Secret storage spaces hiding in your home
Painted Furnitue Company / Press Loft
Surprising storage ideas you've never thought of
Storage space is a precious commodity in our ever-accumulating homes. So, just when you thought you'd crammed your cupboards and stuffed all your shelves, there are still undiscovered depths in your house that could prove the perfect hiding places for clutter.
Click or scroll through to make use of every nook and cranny with these innovative storage places we've found for your home.
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Make wall panels work harder
Wall panels are not only decorative but they can be practical, too. Choose a half-wall panel design and finish it with a narrow ledge to use as a shelf to display small, light trinkets, and to securely lean colourful artwork.
Why not take it further by adding screw-in hooks to the underside of the ledge for hanging jewellery, bags and other home accessories?
Pixel-Shot / Shutterstock
Suspend bikes
It's no secret that bikes are awkwardly shaped and take up a lot of space. Storing them can be a real issue, so make the most of tricky spaces in your garage, hallway, or shed by installing bicycle hooks on your walls.
You can then neatly stack your bikes away, keeping the floor free for other uses.
Slide storage into tiny gaps
In most kitchens, tiny gaps go unused. This creative solution uses slimline shelving mounted on wheels to hold condiments and kitchen sundries that would otherwise take up cupboard space.
You may need to involve a professional to help you achieve this, but there are also lots of tutorials on YouTube to help you DIY it if you are up for the challenge.
Use the garage ceiling
Vacant ceiling space is another fantastic resource that most of us are not making the most of. Perfect for garages, including beams means you can securely store equipment, bikes and DIY materials, with hooks or an installed ceiling rack among the wooden supports.
Completed by ModernGrannyFlat and Losada Garcia Architects, this garage is now a versatile space with tonnes of room to store all kinds of things or even add greenery as seen here.
Go under the oven
As most kitchens contain a microwave these days, it's rare we need to use the warming drawer under the oven to keep food at serving temperature. You may not even be aware you have one!
So, instead of making it redundant, use it as handy storage for slim baking dishes and smaller frying pans.
Capitalise on the kitchen ceiling
Need more room in your small kitchen? Look up! The fifth wall is often a forgotten storage solution that can be used to hang pots and pans or hook up hanging planters to grow fresh herbs. Perfect for keeping essentials handy while prepping and cooking meals.
Pixel-Shot / Shutterstock
Divide a room with modular storage
Add intimacy to your open-plan living space with stand-alone shelving that doubles as a room divider. Not only will it help to zone off areas, but it will add plenty of all-important flat surfaces on which to place things.
What's more, the slim design of the shelving means that you won't block out too much light, either.
SimonTaylorFurniture Photographer: Nick Smith / Press Loft
Call on the kitchen island
A kitchen island is often high on a new kitchen wish list. Make the most of your practical focal point by looking for a way to increase storage possibilities.
A built-in wine rack at one end can keep bottled beverages neatly stored and safe. Alternatively, an additional shelf hidden under the breakfast bar can make a discreet home for placemats and table linen.
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Use space above your headboard
Never overlook the opportunity to create more storage space in your bedroom. Here, the bed's headboard doubles up as a convenient shelf.
You could use it for a lamp, your latest bedtime book, or simply decoration, but it gives you storage without taking up extra space in the room.
Svetlana Gumerova / Unsplash
Restyle a disused fireplace
A traditional fireplace can look empty and unloved if it's not in use. But styled up like this eclectic spot to stash paperback books, it will not only make useful storage but can become an attractive feature of the room.
Install shelves to make a quirky and quaint library or fill it with chopped wood ready to feed a working fireplace elsewhere in the home.
Garden Trading / Press Loft
Pop a hamper in the porch
An enclosed porch has many benefits, it makes your home energy efficient, it can act as additional security and it offers a warm welcome for visitors. But don't forget that extra space can also be put to good use.
It's a perfect spot to store a basket or hamper like these from Garden Trading for stashing hats, scarves, or shoes. You can also add one that acts as an umbrella stand to stop rainwater dripping in the hallway.
Arcaid Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Go into the walls
Partition walls have space in between each panel, so why not put it to work by cutting out recess storage? You may even have recess space you're not yet using – so don't waste it!
This playroom slash office space would look cluttered and cramped with extra stand-alone bookshelves. The cubby hole wall storage and shelves at ceiling height look well-designed and stylish.
Use the kitchen cupboard tops
Take a look at the top of your kitchen cabinets; they might be a bit high but they're still valuable space. Measure the gap between the ceiling and the cupboard, then slot in storage boxes or wooden crates to keep supplies and small appliances that are used less often. That way your kitchen will look organised rather than cluttered.
