10 Storage Hacks to Maximize Space in Your Home

You live in a studio. You live with four children. You live with a serious love for online shopping. No matter what your situation, you need more storage.

Luckily for you, many others have walked in the same shoes and have found ways to improve their own situations with storage hacks that are almost too easy and effective to be true.

Below you’ll find ten such storage tricks; enact one, two or all ten and relish in the glory of a home that functions better than ever before.

Look Under the Stairs

Those in need of extra space often overlook the space left under a staircase. Innovating designers before you have used this triangular area for everything from a computer desk, to a bar, to a bookshelf. Get creative with your own under-stair space and open up a whole new area of storage.

Goodbye, Board

In extra-small apartments, you might not have space to store a full-sized ironing board. Luckily, you can take an old quilt or blanket and adhere magnets to the back of it. Next time you need to iron, slap your magnetic blanket on top of your washer or dryer. The blanket stays in place and provides just enough heat protection to your machine’s top.

Show Off Your Shoes

Many small spaces don’t have a closet hidden behind closed doors, and having your wardrobe out in the open can present you many storage problems. A great way to combine utility and style is to hang your high-heeled shoes right on your wall.

All you need is a few strips of crown molding turned upside-down so that the bottom edge is flush with the wall and the top is floating. Then, simply slip the heels of your shoes over the floating edge. They’re now secure and off of the floor, which means you can store other clothing or personal items there. You’ve created an eye-catching design element in your room for a low cost.

Peg Your Pots

Not everyone has the budget to revamp the kitchen storage system entirely. One way to increase cabinet space is to outfit one wall with a pegboard. From here, you can hang bulky items like pots, pans, colanders, spatulas, spoons, and more. As an added bonus, you now have an eye-catching centerpiece in your kitchen!

Loft (or Lift) Your Bed

Many small apartments rely on lofted beds to make the most of floor space. Beneath your vaulted bed, you can put a closet, sitting area, dresser or desk – just about anything imaginable! If you’ve got a little more space to play with – or you’re not in love with the idea of up-high sleeping – opt for a Murphy bed. This ingenious design lifts up so that you can store items under your bed and access them easily. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be making the most out of limited space in your bedroom.

Coat Hooks in the Bathroom

It’s not your entryway, but your bathroom can benefit from a set of coat hooks, too. A standard towel rod looks sleek, but only holds two or three linens at most. A coat hook, on the other hand, can hold multiple towels without looking a mess. This is a great option if you live with roommates, messy or not. It’s also easy for kids to whip their bath towels up onto hooks – no more damp linens to pick up off of the bathroom floor!

Renovate Wisely

This tip applies only to those in the midst of a major renovation, (but keep it in mind for down the road, too). Be sure your plans take advantage of every nook and cranny in which you can store your belongings. Take, for example, the kitchen.

Many homeowners make the mistake of not extending their brand new cabinets all the way to the ceiling. This leaves storage space behind, which means you’ll probably regret it later when you can’t find a home for your fondue set or Thanksgiving turkey platter. 

Stick to Magnets

Just like the ironing board tip provided in #2, this storage trick relies on magnets. However, it’s a bit broader: you can use a magnetic strip or board to store and organize just about anything.

A small magnetic strip in your bathroom, for example, can hold all of your small grooming tools, like tweezers and scissors. A larger one in the kitchen can grip your knives. And a full metal sheet will be strong enough to hold storage containers of your favorite spices, keeping them at arm’s length and out of the pantry where they’d undoubtedly cause clutter.

De-Flub Your Tub

If you have kids, you know that it takes a village — I mean a village worth of toys — to get through bath time. While you love Rubber Ducky for making your life easier, he ends up adding to the bathroom clutter that your family undoubtedly creates on its own.

An easy way to clean up your tub area is to purchase a hanging fruit basket using Frugaa for a discount and let it dangle from your shower rod. Voila. It’ll hold toys, loofahs, sponges, shampoo bottles and anything else that would otherwise fill up the ledges of your tub.

Don’t let Large be in Charge

Is your garage or driveway home to a car your promised your wife you would fix  (5 years ago) or a boat that rarely ever sees the water? If so, then you are losing storage space. Did you know you can use self storage to store larger items like a car or boat, in case you’re lucky enough (or unlucky enough?) to have those?!

If you know you’re probably never going to use the car, boat, lawnmower, or other big item, then it might be time to offer them up for sale. Essentially, you get the best of both worlds. Newly-discovered space and a pocket full of cash.

And, now that your house is completely organized, you can treat yourself to a glass of wine, too. I call that a win-win.