We are always running short of storage space in our homes. Use the available space creatively to create more storage area.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in
For congested cities like Mumbai, where the sizes of houses are tiny and the living conditions cramped, storage space is a luxury very few can afford. Architects and interior designers too, do not give much thought to the concept of using every square inch of space for storage purposes, even in very small homes. The result? Though we try our best to keep our homes looking neat and tidy, our houses still look overcrowded and dowdy because of all the extra stuff we have lying around.
However, you can get creative and make space for storage inside your home. You might get hardly any space, or you may get a lot, depending on the area and layout of your house, but making the effort is certain to free up some space which you can gladly use to stow away your extra belongings.
Here’s how you start doing this:
1. Use the space under the beds. This one’s a no-brainer, yet most people don’t put this space to use. It is tacky to have exposed under-bed space where you will inadvertently store old newspapers or extra suitcases, etc. Invest in a sofa-cum-bed in the living room that will give you extra storage space. In the bedroom, get a box bed made so that you can store all the extras in the house under the bed, out of view. This is normally ‘dead’ storage, so you can store all the things you don’t need regularly.
2. Install overhead cabinets wherever possible. As the years pass, every home accumulates a lot of stuff in every room of the house. While a periodic cleaning will get rid of broken, unusable items, you will find that you still have a lot of stuff left over and not enough space to put it in. At such times, overhead cabinets in the bedrooms and living room come in handy. All your large cardboard boxes, box files, etc can be easily accommodated in these cabinets. However, make sure that you create the cabinets at a height just slightly over eye level, so that they are easy to reach.
3. Make vegetable racks in the kitchen. You will need to store extra onions, potatoes, rice grains, packets of wheat, oil etc in the kitchen, and only a cabinet or two will not do the job. Invest in stand-alone vegetable racks that you can place on one side of the kitchen counter. Board up the tops of the kitchen cabinets on one side to create an extra storage space at the top – this is where you can store onions, which require to be kept in the open air to prevent them getting spoilt. Also, place hooks on the inside of the cabinet shutters where you can vertically store big spoons and ladles.
4. Use odd columns to install shelves. Some of our homes have oddly-placed columns in the room. You can’t remove these columns because they are vital
structural elements that hold up the ceiling beams. A good way to get around the wastage of space around such a column is to knock a series of shelves on it – this way the column doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, but becomes a quirky part of the décor. If you want to hang photographs or a really sensational wall piece, you can use this column for the same purpose. Or if the column is located in a quiet corner of the room, you can nail a pull-down table to it and include two little chairs to create an intimate eating corner for two.
5. Niches make for great cupboard space. Some homes have unexplained niches, which most people fill over with masonry to even out the wall. Instead, extend the niche from floor to ceiling and put in shelves, or use the space created to make a ceiling-height cupboard. This could be a showpiece cupboard in the hall, or a private library in the bedroom. Install glass shutters on this cupboard to show off its contents to maximum effect, but be sure to put only pretty things inside and to clean it regularly.
(Pictures courtesy www.hgtv.com, plomet.com, www.decoratingyoursmallspace.com. Images used for representation purpose only)