13 Nov HOW TO DO CLEVER BUILT-IN STORAGE

Its the time of year in our house where everybody’s coats, shoes and bags have increased in size. Its not a few sandals and a light jacket now, in our hallway there are 3 parkas, 2 puffa jackets and various boots, shoes and wellies- Winter is here and our hallway looks a mess.

Currently I’m honing my ideas to design more practical storage areas in our hallway and throughout our home. Well designed cupboards that make use of every tiny square inch of space is vital (if you want it to look tidy) in a smaller family home like ours.

I have been collating all my storage idea images and didn’t stop at the hallway, so here are my favourites below:

A simple built in nook around this doorway makes use of hanging space and open shelf for shoes with the space above the door used for extra less used items.

This really simple design uses copper piping for the rails and shoe shelves, I love the way coats can be hung in front of bags.

I really like the idea of this continuous storage for a hallway, it creates a nice bench height and somewhere to throw boots, shoes and bags into. The little leather pulls are a lovely touch.

This serene hallway cleverly uses Stuva kids furniture from Ikea for the cupboards and an open rail for hanging coats.

This cute kids bedroom also uses Ikea drawers to create a raised bed, this time from the Alex Office range.

I love this teenagers bedroom designed by INT2 Architecture its such a great use of space for a small room.

This is my daughters bedroom. When it came to making use of the end wall we chose to use full height and width. The Lower areas are toy drawers which kids can reach into easily, the middle cupboards are for her clothes and the top cupboards are used for storing bedding and travel bags (out of reach of the kids).

Emma has also used every opportunity for space in her apartment, this is her Study Nook- you can read how she did this here.

Top Tips to think about when looking at building in new storage:

1. Sounds silly but really have a good think about what will actually be stored, divide these things into what you need most often and these should be within easy reach day to day.

2. Find a good Joiner that can visualise what you want, go see his/her other work to see if its to a good standard. Make sure you both understand what they are building before the work starts, can they show you a sketch or mark it out on the wall?

3. Think flexibly if you are on a lower budget, make sure things can flex with how you might use the space at a later date as you change things around or grow up as a family.

As a final note, if I really need flexibility in the height of my shelves I’m going to do something like this which is very simple but looks ace!