Mobile Shelving
Making the Most out of Little Storage Space
Well for the past couple of years, I had to adjust to living with limited storage space, which was hard, growing up in a community where the houses were all reasonably large, with lots of rooms, lots of space and lots of extra storage space too. Now, in a studio flat and being a pack rack, it's been quite an adjustment. I've had to do a lot of 'creative' packing, as I call it. As far as studio flats go, this one is not a bad size, bigger than what I originally was expecting.
I've been working on utilizing the flats current space, as to keep it all neatly packed away, but still easy to access. Nothing worse than having to unpack five boxes to find that one invoice you packed away three months back. I have found one or two things to be quite helpful.
Over Door Storage and Mobile Shelving
I think these over door hooks and units were a great idea, who ever thought of it. We got one ourselves, but here's a big tip, make sure your bathroom door will be able to accommodate the over door hook or unit or what ever. As it turned out ours didn't, there wasn't enough space between the door and wall, so we had to put the over door unit on another door, which isn't too bad I suppose, it does get packed away when company comes over though, as all our delicate necessities are stored on there.
Simple over door hooks are good for jackets, especially in the winter here when a couple of really warm jackets fills up your cupboard space pretty quick. The hooks are good for towels too of course. Putting these hooks over a door is good too, because it means you don't have to drill any holes into the walls, or doors, to put up hooks. This is a big plus if you're in a rented place and know just how much of your deposit you loose due to repairs after you move out.
The over door units are great as well, we have one which not only has three shelves, but also a little rack for a towel. FYI, the rack gets used to help dry our laundry too… that's another dilemma.
Over door shoe racks, I've seen these around too, but personally I think they're pretty tacky. But I must say, I have seen one which looked pretty neat, a metal one, none of those ugly looking cloth ones.
Shoe Storage
For shoes I think the best is to go with a tiered rack. Two or three or even a four tier shoe rack is great, cause it lets you stack your shoes neatly, on top of one another, saving you that valuable space. A nice big shoe rack up against the wall of your cupboard, keeps them neatly packed away. Although, I suppose if you have a busy household or just prefer to keep muddy trainers or boots by your door, get an extra shoe rack by your front door, that way you can still keep them neatly stacked away and off your stain free rugs.
Under Your Bed
Under a bed is a good place to store stuff, because it's out of the way and no one will see it. Of course, it kinda bothers me to keep a bunch of stuff under my bed, I think because my mother always told me as a child, to keep my room tidy, not to just throw everything under my bed. If I need to keep something under the bed, I'd prefer to do it tidy. Put it all in a bag or type of box, which will fit. Alternatively you could buy a bed with drawers in the base, which is great.
Crates, Drawers and Shelving
We got a couple of fold away plastic crates, couple of years back, which turned out great. Two different sizes as well. Those mostly get used for our computer cables, parts and any extra PC stuff we might have. Nice thing is, you can stack them on top of one another, or fold them away if you're not using them.
You could also of course get a cabinet or even something smaller, like a plastic drawer tower, which isn't too heavy to move around and will allow you to keep everything tidy and in its place. They're usually quite easy to perhaps store under your desk or even the staircase. We actually use our built in wardrobe to store our plastic crates (see previous paragraph), which is very handy. We stack them one on top the other against the side of the cupboard.
Shelving is obviously a good way to make space for your stuff. Although, as it requires you to drill holes into the wall, probably not the best idea if you're renting. Alternatively, get a shelve unit which doesn't require wall mounting. A tiered unit. Usually you can get some really nice ones for your bathroom. There are so many different types now, depending on the size of your bathroom, get one of those which fits around your basin, or instead of putting up a bathroom mirror, buy a cabinet instead, which has a mirror as well. I've seen some really nice, spacious, large bathroom mirror cabinets around.
Wall Mounting
Like I've mentioned before, a bit hard if you're renting. But if you're a good DIY'er or if you're not too bothered about holing your walls, here's are some tips for utilizing your wall space. The obvious ones of course, like putting up actual shelves is an idea. I wouldn't have minded putting up a shelve or two to accommodate our overflow of books.
But you can get a little mwore creative. Wall mounting brackets, which allow you to mount things like your TV or even microwave is very handy. Definitely frees up some counter space in the kitchen or some much need living area space. If you're in the market for a new TV, perhaps consider buying a flat screen which comes with wall mounting brackets.