Making More Storage

One of the most common complaints about homes is the lack of storage. People actually move into bigger houses just to increase their storage space. They add on garages, storage sheds, or even go out and rent a storage space just to help ease the strain on the little bit of storage space that they have in their house. Follow these tips to help you maximize the storage that you do have in your home so that you may be able to avoid adding on, renting more space, or spending a lot of money on pricey closet organization systems.

1) Limit what you allow yourself to keep in your house. Set up rules for yourself so that you can stop holding onto things that you really don't need. If you store something, date it. Put a throw-out date on things. Decide how long something would be worth keeping before you are okay with getting rid of it. Practice the old trick of turning all of your clothes hangers backwards so that you can get rid of clothes that you haven't worn in a year more easily. Sometimes it is hard to put constraints on ourselves. Giving yourself a system will help you to cut down on clutter and enjoy the extra space that you make.

2) There are a lot of things that we have to store. For instance, your out of season clothing is probably something that you do not want to get rid of every year! I prefer to use dressers, trunks, and armoires for storage. Set up your closet so that you can keep all of your seasonal clothing and shoes in it. Closets are better than dressers because you don't have to dig through. You can easily see what you need. Plus, putting away laundry is a snap when you're primarily using the closet. This will help you to avoid the dreaded "laundry mountain" of clean clothes that you can't seem to find the time to put away.

3) Making room in the closet means getting a little creative with storage around your home. Take advantage of under-the-bed space. Use risers to increase the space here. You can buy large, shallow containers that are perfect for storing shoes, sweaters, pants and more. They slide right under the bed and are easily hidden by a dust ruffle. Some even have attractive fronts that you can label. Use decorative trunks for bulky items and a rolling garment rack with a dust cover for suits and coats.

4) When you get your closet as empty as possible, use clothes hangers creatively to make the most of your space. Metal hangers fit closely together to save space and are stronger than those old wire coat hangers. Use cedar hangers to keep coats properly hung and other wooden clothes hangers for clothes that need to keep their shape. Cascade hangers from each other or use specialty hangers to take the place of drawers and shelves.