Frustration can easily set in if your demands for space at home are continually growing, perhaps because of the pitter-patter of an increasing number of tiny feet, but you are struggling to find that extra space you need.
Still, the real problem here could be not how much space you have but how you are using it. Here are some clever ways to make more space on the floor, where you could especially need it.
Swap out more of your seating for ottomans or benches
Ottomans and benches are dark horses of the residential storage game – as they can do double duty as standard seating and storage units for the likes of blankets, pillows or shoes.
As a general rule, ottomans work better in living rooms and entertaining spaces, whereas benches are better-suited to entryways and corridors. In places like these, benches can serve as containers for shoes, boots and other footwear that residents take off upon arriving at the property.
Sometimes, the only way is up – literally
Whether you want to stack books, boxes, kitchen utensils or, indeed, anything else, you don’t necessarily have to leave them piled up on the floor and hogging precious space there. That’s because you could affix shelves and other organizational units to bare walls of your home.
Here’s a little extra “pro tip” fromBob Vila: think about possibly putting your items in baskets before you place those items on the shelves or similar.
What’s your hook? It should probably be on your wall
Your home probably already has onerow of hooks used to hang coats up– but you could have underestimated just how many other things hooks can help you to get off the floor.
So, along with coats, you could hang up tools, purses, backpacks and bicycles. Even if you live in a rental property where the landlord would not let you permanently anchor hooks to the walls, you could just use removable hanging strips that, later down the line, can be easily taken off without leaving any obvious trace.
Find underused spaces you could purpose as storage
Unless your home is a new-build property that was originally designed and assembled with all of your household’s specific requirements in mind, it probably has a fair few crawl spaces, nooks and other gaps for which you just haven’t found a use… until perhaps now.
BuzzFeed has posted photos showing how you could fashion storage compartments beneath the stairs and behind taps, to cite just two example areas of a typical home.
Convert your loft
If your home currently has, say, its own playroom, games room or home office on one of the main floors, you could investigate the possibility of relocating that space’s amenities to your loft – nicely converted for the purpose, of course, if the spaceisn’t suitable for it already.
In converting your loft, though, be careful not to compromise its insulation. From a company like Instaloft, you could order raised loft boarding that would give the insulation enough space to breathe.
