Clever storage ideas you might not have thought of
Storage can be seriously life-changing; whether you have a small bedroom, too many books for your flimsy bookcases or an over-crowded living room we're here to help. We'll all for leaning into ‘stuff’, as our features editor's panegyric to clutter shows, but some things need to be tucked away. But if, like so many of us, you've filled your bookshelves and cupboards and you're left with lots of overflow, we're here to help. Instead of caving to your clutter choose attractive boxes, baskets and furniture to house it. If you have purchased a house you want to grow old in, commission fitted cupboards and in-built shelving to suit your belongings, or if you are a more transitory type invest in lovely antique furniture that will last a lifetime.
We can guarantee there are storage spots to be eeked out in even the most minute, unlikely or unusually shaped bathrooms, living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms. Under the bed, yes, but also under the bath. In the alcove beside the fireplace, yes, but also hidden in the window seat. On shelves beside your bed, yes, but why not over your bed too? We've scoured the archives for the canniest cupboards and most striking shelves to inspire your storage overhaul.
Shop our favourite unusual storage solutions
Boz Gagovski1/25Living rooms
Bespoke shelving can make all the difference in a living room, allowing you to store not only books but the other objects that are important to you. In her small flat in west London, designer Lucy Mayers was dealing with a tiny sitting room, which necessitated some ingenuity in the design–what Lucy calls ‘caravan-living logic.’ Here she incorporated wine storage into the shelving (conveniently situated next to the bar cart).
Sarah Hogan2/25A flat-screen television is concealed within the space-saving cabinet, which also provides shelving for DVDs in Jane Taylor's Chelsea flat. This central unit is the living room's answer to an island, which allows light to travel through it whilst also creating separation in the room, ample storage, a display for Jane's taxidermy and a place for the television to emerge: the epitome of multi-purpose joinery.
Paul Massey3/25Want to add free-standing storage in, but don't want it to stand out? Try adding an antique wooden piece painted the same colour as the walls, as Emma Burns of Sybil Colefax & John Fowler has done here. The glass-fronted bookcase is from Robert Kime, while the pair of armchairs are upholstered with jajim rugs.
Rachel Whiting4/25Coffee tables, desks or dining tables can be used as display-cum-storage, particularly if they dominate a large area of the room. This striking desk in a Barbican flat designed by Retrouvius plays host to a number of books, but could just as easily be storage for attractive objects.
Simon Brown5/25If you have high ceilings, make the most of them, and don't settle for standard furniture that leaves you with acres of unused space at the top of the room. Bespoke bookcases do the job in this Kensington apartment, wrapping around the walls of the living space to make room for the owner's impressive and extensive book collection. The books themselves serve as the decoration.
Esther Bellepoque6/25Baskets are beautiful and sustainable ways of adding storage. They can be either free-standing in a room (which is particularly effective in playrooms or similar where you might want to load it up with ‘stuff’) or can be slotted neatly into alcoves or shelves. Why not try adding an attractive basket in that annoying gap between your shelves and a high ceiling, as seen here in the tiny rented flat of furniture dealer Stanley Quaia and their partner.
Dean Hearne7/25Kitchens
Most people tend to adopt a fairly standard configuration of cabinets in their kitchens, but thinking slightly outside the box can have transformative results. Floor-to-ceiling cabinets can be a brilliant solution for a small space. We love how in her Notting Hill house, artist Daisy Sims-Hilditch has used Neptune's ‘Suffolk’ kitchen in a fresh mint green, with a full wall of cabinets and a larder in the middle, plus a ladder for reaching the heights.
Paul Massey8/25The area under a banquette can provide invaluable storage space, whether you go for the kind where you can lift up the seat, or whether you build in clever cubbies, as Sarah Corbett-Winder has done in her west London house.
Paul Massey9/25Maria Speake of Retrouvius salvaged this Victorian shelving from the Patent Office and has used it to house glassware and cookery books here in a client's Chiltern farmhouse. This proves that canny storage doesn't necessarily have to be made-to-measure to be fit for purpose. This double-sided unit is perfect with glassware as it does not block the light.
Michael Sinclair10/25Too many plates but not enough cupboard space? The plate rack in the kitchen of this West country rectory frees up closed cupboard space for other, less sightly objects. It was made by the bespoke joiner Luke Haughton, who also made the central island and glass-fronted cabinet, but vintage ones can easily be sourced from eBay or Vinterior.