Sheila Say / Shutterstock
Create shelving spaces
Shelving is a storage lifesaver and you should find as many spaces to add it as you can. Using the kitchen island to add additional shelves is a great way to expand the space.
It can also double as a display surface for a dish collection or your favourite cookbooks, while bulkier appliances can be stored away in the cupboards.
Irina Moss / Shutterstock
Conceal with raised decking
Garden shed full to the max? Use other areas of your outdoor space. A raised deck or patio area has plenty of room underneath to store decking cleaners, tools and collapsable garden furniture like deck chairs.
You'll need to consult a tradesperson for this project as the area will need waterproofing and new drainage for the deck above installed.
Stick with an ottoman
If there is plenty of room to move around it, the end of your bed makes an optimal position to keep a storage trunk or ottoman for folding fresh bed linen and extra blankets.
Choose one with a padded lid like this one from Loaf so it can double up as a comfortable bench, handy for perching on to put your shoes and socks on.
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Pull out under-bed storage
Sometimes you will find a storage solution in unexpected places. If the beds are high enough in your home, use them to store baskets or boxes with extra bedding or clothing you can't find a home for.
Here, in a child's bedroom, baskets have been used to store extra toys that will then slide neatly underneath the bed until they're needed.
Courtesy of Bathpanelstore.co.uk
Open up the bath panel
Bathrooms are renowned for their lack of storage space, so installing a bath panel with a cupboard or sliding doors is a brilliant solution. It's the perfect place to hide away cleaning products, leaving the vanity free for stashing toiletries, towels or other bathing essentials.
This ingenious one from Bath Panel Store is made to order and comes with handy height adjustable shelves so you can make it fit your bathroom perfectly.
Install a kitchen carousel
Make good use of where kitchen corner joints meet by installing a pull-out corner carousel. Add one at the lower level to store pots and pans and another in the cabinet above to easily retrieve food or crockery. It's a handy device that should be a kitchen storage staple in every fitted kitchen.
Add hooks beneath shelves
Attached to the underside of open shelving, these simple screw hooks make the most of the under-used space between shelves.
Alternatively, the humble S-hook is a simple and effective addition to a kitchen rail, providing somewhere for mugs, utensils and tea towels to hang.
Suttinpong Putthaisong / Shutterstock
Add open shelving under cupboards
Nearly everyone has wall cabinetry in the kitchen, but which clever soul thought of adding an extra shelf in the usually wasted space directly underneath it?
It's the perfect place to store your favourite mugs that get used most often, spices, or smaller ingredients you need to hand while you cook.
Kapustin Igor / Shutterstock
Create a slot for pan lids
Talk about a classic storage hack! Turn your vacant internal door panels into a place to store your pan lids. Thanks to the awkward top handles, lids are almost impossible to stack, but you can use the otherwise wasted space of inside your kitchen cupboard doors.
Either buy readymade silicone grippers or pick up some stick-on hooks and position them to catch and hold the lids of your pans to the doors. Easy and convenient.
Andrew Coleman / Alamy Stock Photo
Stair storage
Rather than use or create a cupboard under your staircase, you can still steal back precious square inches with some bespoke cabinetry. A set of drawers or smaller pull-out storage is far easier to organise and use. Perfect for keeping shoes, toys and household items out of sight.
If you do want to use the taller space under the stairs, copy this idea where you keep that area open, adding hooks to hang up coats, umbrellas, bags or anything else you might need to grab quickly as you are heading out.
Tidy clothes in trunks
Suitcases take up lots of space. Make the most of them by packing coats, out-of-season clothing, or smaller bags inside them. Vacuum-packing your items will also allow you to add double the capacity of your suitcases.
These vintage metal trunk versions from Vonhaus look super stylish and no one will know they are packed full of clothes when shut tight.
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Give kitchen cupboards new layers
Kitchen cupboards are often poorly designed, resulting in overcrowded shelves with lots of dormant overhead space. A plastic, metal, or wooden stacking shelf could be the answer to your kitchen storage problems since they provide an extra level within a cupboard.
Some even pull out on rollers. A stack shelf means you can use your cupboards much more efficiently, doubling the usable surface area in one easy step.
Stephen Power / Alamy Stock Photo
Put shelves in the eaves
The space in a converted attic or loft can often be an unusual shape, which needs a bespoke storage solution to make the most of it.
Fitted cupboards can be installed flush into the sloping eaves or, for an easier project, these bookshelves cut into the panelling at floor level make a cosy library corner without sacrificing space elsewhere.
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Turn corners into shelving
Corners can also be a fantastic place for external shelving. Floating, wraparound shelves allow you to make the most of every inch of wall space.
