How to Create More Storage Space In Your Home

Clutter and disorganization are thieves that rob your home of its usable living space. Fortunately, there are a lot of easy, and even creative ways to give everything a proper place, while still keeping it relatively close at hand for the times when you want to use it. Of course, this might also call for coming up with a strategy to effectively store seasonal items that need to come in and out or rotation every few months.

Developing A Seasonal Storage Strategy

Defining a place to keep seasonal items for long term seasonal storage is a great first step toward letting you implement more creative storage options throughout your home. The last thing you want is an old winter sweater sitting in the same drawer with the swimsuit you want to wear to the beach tomorrow.

Store Holiday Decorations Out Of The Way

Holiday decorations are one of those things that take up space when not in use, yet you don’t want to just throw them away. In some cases, things like a decorative tree might only be in use for four to six weeks out of the year.

For these lesser-used items, you might want to turn to the garage. Pull down storage systems have become an innovative way to make use of garage attics and stringer spaces. These are mechanical systems that are either spring-loaded, pulley controlled, or have a crank that you can operate from the safety of the garage floor, without having to climb a ladder.

If you don’t have viable garage space, you might want to consider installing some heavy-duty shelves in your basement or crawl space. This keeps often valuable holiday decorations off the floor, while still keeping them out of the main living area of the home.

Tote Bins For Seasonal Clothing Storage

Tote bins are an incredibly popular way to store away seasonal clothing items and athletic gear. You can fold clothing neatly, or put them inside a vacuum-sealable bag to keep them compressed. Heavy-duty stackable totes let you seal things away safely for months on end, without having to worry about the occasional mouse or moth being able to get at them.

Make The Most Out Of Under Bed Storage Space

Another very popular place to store clothing and other seasonal items is under the bed. If your bed is low to the floor, you might want to consider storing items in a long low tote. Put a clear label on top to help you find what you want later, and then slide it under the bed.

In the case of a taller bed frame, you might want to consider installing cabinet doors or drawers. This lets you take advantage of vertical storage, while still having things close at hand. Furniture stores sometimes sell cookie-cutter bed frames like this, though they seldom match the rest of the bedrooms décor.

If this is the case Closettec can help design and install a custom under bed storage system. Our manufacturing capabilities and access to a wide range of materials can create any bedframe storage system you can dream up.

Wall Mounted Flatscreen TV

Flatscreen televisions are the new standard for home entertainment. Even some of the largest models are still light enough to hang on the wall with professional-grade hardware. In the past, this concept was criticized because of the ugly wires that dangled down.

Today wireless technology makes it easy to hang a flatscreen TV on a wall with a clean, seamless look. Even if your TV is a little older and isn’t equipped for wireless connectivity, it’s relatively inexpensive to have a professional run all the necessary wires through a wall conduit behind the TV mount itself.

You might also want to consider framing in a cabinet around the flatscreen TV. That way you can close the cabinet doors when you aren’t watching anything, to transform the space into more of a traditional “Sitting Room.”

Once you have the TV up and out of the way, you enjoy extra floor space that was once taken up by a bulky entertainment center. You might even come up with new uses for that space such as bookshelves to give your living room a library feel, or a chest of drawers that doubles as a new sitting space for those days when you might want to leave the TV off to read a good book.

Installing Wall Drawers & Cabinets

Some homes have a wall with a significant amount of void space behind it. This is more common in upstairs bedrooms or a wall shared with an attached garage. If your home has a space like this, you might want to consider having a new header framed into the wall to maintain the structural integrity.

You can then use the space for flush-mounted drawers and cabinets. This is a great way to gain storage space without losing a single square inch of floor space.

Under The Stairs Storage

The space under the stairs is another area of lesser-used space in many homes. Most stair stringers are self-supported or there is enough viable structure to let you open up the wall. From there you can install shelves for added storage, or hang beloved family photos to make more wall space for other things like a wall-mounted flatscreen TV.

If you prefer, you can conceal the void with tasteful cabinet doors or sliding doors that maintain the original appearance of the wall. This creates a great storage space for seasonal items that you only need to access every few months.

Transform A Basement Stairwell Into A Pantry

Basement stairwells are often close to a home’s kitchen. There also tends to be a fair amount of vertical space and wall space that goes unused. Installing some simple shelves with a front lip to hold things in place lets you move things like canned goods and small boxes out of the kitchen. Yet they are still close at hand when you need to grab them.

Create An Elevated Pet Food Serving Station With Storage

Pet food is one of those things that takes up a lot of excess space. Especially if you need to take measures to prevent your pet from simply helping themselves to a meal any time they feel like it. Of course, food and water bowl also take up valuable floor space. Depending on the pet, they can also be prone to spills!

Something as simple as a repurposed seating bench can be easily transformed into a storage area and feeding station. You can keep the food safely stored inside, for easy access when you want to feed them. Then you can even cut special holes in the top to let the food and water bowls fit into the recessed space. If they do happen to spill any food and water, you can simply swipe it back into the appropriate bowl.

Entry Way Cubbies & Bench Storage

The foyer of any home is rife with messes and disorganization. Especially if you have kids! Installing some simple cubbies for each person, complete with coat hooks and shoe racks gives each person their own special space to keep their outdoor items. A bench seat for tying shoes can also be transformed into additional storage for equipment and balls.