Having recently downsized considerably, we’ve realised that we have more possessions, DIY supplies and general “stuff” than we thought. In order to store everything in our new apartment, we’ve been looking at creative ways to create more space in our home.
We could still use more space and more storage but over the years we’ve learned a few tricks that have helped us keep our home mostly clutter-free. We’ve also started planning a few exciting projects, including the best IKEA Pax hack that you’ve ever seen, that will hopefully give us loads more storage in the coming weeks, too!
We’ll be sharing the full tour of our current apartment along with loads of projects (if we’re ever allowed to visit a DIY store again) here soon!
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In the meantime, here are our top 7 best ways to create more space in your home!
1. Go Up
Shelves are a great way to create more storage and display some of your favourite items. We built floor to ceiling shelves in both of our previous homes and they were invaluable for storing all of our books and other random bits and pieces.
We definitely made the most of our high ceilings and added as many shelves as possible to give us loads of space for all of our books. Even if you don’t have high ceilings, you’d be surprised at just how much storage space open shelves provide.
It may not look like much but the contents of the shelves in our office filled 16 medium size boxes during our move!
To keep clutter at a minimum and store lots of little things, you can add pretty boxes, baskets or jars to your shelves to hide smaller items you don’t want to display. There’s an almost endless choice of containers, jars, boxes to choose from so that you’ll easily be able to find some that suit your style.
Here Are Some Of Our Favourite Pretty Storage Options!
2. Bespoke Built-In Cupboards
By far the best and most stylish way to create more space in your home is by installing bespoke cabinetry. This will allow you to use every last centimetre of available space and you’re not left with little unused corners or wasted areas.
Obviously, this is a long-term investment that has to be planned in a lot of detail but bespoke storage can not only help create a space to store all of your possessions but also look really stylish, too.
Although bespoke cabinetry can be expensive, it’s also something that will add value to your home in the long run and, if you’re like us and like a bit of DIY, you’ll probably be surprised at how simple building some basic shelves or cupboards can be.
3. Go Down
The area under your bed or even your sofa is often a forgotten area when it comes to storing things but they are great spots to hide things and give you a lot of additional storage space!
You can get clever containers purposely designed for under-bed storage that make it easy to access your possessions and keep organised. They are perfect for storing things like additional duvets, pillows and your bed linens.
And, if you don’t have a lot of wardrobe space, you can also use the area under your bed to store your seasonal clothes, too!
Our storage containers (we mainly have these plastic storage boxes) work so well and make it really easy to store loads of things under the bed! Just look at the amount of stuff we’re able to store under there…
Yep, we even squashed our tree skirt under the bed. It may not be pretty but it would be mad to waste all of that space, right?!
4. Show off your floor
Lots of clever storage isn’t the only way you can create more space in your home. A trick often used by interior designers to make a space feel larger is to use floating furniture or furniture that allows you to see as much of the floor as possible.
The more of the floor area you can see, the larger your home will feel. Okay, so technically you’re not actually creating more space in your home but keeping the floor clear by installing floating shelves and cabinets will make it feel more spacious.
5. Drawers instead of cupboards in the kitchen
One of my pet hates are cupboards in the kitchen. I just don’t understand them.
Yes, of course, they give you storage but reaching anything that’s at the back of the cupboard is so much faff. You have to take almost everything out to reach the one thing at the back that you’re looking for only to realise it’s not there and is probably in another cupboard that you’ll now have to empty, too!
Pan drawers are so so so much better! You can fit a lot more in them, too! You can stack things making the most of the height of the drawer and you can still reach everything that’s at the back of the drawer.
We have everything that we had stored in two cupboards in our last apartment in one single drawer!
6. Bring the Outside In & The Inside Out
Making the most of any outdoor space is a must when you have limited space. If you’re lucky enough to have a balcony or a garden you could create additional storage space by building a small shed or installing some outdoor boxes.
Space-saving furniture like our foldable garden table is also perfect if you don’t have large rooms or a big outdoor area.
When designing your outside space, try to make it somewhere that you can use almost all year round. A chiminea or a fire pit for chilly autumn evenings will allow you to spend time outside even when the temperatures start to drop, and an umbrella will provide shade on really hot summer days.
A trick to make your home feel larger is to use the same flooring throughout. No visible breaks in your flooring will make your space flow better and will create the illusion of a larger space.
7. Use items that double up
Be clever with your choice of furniture and invest in pieces that double up as storage.
Some beds like this gorgeous Skye ottoman storage bed from Made even have built-in storage where you can lift the slatted bed base to access a hidden compartment. Another great alternative are beds with drawers already built into the sides to give you a huge amount of storage!
Our DIY outdoor sofa doubles up as storage for all of our gardening tools and supplies.
Ottoman storage benches give you lots of space to store things as well as looking great at the end of your bed or in a hallway. And, if you have lots of visitors they can be used as additional seating at your dining table, too!
Do you have any tips to make your home work better for you? How do you keep your space organised? We’d love to hear your thoughs so leave us a comment below and let us know what you think!
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