Lucas Allen11/25As with lots of great hidden storage, blink and you'll miss it. Under the fitted banquette in Katie Fontana's houseboat, you can just about spot some handy built-in drawers. Don't underestimate the space underneath seating, whether it's for box storage or (more conveniently) drawers. Their proximity to the dining area means they can be used for tablecloths, napkins and even cutlery.
Paul Massey12/25Hallways
The space under the stairs is a classic choice for carving out more storage, as Lonika Chande has done in her Queen's Park house, filled with colourful fabrics and carefully curated treasures that enhance its character and origins as a Victorian worker’s cottage. In the book-lined nook under the stairs, the bench doubles as storage space.
Christopher Horwood13/25Tiny hallways can be difficult spaces to decorate, but Carlos Garcia has worked wonders in this Arts & Crafts flat in south London. Panelling the space and painting it in Fenwick & Tilbrook's cheerful ‘Red Squirrel’, lends it bags of character, but what we really love is the little shelf high up on the wall for bags and other paraphernalia.
Mark Fox14/25A hallway may not be the most obvious place to put a bookshelf, but it can actually be a brilliant form of storage. The ‘String’ shelving in Alfred Bramsen's Hackney flat has been configured to allow a shelf for keys and other bits and bobs, while the rest holds books.
Simon Brown15/25Bedrooms
In the master bedroom of Robin Muir’s London house, interior designer Caroline Holdaway built a long wooden window seat into the square bay, before adding a shelf for storage underneath it – essentially doubling the space available in which to keep pairs of shoes.
Michael Sinclair16/25Floor-to-ceiling cabinets can transform a kitchen, and wardrobes in the same style can be just as brilliant in a bedroom. In the bedroom of Benni Frowein's London flat, the wardrobes (clad in a plain linen), wrap around the door on each side and all the way to the ceiling. What's particularly brilliant is that the ‘skirting board’ conceals in-built drawer storage for Benni's shoes.
Paul Massey17/25We've long been fans of this arrangement in a bedroom at this Cap Ferret villa. Instead of building wardrobes into these spaces, which would make the room feel smaller, simple curtains conceal hanging space, while shelves with baskets on top provide storage for bedding and other necessities.
18/25From the same Cap Ferret villa comes this charming solution for a small bedroom – a wardrobe with sliding doors. This is perfect for when you don't have a ton of room to open doors without hitting other pieces of furniture.
Mark Anthony Fox19/25There are few things we like more in a bedroom than a well-designed box bed, and what makes them even more charming is when they come with built-in storage. This version can be found in a London house designed by Veere Grenney, and features a cubby for books and other bedside essentials built into the panelling at the head of the bed.
Sarah Hogan20/25Designer Jane Taylor has ingeniously incorporated storage into her small bedroom in Chelsea. Wardrobes and cupboards are concealed behind panelling made by Sympatico Joinery. Shallow cubbyholes in the panelling next to the bed function as bedside tables.
Simon Brown21/25In the spare bedroom of Caroline Holdaway's cottage, a wooden shelf is a practical and pretty addition, it is used for displaying prints and small ceramics. An antique chest of drawers has the same country look and provides additional storage for guests.
Simon Brown22/25House & Garden's former editor Susan Crewe has carried out a different take on the over-bed shelf in her London flat, with panelling covering part of the wall behind the bed, an upholstered headboard in place, and then a shelf above for books and ornaments. This won't perform the function of a bedside table, but note the tiny alcoves built into the side of the panelling for essentials.
Michael Sinclair23/25Bathrooms
Rita Konig is always full of clever, practical ideas, and we adore what she has done in the tiny cloakroom of her ingeniously reconfigured London flat. Instead of having a cabinet simply hung on the wall above the loo, she has had an antique unit, which had been knocking around her office, sunk into a void in the wall. ‘It now sits completely flush and I quite like how it’s a sort of vitrine.’
Mark Anthony Fox24/25The design of the bathroom in this Gloucestershire farmhouse is very clever. All the pipe work has been boxed in with smart tongue and groove panelling along one side, but this also creates valuable storage in the form of the under-sink cabinet, as well as a handy shelf on top for propping artwork and displaying other objects.
Christopher Horwood25/25Colour specialist Patrick O'Donnell has a very novel solution for bathroom storage in his Worcestershire house – he's put doors on the bath panel to create a subtle sliver of extra space. It could house most bathroom items such as loo rolls or spare bottles of shampoo.
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