We’ve been in a house this size for twenty years, my advice is be very deliberate about what you buy. You don’t want anything that’s seldom used. Also be very serious about spring cleaning, or whatever annually. If you’re packing every inch with stuff, you want to go through it on a regular basis to deep clean and purge what you don’t need.

Use the area above your bathroom door for storage (put a shelf there). I have friends in NY that make shelves up high around their children's bedroom to store things like books/toys and then they rotate the stuff that they can play with. Works great for displaying Legos.

We also donate a lot of toys and clothes that are given as presents. Did that for plenty of birthdays and Xmases but I'm still finding that we have too much stuff. I keep thinking we should set up a monthly donation run

That was our house before we added a second floor. Purge and go vertical, really aggressively!

After each birthday and Christmas (the two times an absurd amount of stuff entered the house), we had the kids donate a bunch of used toys. We'd make a list of stuff we noticed they weren't using a little before, then sit with them and use it as a teaching moment.

Store stuff under things. We had several long, narrow boxes under beds. Our primary play room had several bookshelves with folding cubes for toys. The stairs to our basement is off our kitchen so we have hanging shelves along the wall as our "pantry". Bikes in the storage room hang on the wall.

(And 1500 sf is small but it isn't "tiny"!)

In our old house we had an open pantry in between the studs going down to the basement- why stop with just a broom closet in yours? The whole wall of studs had shelves where we stored shelf stable items (soups, broths, baking, etc).

Under bed boxes and double use of all possible furniture as pp noted.

If you have eaves, use for storage. Ours have holiday decorations in them.

I did do the bench, mudroom area you mentioned. 6 hooks, one slab of (gorgeous) reclaimed wood and three huge cloth baskets underneath for shoes.

I also have a 1500 sq ft house. Unfininished basement is useful for storage but still have issues with upstairs storage. I bought a midcentury bureau (about 4' × 4') with drawers and one foldout desk section that's really useful; visually it takes the place of a fireplace in the living room with a nice arrangement on top, and I use it for storage of stuff that has to go outside often (hats, masks, sunscreen, kid school and day care bags) and my work computer since we don't have room for a separate office.

Seasonal coats go on hooks hanging over the door. Other stuff in the living room that doesn't fit goes in a couple of large jute baskets - a bit casual but helps keep things neater.

Haven't figured out shoes yet, honestly. There's the tradeoff between hiding things better and enforcing compliance. Right now we try to limit shoes out to two pairs each and keep them on a mat right next to the door.

The vertical storage thing is tough. I have 9 foot ceilings and tons of books still in boxes. My dream is to build shelves to the ceiling, either one high shelf going all along both long walls of our living and dining areas, or a single wall of floor to ceiling shelves. But either way I'll need a ladder - bookshelf ladders are so cool, but my kids are 1 and 6, so that's a "not yet" project.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/regency-24-x-48-nsf-chrome-wire-shelf/460EC2448.html

We have a pantry set up in part of the basement with a couple of these shelving units for food and appliances, linens, etc. We also have a second refrigerator there.

High profile bed frames and bigger totes fit underneath.

Routine purging of items not in use.

Rotate toys.

Currently working on a floor to ceiling shelves in the basement for seasonal/occasional use stuff.

Anonymous wrote:



I’m the happy owner of a 1,500 sqft house (500 of which is the finished basement) who’s obsessing over clever storage ideas and better use of space to hide clutter (mainly caused by my toddler son)

I’ve been collecting storage ideas of tiny house storage-solutions on Pinterest.

Anyone has any other experience / ideas to share of how you concealed clutter in a small house & designed creative & affordable storage solutions?

For example:
- I’d like to make a narrow broom closet with door in between the wall studs of the staircase that leads to the basement. If budget allows, also turn some stair steps into drawers.
- Same idea in my son’s room for his books.
- I see recommendations about using vertical space, but then how the hell do you get the stuff you store so high?
- Looking to turn 2 kitchen shelves into a small pantry shelf, has anyone tried that?
- I got a hall tree for the entrance but now it looks messy, so I’m thinking of doing a small built-in mudroom or armoire with doors and a built in bench under the window. That’s probably expensive, isn’t it?

NP. I love these ideas! I have the same size house. Does anyone have tips or clever hacks on preparing for a baby? Or just more ideas for hidden storage?

