started.
Bench Seating
Benches provide additional room for you and your guests to sit, as well as somewhere to store your beloved knick-knacks and clutter. Whether it comes with a hinged top or open cubbies, benches provide a designated spot for your kids’ toys, movie night blankets, and book collection.
With open bench storage, you can add wood or wire crates and baskets to match your preferred decor style. You can also stain, paint, or upholster your bench to give it some additional design appeal.
If you have a mudroom that serves as a passageway to and from the garage, the bottom shelf may be a prime location to store your family’s shoes neatly. Meanwhile, adding an upholstered bench at the foot of your bed can give you another place to hide things and deliver a luxurious look and feel to your master suite.
Overhead Storage
If your floors and walls are packed to the brim, maximizing overhead space could be your best option for extra storage.
Do you have space between the top of your kitchen cabinets and the ceiling? Consider adding wicker woven baskets or bins that secretly hide your accessories until you need them next.
Vertical storage can also help free up space in your shed or garage. Some ideas may include installing overhead sliding racks to hold plastic bins, hanging racks for lumber, and building a loft for long-term storage of holiday decorations.
Captain’s Beds
Captain’s beds are convenient for utilizing the area in smaller bedrooms while also offering a comfortable place to sleep. If you find you lack room for a dresser or nightstand, a storage bed contains drawers underneath to help free up precious floor space.
While you may have heard that captain’s beds are ideal for kids’ rooms, they also come in full, queen, and king sizes for adults and teenagers. Tuck away fresh sheets and blankets or use the drawers for any overflow of clothing and shoes.
Captain’s beds are versatile pieces of furniture that rarely go out of style and are usually available in wooden or metal materials in various colors. Many captain’s bed frames are also designed with a minimalist, clean look, so you don’t need to worry about replacing your furniture every few years.
Space-Saving Hangers
It would be great if every bedroom came with an expansive walk-in closet. However, there is one way to create more organization for your clothes, especially if you live in an apartment.
Multi-level hangers are space-saving gems that significantly decrease the amount of room your clothes take up. Imagine cutting your closet space in half by combining several sweaters, shirts, and pants on one hanger.
Tiered hangers may even yield enough space to fit a dresser in your closet or another form of storage, such as a shoe rack or room to stack tubs.
Corner Shelving
The average size of an apartment unit is 1,015 square feet, according to Apartments.com. In a place that tight, every nook and cranny you can find is valuable for holding your belongings.
Adding corner shelves can provide ample amounts of space for your storage needs in just about any small area.
In the bathroom, corner shelves can hold items that you’re unable to squeeze into your vanity cupboards, as well as washcloths and hand towels. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, store your collection of spices, coffee mugs, and utensils in an open corner shelf that’s easily accessible during cooking.
Door Organizers
Adding cabinetry behind doors is another way to tidy a room and decrease clutter. The beauty of behind-the-door storage is that it’s only visible to you and provides easy access to the essentials.
Door organizers are perfect for just about any room. For example, bedroom door organizers can keep your shoes, hats, and purses in one place until you’re ready to use them.
If you have a work area set up in the garage, door organizers are also a great way to store your tools, such as hammers, wrenches, and paintbrushes. Another creative way to utilize door organization is to install a pegboard for craft items or hang your jewelry.
Lots of Ways to Create Space
Sometimes it takes a bit of imagination to take full advantage of your home’s storage capacity. With only a limited amount of room to keep your items, it requires a bit of out-of-the-box thinking. Going through your belongings and getting rid of what you don’t need is the next best thing when all else fails.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
Benefits of Living in a 55+ Community
A Beginner’s Introduction to Zoning Laws
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Toodles,
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