Smart Storage Ideas for Family Homes

Clutter can be the bane of any home. But when you’re sharing the space with other people, and especially young children, the mess can quickly get out of hand.

For this reason, securing the right storage solutions, and making the most of the space available to you, is easy when you know how. But what does effective storage look like for a family home? Let’s take a look at a few worthwhile options.

Create spaces that fit your family’s routines

Before you can hope to solve the problem, you’ll need an idea of what it looks like. That means assessing where the clutter is accumulating in the first place. For many families, this might mean a front room strewn with toys, a kitchen table that’s become a dumping ground for schoolbags and books, or a hallway chair that’s piled with coats.

Once you understand the habits that are behind your clutter, you can introduce simple storage solutions to deal with it. This might mean a row of hooks for your coats, a box for your toys, or a set of drawers for school supplies.

Use built-in furniture to free up floor space

The more space-efficient your storage furniture, the more room you’ll have elsewhere in the home. As such, getting bespoke, fitted furniture can be a game-changer, especially in awkward spaces like the wedge beneath the stairs, or beneath a sloping ceiling. Sliding wardrobes, can be a great addition to bedroom spaces.

Multi-functional furniture makes a big difference

In many cases, the furniture you use might consume valuable storage space. You might think of the three-piece suite in your living room. But what if you could use some of that furniture to stash extra items? Benches and footstools that double as chests can provide a convenient, elegant place to store key items without having to invest space and money in extra furniture.

Rotate, store, and donate to manage excess

No matter how much storage furniture you accumulate, and how elegant and space-efficient it is, you might find that the clutter simply expands to fill the available space. For this reason, it’s a good idea to form the habit of thinning out the mess. When certain clothes aren’t in season, you might seal them into vacuum bags and stash them in the loft. If you discover that there are items that aren’t getting used, and aren’t going to be used again, you can donate them to a local charity shop.

Make it easier to stay tidy

Developing the right habits is often a simple matter of having the right furniture available. If a basket doesn’t come with a lid, then you might find it easier to throw dirty laundry into it. If your drawers are all equipped with labels, then you might find it much easier to find the item you’re looking for. The more complex and intimidating your storage system, the less likely you’ll be to make good use of it.

Think about how you can make your good habits frictionless. In the same way that a successful shop reduces the barriers that might impede a purchase, your home should be designed in such a way that you can’t help but keep it tidy!

In Conclusion

The right storage for your home isn’t about trying to achieve perfection – because that’s likely to result in frustration and disappointment. Instead, we should aim to make life as smooth as possible, and to make small, incremental gains that fit with your family’s needs and lifestyle.