Organization ideas for small spaces

Brindy
Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭
edited December 2020 in DIY Tutorials

I need help with organizing our small house. We have no closets or storage areas built in. I am thinking of getting a shelving unit from Ikea for cubes, but I'm not sure how sturdy those are. Any ideas or suggestions would be great. So far we have built a shoe organizer out of old pallets and we are currently working on under the stairs storage.

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Comments

  • nksunshine27
    nksunshine27 Posts: 343 ✭✭✭

    we put our bed (which is on a old metal frame) on logs to raise it off the floor high enough to store boxes or bucket under. made a fold down table in one room

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    Fully agree with the idea of utilizing underbed storage space in every possible way. There are also lots of really cool pieces of furniture that combine function with storage -- like storage ottomans, those beds that open to reveal storage, storage sofas, storage coffee tables and side tables, etc. I would start by making every single piece of furniture in my house that I could double as storage. Then I'd look into doing built-in cabinets on every possible wall. And, of course, I guess it goes without saying that getting rid of any items you don't need would also be a good place to start.

  • Cornelius
    Cornelius Posts: 872 ✭✭✭✭

    The lofted bed sounds like a good idea (it works for college dorms). Space bags might help to conserve space from clothes (and store it in bins under the bed).

  • stephanie447
    stephanie447 Posts: 404 ✭✭✭

    Depending on your bathrooms there is often a lot of space wasted above the toilet - so there could be shelves above or those cabinets that fit around the toilet.

  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    @Tave, I love the fruit crates, where do you get them? That is such a neat idea and totally our style.

    Thank you everyone for your ideas. I do have storage under our bed, but could do more if I raised it. Unfortunately, our baby ends up in our bed sometimes and I'm scared of him falling off the bed already. I would be a nervous wreck if I raised it any higher right now.

  • ltwickey
    ltwickey Posts: 369 ✭✭✭

    If I can't find fruit crates at my local grocery stores, I look at the feed store and see if any of the local farmers have thrown any out.

    I have also made my own from pallet wood.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Brindy What @ltwickey said. There happens to be a carpenter a few blocks from me that makes them, so I buy them directly from him.

  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    @Brindy A few thoughts. I think providing the basic storage areas for the home over time would help: an entryway closet or area for boots, coats; a cleaning closet for brooms & vacuum cleaner; closets for each bedroom; a linen closet; bathroom storage; kitchen cupboards. Other areas which I would like to have, but which may come over time are suggested. Chest of drawers, bookshelves, perhaps metal storage cupboards. A warmed and vented area outside the living space for chemicals, paints etc. An area outside the living space for outdoor tools, like shovels and hoses. A cold pantry. A root cellar. A storage shed, workshop, barn area. If the occasional pots and pans can be stored in a shed, that will free up space in the kitchen. Many people solve the problem of keeping a small area tidy by not owning things, minimalism. I would like to own things for preparedness and my many hobbies, and keep the living area organized and pleasant by storing items outside of the living area. I have known some organized people who do a brutal annual spring cleaning each year to keep organized.

  • VickiP
    VickiP Posts: 586 ✭✭✭✭

    I too live in a small house and am always on the look out for more storage. I have a wall in the kitchen above the counter, that has nothing built in primarily because that wall has water pipes and electric running in it. I found a small rickety shelf unit at a thrift store for $5.00 that fit the space, some paint a new shelf and viola! instant storage. Even though it is small it holds a lot.

  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    @flowerpower *, I would love to have all of those options, but our building is a 14x40 shed converted into a house. Because of the way we ordered it we have no space to build closets. We have either windows , doors, stairs or ladder in the way. There are so many things, hindsight being 20/20 that I would have done differently. Now we're just trying to fit 8 people in a little over 500 square ft. We love it, but we should have planned for closets and storage.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Brindy I like your idea of going to Ikea. We don't have it here, but I love looking at their catalog to get ideas. A century ago, many houses didn't have closets; they had beautiful wardrobes or armoires instead. You may be able to find something like that at a yard sale or antique shop. Have you tried Craigs List?

  • dipat2005
    dipat2005 Posts: 1,290 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My son made a bed out of pallets that sits off the ground and allows storage space underneath. I do not have a lot of storage in this apartment which was built 40-50 years ago.

  • flowerpower *
    flowerpower * Posts: 258 ✭✭✭

    @Brindy I am guessing some of those people are small people? Would bunk beds with hanging hooks, closets or chests of drawers beside and storage under fit in? I like the wooden box idea too, except I would want them sealed and covered.

    Stacking wooden bins to build: https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/saturday-morning-workshop-stacking-totes

    Ideas or things to buy: https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/labor-day-storage-home-depot/

  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    @Tave, we did actually find an armoire and use it in our room. I love it. That was a great suggestion.

    @dipat2005, I love pallets and am trying to use them as much as possible, thank you for the idea.

    @flowerpower *, thank you for the links, I like the idea of making somthing ourselves.

  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    So, I went the lazy way with an organizer for my crafts and misc. I went to ikea and got a shelf. It's a huge mess right now. I just through everything on it to get it out of the boxes. I am so sad that I didn't do the fruit crates, but I am short on time and couldn't find any other than online.


  • herbantherapy
    herbantherapy Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭

    Another easy storage use is to build benches to use for dining area or even couches or window seats that obviously have comfy cushions in the case of a couch but also have hinges so you can store things in them.

