Home storage and how you use it makes a big difference to the amount of available space in rooms all over the house. Creating space in smaller rooms can be a challenge, but there are a few tricks when you know how.
Space-making Furnishings
Heavy furniture makes rooms seem more cluttered and smaller. Furniture with legs, however, casts fewer shadows and because you can see underneath it, a room seems larger even before you consider other storage options.
Storage furniture is both functional and attractive. All those small gadgets we have at home, like TV remotes, chargers and their cables, games controllers and tablets, usually spend their lives languishing on tables and chair arms. Choose occasional tables with built-in storage, such as drawers or shelves beneath the surface, so you have dedicated places to keep gadgets tucked away but handy. Ottoman footstools and lift-top coffee tables are equally functional.
When bedroom storage is lacking, you can reclaim wardrobe space in the master bedroom with an ottoman style divan bed. In children’s’ rooms, beds on raised platforms with storage or desks beneath create more floor space.
Use Your Wall Areas
Fashionable and stylish, open shelving answers many storage problems. Use shelving creatively:
- Incorporating concealed lighting to highlight collectibles.
- Add a long shelf above a sofa positioned against the wall for accent or hobby lighting in areas that are normally difficult to reach.
- Fit a shelf above a doorway for a bespoke bookcase or a novel way to display ornaments.
- Install one long shelf that runs right around the room at picture rail height.
- Create vertical rows of shelves in tiny, awkward corners. Natural wood looks good against a neutral background, or you could blend the shelf colour with your décor theme.
- Create an interesting feature on a long stretch of wall by fitting shelves of different lengths. You could make a zigzag, ripple or sloping effect.
- If your TV is on the wall, add a couple of small shelves either side to frame the TV and provide space for lighting or your DVD collection.
Avoid Overcrowding Your Space
Regardless of the amount of space we have, possessions always seem to expand to fill it. Controlling the number of possessions we have is hard, but it’s relatively easy to control how they’re displayed or used through clever use of self-storage. Some may even turn to using companies like Boombox Storage to help store their essentials in a safe and effective manner, where you can also check on it and be reminded of what you put into there so you are able to keep track.
Often, a room serves a dual purpose – but not all at the time. For instance, your spare bedroom may be a handy home office for most of the year but be needed as a guest room for family visits. As you don’t want to work in a room furnished as a bedroom or sleep in an office, renting a self storage room gives plenty of space to keep both sets of furniture. You can quickly switch furnishings as the need arises without the expense of buying new each year or hoping guests are comfortable on a folding bed.
A self storage unit is also often used as an overspill storage area for seasonal outdoor gear, whether its BBQ equipment during the winter or skis during the summer. Alternatively, create some extra wardrobe space for a less cluttered bedroom by putting out-of-season footwear and clothes into self-storage.
Neat, uncluttered rooms create harmony and a calmer frame of mind. They’re also easier to keep clean. Putting just a couple of these ideas into practise will create more space for a happier lifestyle.
