Savvy Storage Solutions That Will Change Your Life

In this design series, A Space For Being, interiors expert Leanne Moore explores what it takes to transform a house into a home. Follow along for more tips and tricks for creating your dream space, including cleaning hacks and the best plants for indoors. Previously, Leanne shared advice on how to turn a house into a home, how to select the perfect paint colour and how to decorate your home like a pro.

Turning chaos into clarity

One of the most important things about a great home is not its decor, or how big it is, it’s the way you organise yourself and how you run your life. Being organised stops you from wasting time trying to find things and frees you up for the fun stuff.

The solution to a messy home is having a storage system for every room: the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, laundry, living room and dining room. Putting systems in place to streamline your day will be one of the best time investments you’ve ever made. Creating a home that combines style and efficiency will enable you to easily find everything and make quick decisions.

Follow the expert advice in this room-by-room guide for an orderly home and organised life.

Divide and conquer

The secret to transforming your kitchen into a streamlined social hub is creating a carefully considered place for everything. It’s worth putting some time and care into developing storage solutions for your kitchen. When your kitchen is organised, you can enjoy the process of making a meal for your friends and family without the hassle of having to search for ingredients and equipment.

Start with some airtight containers and glass jars in various sizes, then allocate at least a couple of hours to complete the job. The main benefit is that once your kitchen is stylish and functional, you will be able to easily see everything, which cuts down meal prep time.

Hide and seek

Drawers are your friend when it comes to banishing clutter. They come in all shapes and sizes and are whisper-quiet these days, thanks to soft-closing technology.

In your bathroom, keep the small number of products you use on a daily basis close at hand. Store items you use less frequently somewhere that’s easy to access but not prominent. There’s nothing worse than rummaging from one end of a cupboard to the other just to find products that should go together.

Keep such items in a storage container or basket, arranging like with like. Trays are also handy for clustering objects with similar uses in one spot. As well as enabling easy access, it also helps prevent you from buying duplicates.

In your bedroom, stash plastic storage boxes under the bed — this is a great spot for out-of-season clothes. Make good use of hooks — they’re incredibly handy. Attach them to the back of a door or inside your wardrobe. They are especially good for hanging scarves, belts and necklaces.

Use the top and bottom shelves of your wardrobe to keep bags, hats and storage boxes filled with items you rarely use. A tidy and clutter-free bedroom promotes rest and relaxation.

Shelf life

There’s an art to displaying a collection attractively. The key is grouping tonal colours together and arranging like with like, such as a collection of glass vases, ceramics or books. If you’re really enjoying the process, you could sort your books by colour-co-ordinating the spines.

Floating shelves above a sink in the laundry are the perfect place to store your washing basket and peg container. Add another shelf for an attractive house plant. There’s no reason why your laundry can’t look good, too.

How to stash your stuff with style

The living and dining rooms are where we gravitate to for rest and relaxation, so ensure these spaces exude comfort, not clutter. If you don’t have built-in storage, a designer sideboard is ideal for storing plates and glasses, or even a vinyl collection.

A vintage cabinet is equally handy to hide away throws and cushions, ready for a seasonal swap every few months.

Built-in storage can skilfully combine form and function, such as shelving for books and treasures. Keeping your home clutter-free is an ongoing process. You’ll need to find storage solutions for new things that inevitably creep into your home.

The most important principle to hang on to is that there must be a place for everything – and everything returns to its place. Once you’ve achieved what you consider an organised home, sit and drink it in. Enjoy the serenity that these stylish storage solutions will bring.

More expert interiors advice

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