We use under the bed storage bins for things like legos, magna tiles, etc. They are shallow long bins so the kids can easily survey their toys, easy to access, and easy to slide back underneath their beds when done.

We also have one of those "storage" ottomans in the living room. It's a foot-rest, but the top opens up and it's hollow inside for us to store things in - books, random toys, DVDs, etc.

We're big on hooks - a bunch in the closet (that they can reach), in the bathroom, etc. Then we purchased one of those shoe-holders to hang on the closet door, but instead of putting shoes in the kids put their figurines/dolls/accessories, etc in stead. Plus, it's transparent so they can easily see and find their trucks and such.

Elfa in all the closets. I love Elfa.

I was looking into having a carpenter build custom drawers under my stairs to my basement, but I found it easier/cheaper to have the area under stairs finished to be open, so I could put a couple of dressers there.

Each of may bed frames have drawers underneath for storage
(so no box spring), and I have a wall of ikea billy cabinets where toys/books are stored in baskets

Go to Ikea and check out their tiny apartment storage ideas. Install hooks on the walls for wooden folding chairs.

Put shelves on the walls to hold toys.

Make sure everything has a place.

Any furniture you have needs to be double duty.
For example, make sure there's a shelf under the coffee table and use it for toys or to keep your paperwork in boxes or whatever.

Use a sectional in the living room (custom sized to take full advantage of the space.)

Constantly purge items you no longer use. You can always buy them again later.

Fully use any outdoor area you have. Living room on the front porch, dining room on the back porch.

Use boxes on the shelves on top of your closets to fully utilize the space all the way to the ceiling.

Get rid of unnecessary linens. They take up a lot of space. Just have fewer and then buy new ones when the old ones are worn out.

Take note of your "hot spots" (areas that attract clutter) and find places to permanently store those items. Buy shelves that fit your storage areas perfectly.

Have only what you use weekly on your main floor. Put the rest in the basement or somewhere.

Store empty luggage in your trunk of your car.

Have only a small number of pots and pans, small number of plates, small jar of peanut butter. Small.

If you're planning on staying for a long time, renovate your house to maximize storage in your kitchen and bathroom.

Make sure the small number of items you have are items you love not just tolerate. Think like a New Yorker. Buy only the best for your jewel box of a space.

My house is bigger than yours, but not by much. And not much in the way of closet space. The main thing is to pare down stuff. Example: My kitchen is 10 by 8. It has 3 drawers in it--one normal size and 2 small ones. I pared things down a lot to make sure I had what I need that would fit in the space I had. Fridge is narrow but 6 feet tall. I have very few electric kitchen appliances, some of which are stored in a dining room hutch. Pare down the kids' toys and clothes. See what toys get the most use (wooden blocks were big for us). I used to keep DS' toys in the top lid of some kind of industrial cardboard box, it was close to 3 feet square, heavy duty and reinforced with heavy wire around the sides, the toys often stayed in the box when he played and slid under his bed when done. Prior to a remodel (ditched the bathtub for closet space) I had between the studs storage in the bathroom.

Vertical storage is ok for rarely used or seasonal things and I do have that, although I notice that the stuff up there gets pretty much forgotten about except when I am deep cleaning and go through it and maybe discard one or two things. It's nice for mementos I don't have to see all the time but can enjoy mulling over when I am cleaning closets.

I’m the happy owner of a 1,500 sqft house (500 of which is the finished basement) who’s obsessing over clever storage ideas and better use of space to hide clutter (mainly caused by my toddler son)

I’ve been collecting storage ideas of tiny house storage-solutions on Pinterest.

Anyone has any other experience / ideas to share of how you concealed clutter in a small house & designed creative & affordable storage solutions?

For example:
- I’d like to make a narrow broom closet with door in between the wall studs of the staircase that leads to the basement. If budget allows, also turn some stair steps into drawers.
- Same idea in my son’s room for his books.
- I see recommendations about using vertical space, but then how the hell do you get the stuff you store so high?
- Looking to turn 2 kitchen shelves into a small pantry shelf, has anyone tried that?
- I got a hall tree for the entrance but now it looks messy, so I’m thinking of doing a small built-in mudroom or armoire with doors and a built in bench under the window. That’s probably expensive, isn’t it?