12 Storage Tips for Your Small Home

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creating storage in your small home

Whether you’ve just moved or are just looking to optimize the space you have, living in a small home can make it tough to find a place for everything. We live in a world of materialism and consumerism and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it leaves us with a lot of stuff. Finding the perfect place for everything becomes an art form. 

In order to take advantage of our living space by keeping our things out of the way, it’s important to optimize your storage. That’s why we’ve put together our tried and true top storage tips for people living in smaller homes. The best part? You can apply these tips to any size home to maximize your living space.

1. Entryway Storage

When you first walk through your door, you want to immediately get the warm feeling of being home. Unfortunately, this feeling can quickly turn sour if your entry way is a mess and you start tripping over shoes, coats and miscellaneous objects thrown every which way. Having an organized and efficient entryway is a great way to keep your mood elated when leaving and entering your home.

If you have a closet near the entryway, use it! Keep coats, shoes and outwear inside the closet and out of the way. You can add a shoe rack on the floor for even more organization or you could insert a cube shelve to make the closet more of a recessed mudroom.

If you have the space for it, consider getting, or building, a mudroom bench. These are amazing and improve the functionality and style of your entryway. Mudroom benches have hooks, a ceiling high shelf and a bench that flips open for extra storage. This means not only do you have a place to put everything, but you also have a place to sit down and take off your wet, sometimes dirty, outerwear without making a mess and trying to balance on one foot.

2. Functional Furniture

Our favorite way to help increase the storage in smaller homes is by investing in multi-functional furniture. These designs have come a long way and are now sleek and completely disguisable. Check out some of these great ideas to add storage to any room.

Storage Bed

Gone are the days of throwing everything underneath the bed only to have to get on your hands and knees and rummage through a field of dust bunnies to find something. Now they specifically make beds for storage! 

You can purchase a bed frame that has shelves included underneath so that your room stays looking stylish, yet functional.

Coffee Tables

Coffee tables are the staples of our living rooms, but they have the potential to be so much more. If you have a really small home (i.e., sans dining room), you can find coffee tables that extend up and out to ergonomically reach your body. These can double as desks or even kitchen tables if you’re really tight on space.

There are so many coffee tables you can find that include secret drawers, beautiful shelves and tons of space.

Ottomans

small storage space ideas

If you’re more of an ottoman type of person, never fear. There are more amazingly functional ottomans than you can even start to imagine. Most simply have a removable top, or hinged lid, so that you can stash your favorite blankets, books or magazines.

If you’re looking to make a change, ottomans are great because they’re versatile. They can be used as a seat, a footrest, a coffee table and now a storage bin.

3. Utilize Wall Space

If you have a small home, stop looking for floor space to store things. Instead, turn to your walls. Hanging things on your wall doesn’t have to be just for decoration. Make it functional and hang everything you can.

Coat Rack

If you’re short on closets or simply don’t have the room to sacrifice one for outwear, install a coat rack. Coat racks keep everything organized and out of the way.

Hanging Shelves

If your home doesn’t have many shelves, hang some up! Use them to store books, art, office supplies and more. Make them functional and decorative to get the most out of your wall space while increasing your home’s décor.

4. Custom Closets

One of the most effective ways of increasing storage space in smaller homes is to make your closets as efficient as possible. Take a plain, boring closet with clothing rods and transform it into something you’d see on an HGTV show. They sell tons of DIY options at Home Depot and Lowe’s, or you can hire a professional to come in and make some changes. Get inspiration here, and see how you can store so much more than you thought possible while still being organized.

5. Under the Stairs

Space under the stairs often goes without notice. Whether you have an open staircase design or something that is closed off, the opportunities are endless. If it’s open, think12 Storage Tips for Your Small Home about transforming it into a home office space, or add hanging shelves on the underside opposite of the stairs. If you have a closed staircase, see if there is a possibility of using the reclaimed space. You might need to call a carpenter for this, but it will be worth it if you need the space.

6. Reclaimed Space

Along with reclaimed space under the stairs, homes are often filled with a lot of opportunities to reclaim space that people never realize.

Wall Dresser

A really cool option would be making a dresser out of reclaimed space in bedrooms. This is a little unique, but if you have the space it would free up massive amounts of space in your bedroom.

Bookshelf

Bookshelves are one of the best ways to use reclaimed space. This is because you can include breaks in the bookshelf when you come across a stud without compromising aesthetics. You can add a bookshelf across an entire wall, or just use small areas of reclaimed space for a more modern feel.

7. Garage Storage

If you have a small house that happens to have a garage, take advantage of every inch possible. Garage space is good for more than just storing cars. Consider installing a pegboard to hang things or to use in place of a toolbox. You can also install rafters along the ceiling for unique and easy-to-get-to storage containers. This is a great option because it doesn’t compromise any space in your garage.

8. Baskets, Baskets, Baskets!

We love baskets. They are great for getting the most out of your storage space on shelves, under side tables and more. When you use a basket, you are able to utilize more vertical space than using the shelf alone. Plus, it keepsbaskets for small storage things out of sight, so they don’t have to be perfectly organized inside of baskets. Use them in your kitchen, living room, bathroom, entryway and more. You can also get a great variety of colors and patterns to match your current home décor. 

9. Smart Drawers and Shelving

Have you ever looked at those small spaces in between things and thought about how much of a waste they are? Think about the small places between the oven and the end of the counter or the refrigerator and the wall. Consider installing some smart drawers to optimize these spaces. There are vertical drawers that go in smaller, often unused spaces, in order to give you more storage. You can store everything from spices and seasonings to oils and vinegars. It’s a perfect way to be able to see everything you have rather than having them take up space in a horizontal drawer where you have to pull each one out in order to find what you’re looking for.

10. Divide Rooms

If you are living in a small home, one thing you probably deal with is a lot of multi-functioning rooms. If you’d prefer to have smaller spaces dedicated for specific areas, then consider adding a large bookshelf to serve as a room divider. You’ll create two livable spaces out of one and add a ton of additional shelving and storage options. Remember, if you don’t have a large book collection you can always turn to baskets.

11. High Storage

A great way to get more use out of your floor space is turning to high storage. Add shelves or cubbies along your ceiling in order to keep things out of the way. Putting things above eye level will make your home feel larger without sacrificing storage space.

12. Use Your Bathroom

Finally, don’t be afraid to use your bathroom for storage. A lot of people prefer using a separate closet for their towels, extra toiletries and appliances, but you can save a ton of space by keeping these close by. Look into over the toilet cubbies, high ceiling storage and under the sink storage.   

If you’re still struggling with finding enough room in your home, consider renting a storage unit. It’s a great place to keep all of the things you don’t use frequently throughout the year. The best part about the storage units at The Lock Up Self Storage is that they are climate controlled, secure and affordable. Head on over to www.thelockup.com today to see how we can help you make the most out of your living space.