Storage isn’t the sexiest interior design topic but it is an essential part of every design. Storage solutions keep your items safe, organized, and accessible when you need them. It should form the foundation of every design scheme you come up with. Whether you are working out where to keep towels in the bathroom or figuring out a way to reduce the collateral that comes with kids’ toys strewn everywhere.
The right storage solutions can completely change the way you live. Not only will your house feel calmer, but it will also be much easier to clean. You’ll save time on finding the stuff you need and your chance of standing on lego bricks in bare feet will be joyously reduced. The trick is working out what the right solution is and how to employ it smartly within your home.
The Right Solution for the Right Problem
Finding the right storage solution is vital. For example, in the kitchen, using glass jars and plastic boxes is the best way to store most ingredients. This helps to avoid tempting pests and having to call in pest control to deal with the situation. Equally, using boxes makes filling and organizing your cupboards a lot better because everything is accessible. Airtight containers will also help to increase the shelf-life of many ingredients.
But the kitchen isn’t the only place for the right storage solution. Hidden storage is a really valuable asset in almost every room in the house. From storage within sofas and poufs to built-in storage in your bedrooms or office. The more you are prepared to think outside the box, the cooler the hidden storage ideas you find. For example, the stairs offer plenty of opportunities for hidden storage! You can turn each step into hidden drawers to optimize the space underneath the steps.
Some storage solutions are used year-round but others are more seasonal. For example, if you have a seasonal wardrobe, it is definitely worth investing in some vacuum-sealed storage bags. They help to reduce the volume of your clothes. Before you seal them up, make sure all the clothes you are storing are freshly washed and dried. Any moisture that gets trapped could lead to mold.
Make Cleaning Easy
Your storage solutions should always aim to make cleaning easier. Taking things off surfaces! Storing them in lidded containers will reduce the amount of dust you have to deal with. In turn, this will make wiping down a lot faster too. Similarly, when you have places for everything, you won’t have as many piles of random items waiting for a home.
Organizing your kid’s room properly is one of the key areas for improvement in most households. If you can’t see the floor, you certainly can’t hoover it properly! There are a few good storage ideas for your kid’s toys. For example, under-the-bed storage will be simple to access for them and easy to put away too. Labeling your storage will also help. This will make it even simpler for your kids to put their own things away in the right places.
A great hack for making cleaning less time-consuming is to create a cleaning caddy. It should contain all the things you need to go around the house. There’s a dual benefit here. Not only will everything you need be stored in the same place, but they’ll also be much easier to carry. And if it’s easy, you might just persuade your whole family to get involved too.
Another cool idea is to take a bag with you into every room. By doing so, you can take out items that should be elsewhere all in one go. As you clean, put items that live elsewhere into the bag and then rehome those items when you’re done. If you want to take this a step further, try taking 3 bags. One for rubbish, one for unwanted items for charity or selling online, and another for items in the wrong room.
Balance Aesthetics with Practicality
Plastic boxes are cheap and cheerful. They come in a million different sizes so no matter what you’re storing, they can do the job. Since plastic is also airtight, it can be home to a wide range of items. But plastic isn’t always the most aesthetically pleasing material.
Balancing aesthetics and practicality can be difficult when choosing the best storage solutions but it is perfectly possible. Returning to the kitchen for a moment, you might consider using reusable storage solutions, such as glass jars instead of plastic boxes. Especially, if you want to display your ingredients using open shelving. Stainless steel tiffin boxes are also beautiful to look at and ideal for storing a wide range of items.
Hidden storage is naturally going to work well with your aesthetic. You won’t know it’s there. However, there is also an argument to be made that showing off your storage can work too. A good example is rolling up your towels or blankets and storing them in a woven or wicker basket. This turns your storage solution into a beautiful feature in the room and can tie your whole interior design together.
With the right storage, your house will feel calm, clean, and tidy. As you go through, you will also probably find yourself wondering if some items are worth storing at all. If this is the case, donating to charity, selling online or just plain binning these items will lift a weight off too. Don’t store things for the sake of it: consider the importance of each item first.
However you choose to organize your house, and whichever storage solutions you employ, the most important thing is that every solution makes your life easier. There is such a thing as too much storage and it is very easy to over-organize into increasingly smaller categories. Finding the right balance will, of course, depend on what sort of stuff you have and how often you want to access it. You might find that it takes a while before the perfect solution presents itself.