    I used an old trunk for a coffee table and stored my winter blankets in it for years. Now it serves the same storage purpose but sits in front of a window and I often sit on it and watch the birds.

    Do you have space next to your fridge wide enough for a canning jar? You could build a pull out pantry. My husband built me this one out of a discarded door frame. I use mine for herbs.


  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    @herbantherapy, that is such an awesome idea for the space next to the fridge. Where we are now i don't have the space next to the fridge, but I am totally going to use that at the next house!

    @monica197, I love the idea of plain sight too!

  • Gail H
    Gail H Posts: 359 ✭✭✭✭

    @monica197In the spirit of "hiding in plain sight", I used to store a lot of my bulk food that way. I kept it in five gallon pails with Gamma lids. I put stick-on Velcro on the lids and attached some to circles of foam rubber (I might try to find different padding now.) I covered these with a circle of fabric that reached to the floor. A ribbon held the cloth on and I had stools with food in them. Another suggestion is to skip the padding and Velcro and top the fabric with a large glass plate and use it as a side table. I didn't keep my working container of grain, etc. in these, but I would refill my kitchen container from them.

  • lewis.mary.e
    lewis.mary.e Posts: 225 ✭✭✭

    Our old house was 850 square feet living space. We hung coats in the stairwell, added shelves where we could, and our small gallery style kitchen and our laundry room had as many cabinets as we could make fit. We also stored bedding and sweaters in vacuum bags under our bed.

  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    I love the @Gail H, I have done that with the buckets and foam for camping, but hadn't thought of that for food buckets. Thank you!

    @lewis.mary.e, we are doing the same things. I'm not quite done with the closets under the stairs, but I think they're going to be great.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,935 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My favorite space-saving thing I have in my house is my Japanese Staircase ...


  • frogvalley
    frogvalley Posts: 675 ✭✭✭✭

    Wow @herbantherapy ! I have loved those roll out units since I saw them about a year ago. I wish I had known about them BEFORE I put in the new cabinets. I'm still trying to figure out another spot for one. Well done!

  • Wendy
    Wendy Posts: 138 ✭✭✭

    What kind of walls and insulation do you have? My husband cut a hole in the wall, between the studs, and closed in the sides to hide the insulation. He then painted the space and added shelves for knickknacks.

    He also did the same thing in the bathroom to make a closet. The hole was cut to fit a full length mirror as a door. You pull one side of the hinged mirror to find hidden shelves behind. Looks like a mirror to everyone else.

  • Brindy
    Brindy Posts: 212 ✭✭✭

    @Lisa K, I love the staircase! Is it an actual staircase or just called that?

    @Wendy, I like that idea, I think we could do that with some of the inside walls we have. Thank you.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,935 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Brindy it is my understanding that it is an actual staircase that is used in small apartments in Japan.

  • Melissa Burford
    Melissa Burford Posts: 69 ✭✭✭

    @Lisa K Love the Japanese Tansu - I have always wanted one, my brother and I became obsessed with them when we were kids. He used to have a small tabletop one.

    As for space issues, I built shelves and put them up above the toilet in my bathroom, and built several shelving units in other parts of the house for storage. There are always nooks and crannies for storage when you really start looking and thinking about things differently.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Shelves in every possible room, flat items under the beds, crates, etc. are all good ideas.

    But do be careful about using boxes for long-term storage. We have a bad habit of packing things in boxes for a move, putting them in an odd corner of our new house, and then several years later they are still sitting in that corner unpacked. I've actually lost a favorite blouse during a move, though it was gone for years, then rediscovered it in the next move.

    One trick I did in my last apartment before marriage can be useful. I wanted to de-clutter the place, but I'm a pack rat who has real trouble throwing stuff away. So I cleaned up, organized and decluttered all the rooms except one. That made the place very pleasant and livable, and allowed me to just dump the overflow into a single room (my bedroom) without having to make tough decisions or somehow organize it in limited space.

    I don't think there's any way to be truly neat and organized with a high density of "stuff", but I don't like throwing things away either. In our current house, we use the upstairs of the garage to store a lot of stuff that we will not use any time soon. In spite of that, the house is still pretty cluttered. 😊

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @Brindy My daughter's tiny house has a pull-out pantry next to the fridge just like @herbantherapy's. Its amazing how much stuff you can store in there. She also has all of her lower cupboards on casters so they pull out and the tops of them act as extra surface space when she is cooking.

    Her bed is raised and the platform that the mattress is on is hinged so they are able to lift it for storage underneath. They purchased some of the large vacuum storage bags to go under there for seasonal clothes, extra blankets, etc.

    The coffee table she is working on has a shelf underneath for baskets to store all the little extras. Her bathroom counter is similar; open underneath with baskets on the shelf. She is finding that baskets are one of her new best friends.

    I like @Wendy's idea of using wall space between studs for storage.

    My daughter has also built a 12x16 foot shed that acts as her workshop as well as storage for all that extra stuff that there just isn't room for in a tiny house; tools, camping gear, a kayak & paddle board, skis, snowshoes, Xmas decorations, freezer, sewing machine, etc.

  • NarjissMomOf3
    NarjissMomOf3 Posts: 113 ✭✭✭

    I find that ikea has some cool furniture for small spaces. Or watch their tutorials/make overs on youtube. Some good ideas.