Just be careful not to fit them in tight spaces and give yourself enough room to manoeuvre around them.
Make alcoves useful
Alcoves often have a quirky appeal but can be a little redundant. Maximise your interior space by turning awkward corners and narrow nooks into useful storage spots.
Create handcrafted shelving in your bathroom for stacking towels and toiletries, or turn a small recess in your living room into a makeshift bookcase.
Ekaterina Minaeva / Alamy Stock Photo
Fill the corners of your shower
Speaking of corners, make the most of your bathroom walls by erecting a corner caddy or shelving for storing all your bathtime essentials.
Some racks attach to walls or baths using suction pads or tension rods, so you needn't drill into your tiles to add extra storage to your bathroom. Others can be drilled in for a more permanent attachment.
Add above-door shelving
You can even create a shelf in the most unlikely of spots. The space above internal doors, for example, is generally left empty.
Adding shelving above a door frame will give you a narrow but practical spot to store towels, shoes or even books and you can customise its usage from room to room.
Wrap shelving around your basin
If you're not lucky enough to have a vanity with built-in drawers, then why not consider maximising the space below your basin? Under-sink shelving units are specially designed to slot together, leaving a gap for any exposed pipework.
The RÅGRUND from IKEA seen here, for example, is triangular, meaning you can use your washbasin for storage by putting two shelves side-by-side.
Put spices on the wall
If you're a keen cook, you may be short on space for your spices and herbs. Stay organised with a smart, wall-mounted spice rack, which will turn dormant wall space into somewhere to keep your most-used ingredients. Whatever your cuisine of choice, your favourite flavours will always be at a grabbing distance.
Klemmitch / Alamy Stock Photo
Buy a bench with storage
Double up seating options in your home with storage solutions. This comfy bench has open shelving and drawer space to keep toys, books... anything you like really, safe and sound.
This kind of furniture works well in a hallway too, where you need somewhere to store shoes and bags, but also space to sit while you get ready for or return from a busy day.
Design an under-stairs storage system
If you don't benefit from under-stair cupboards or built-in drawers, then maximise this vacant space by adding shelving, stackable storage boxes or a moveable bookcase, where you can keep all sorts of household items.
Invest in custom-built solutions by asking a carpenter to create bespoke units to fit the space exactly or go for budget-friendly readymade solutions you can tailor to suit your needs.
Becky Wright Photography / Shutterstock
Use the space behind your door
The space behind your internal doors is the perfect spot to create additional storage. From coat hooks to shoe organisers, which are specifically designed to be long and narrow to fit the width and height of a standard door panel, you can create extra storage.
Plus, shoe organisers can also be used for several other purposes, including storing beauty products, toys, gardening tools and even food items in your kitchen pantry.
Hang tools on exterior walls
If you can use hooks inside, you can certainly use them outside. Hooks are a fantastic storage option for cramped garages or sheds, where space is limited.
Simply install some strong hooks and tie string around the end of your tools to keep them organised and within easy reach. You can also add hooks to your external walls for hanging up dirty boots, recycling bags, or plant pots.
Aleksandra Belinskaya / Shutterstock
Display plants vertically
Another storage spot hiding in plain sight is the fencing in your garden. If the space is limited for growing all your favourite plants, flowers or shrubs, invest in vertical storage.
By leaning a simple ladder against a secure surface, you can display plenty of your plants without wasting valuable lawn or patio space. What's more, you can paint the ladder or drape lights or bunting around it (seen here) to make it look super pretty.
Put purses inside handbags
If you're an avid handbag buyer, you've likely run out of storage space for your collection. Use the internal space of larger bags by keeping purses or smaller handbags inside them, making your collection both pretty and practical.
This tip works for other items too, for example, you can store all your smaller plastic shopping bags in one larger one and smaller boxes within bigger, much like Russian Dolls.
Store books behind your headboard
Have you ever considered how useful the area behind your bed could be? A handmade headboard is a perfect choice for people with limited bedroom space. Create built-in shelves or cupboards where you can keep essentials without cluttering up the rest of your room.
Use it for books, smaller items of clothing, or even shoes it's all about being creative with the extra storage.
Painted Furnitue Company / Press Loft
Pamper the pooch
Pets come with a lot of accessories. If yours has a bed that doesn't quite fit your décor, or you need the space it takes up, consider tucking it away inside a chest of drawers or within a shelving unit so you have double the storage space and a cosy spot for your pet.
The shelves or drawers within the furniture can be used for grooming accessories or pet toys. This piece is made by UK-based Painted Furniture Company, but there's no reason you couldn't create your own version with a little DIY.
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