Whether you’ve downsized your house or live in a cozy apartment, small home living often comes with its own set of challenges – one of them often being storage space.

If your smaller home needs help staying clean, tidy, and organized, these practical ways to create more storage may be the answer you’ve been seeking.

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1. Look up.

Making use of vertical space gives you options you didn’t know you had when it comes to storage and organization.

It could be as simple as adding shelves to the wall, but it can also involve getting more creative with hooks inside cabinet doors or hanging baskets from anywhere.

Check out this article on using wall space for extra storage for some great ideas!

The best part of using the vertical space for storage is that you free up breathing room at the floor level. Your space feels less cluttered (if you don’t overdo the wall storage options, that is) and tidier. Win!

2. Look under the bed (or couch).

Our most important furniture pieces take up a lot of floor space, so make the most of it! We’ve put together a list of some clever under-the-bed storage and organization ideas that utilize everything from bed risers to baskets on wheels.

While you’re at it, you could also look into a couch with built-in storage (IKEA has options here). Let’s face it, it’s probably way more useful than a couch bed that might get used once a year.

If you’re blessed with long legs, you can also look into switching out the legs on your couch with taller ones (if the model permits). That creates space for roll-out storage drawers!

3. Use up dead spaces.

If you look around your home, you can probably spot many gaps and what would at first feel like empty, dead space. If you get creative, these can be prime locations to add extra storage space in a small home!

• Add baskets to the gap above kitchen cabinets.
• A narrow shelf on wheels (like this on Amazon) fits perfectly between the fridge and cabinets.
• Tiny corner shelves free up counter space in the bathroom.

4. Invest in space-saving hangers to maximize closet space.

When you use these types of tiered or multi-level hangers, you can halve the space your clothes take up in the closet.

This could free up the closet space to slide a dresser inside or install a shelving system for better storage and organization options.

5. Declutter, declutter, declutter.

You know the drill! When you declutter, you free up the storage space to store the things that are truly important to you.

Need help?

Get the Step-by-Step Decluttering print book! It’s free (just pay shipping), and it will help you make big change in your home in simple steps.

 

6. Add hook racks.

The simple hook is underrated in usefulness. Adding hook racks over the top of doors adds endless options for extra “storage” and organization.

Add more options inside cupboards and shelves with slide-on hook racks. They can be amazing for hanging cooking utensils and coffee cups in the kitchen and freeing up that beloved counter space.

It doesn’t have to be an entire hook rack, though! A strategically placed hook can do wonders for creating extra storage space.

• Hang a plant.
• Hang a basket under a shelf to hold your office supplies.
• Hang a bag with your kid’s favorite toys.

7. Use the door.

Think of the inside of your cabinets and closets like a school locker. You never let that inside door space go to waste, so don’t do it in your small home, either!

Add hooks (over the door, as mentioned in the previous point) or add stick-on hooks and storage baskets. Add a handy hairdryer holder (like this one on Amazon) to your bathroom cabinet door. Or, the addition of an over-the-door shoe rack has numerous storage possibilities beyond shoes.

Best of all – the stuff on the inside gets safely hidden away when the door is shut!

8. Place baskets everywhere.

What can’t a basket do? Create extra storage by placing baskets inside open shelving, on top of dressers, underneath the coffee table, or wherever else there is underutilized space (that also looks nice).

Baskets have a way of making whatever you drop inside look a lot more organized, too.

Related:  5 Tips to Keep Your Smaller Home Organized

9. Create an open storage closet.

You can do this in two ways: using curtains or a room divider.

If you lack closets or space in general, it might be worthwhile taking a small space and maximizing it as much as possible. The thing with open storage, like shelves in the living room, is that they have a limit to how much you can actually put inside before it looks like a nightmare.

Also, adding 3 shelves to the back of your living room might not be the calm and attractive look you’re going for.

If you can take a nook and curtain it off (or add a room divider screen in front of it), you can essentially create another closet.

The beautiful part is that what’s inside is hidden like a closet, meaning you can maximize it in the best way possible without the worry of how it looks to anyone in the home. Just be sure to use these tips to keep that new storage space more organized!

10. Create storage seating.

Can you put cushions on a storage chest for a seating option that pulls double duty? How about utilizing a bench-style seating option in the kitchen’s breakfast nook?

While not standard seating, an ottoman with built-in storage can work as a stool in big family gatherings.

You may want to check out these small house organization tips, too!

What are some ways you have created more storage in your small home or apartment?