DIY Storage Design Ideas

Storage -- you never have enough of it, and half the time the drawers, closets and cupboards need a good clear out to make room for more stuff. Plan a storage room to address your most pressing wardrobe, off-season, prized collection or personal possessions excess, and be inventive if a lack of space threatens to cramp your style. It helps to clear the area of everything, evaluate your needs, and put back only what has a place.

Who needs a guest room when your wardrobe has taken over the bedroom floor, chairs, dresser top and prime real estate throughout the rest of the house? Flip that spare bedroom into a personal boutique and offer the rare overnight visitor your high-end sleep sofa. Bedroom or walk in closet and think like a boutique designer for a display of accessible threads and accessories. You'll need high- and low-hanging bars to accommodate coats, dresses, suits, shirts, and separates: shelves for folded sweats, sweaters, active wear, jeans and T-shirts more shelves for clear plastic boxes to hold shoes and boots, and shelf dividers to keep handbags separate drawers or closed cupboards for baskets of socks, underwear, and other small items that need to be grouped. A folding three way mirror and good lighting are non-negotiable a steamer and a rolling cart for hanging selected outfits and travel clothes are utilitarian luxuries.

The awkward space under the stairs is a giant tansu chest, a compact storage room, and valuable square footage in need of serious organizing. Side-opening doors make even the pizza-slice back angle accessible. Paint the space a light color and install shelves measured to accommodate luggage, clear plastic bins for off-season clothing and sports gear, holiday decorations and seasonal accessories. Add lighting that keeps everything visible and label every box and chest clearly. The trick to making a compact storage area work is to customize it for the specific items that will live there. Avoid double-stacking on shelves and in cubbies, which hides half the things you store and forces you to unpack and repack shelves to put stuff away.