Creative Storage Ideas For Unloved Spaces In Your Home

Don’t be put off by awkward areas in alcoves and hallways, experts say…

Have you ever felt like you’re running out of storage space and the clutter is just building up all around you?  

For those who live in homes with limited floor space, it’s often difficult to find ways to declutter and store away all personal belongings without having to throw things away. 

To help out, Melissa Denham, interior designer at Hammonds Fitted Furniture, has shared how to transform three of the often forgotten about areas of your home, to create extra storage solutions: 

Turn alcoves into a practical storage space 

If you have moved into a period property, it’s likely that you will have at least a couple of chimney breasts in a few of the rooms. Having a chimney breast or fireplace in your bedroom adds rustic charm and warmth. However, despite their visual and thermal appeal, bedroom fireplaces pose certain interior challenges when leaving you with potentially awkward or unused spaces to fill. 

Much of the time, freestanding wardrobes are too large, cumbersome and inflexible. The ideal solution here would be to opt for fitted alcove wardrobes, built to the alcove’s exact height, width and depth. This way, your wardrobe fits seamlessly into the space, maximising its potential.  

If your alcove is of a reasonable depth, a storage bench provides a cosy place to rest, as well as practical storage space. