Are you running out of room at home? Do you have too much stuff and not enough space? Is your closet on the verge of exploding from how much you’ve crammed in there?
Don’t worry, South Carolinians, you won’t have to look at Charleston houses for sale to find a second place just to store all your belongings. Follow the four tips below to turn any cluttered house into a well-ordered home where there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place.
Buy organizational products
One of the quickest and easiest (although not necessarily cheapest) ways of adding storage space to your home is to buy yourself some new organizational products, like car toys or stuffed animal storage for those with kids. You might be surprised at some of the convenient and creative items on the market today. Shelving units and Rubbermaid tubs are always helpful, but these days you can find everything from stackable storage bins that snap together to shower curtains with built-in pockets to hold your toiletries to over-the-door hanging organizers designed to house shoes, hats, purses, jewelry, and more.
Pick the right spot for each item
All the organization in the world can’t help you if you don’t make the most of it. Instead of putting your things wherever is convenient at the moment, plan ahead to maximize storage space. Looking for somewhere to put something long and thin, like rolls of wrapping paper? Take down all those small boxes you’ve been keeping on the overhead rack in your closet; there are a hundred little nooks and crannies where those can fit instead. If you think of your house as one big jigsaw puzzle, all you have to do is keep arranging and rearranging the pieces until each finds its own perfect, cozy niche.
Rise above your limitations
When we say “rise above,” we mean it literally. You may think you’ve used up all the space you have, but tilt your gaze upward and you may find you have more than you realized. People tend to think of storage in horizontal terms, but don’t be afraid to think vertically. Just because there’s not enough room for the type of wide shelves that can hold many items, that doesn’t mean you can’t fit in a column of smaller ones that may hold a little bit less. And, hey, there sure is a lot of room between the kitchen cabinets and the ceiling, isn’t there? Thanks to whatever genius invented the step-ladder, there’s no such thing as a spot that’s too high. Just be careful not to store anything too heavy or unwieldy up there, or else you could take a nasty spill.
Use every… single… inch
If you really want to maximize your storage space you have to think outside of the box, and that means thinking outside just the usual storage options like, well, boxes. Double your closet space by folding your clothes in half before you hang them, then put in a second rod below the first. Install hooks to the backs of doors to hang clothes, bags, or just about anything you can think of. Connect wooden planks or metal racks to the joists in your basements to create a checkerboard of cubby holes. Instead of letting your luggage sit around between trips, empty and unused, fill it up. Add a shelf to the top of every door frame. The possibilities are endless. With a little ingenuity, every surface, every hollow, every undercarriage and overhang can be turned into a comfy compartment for your most prized possessions.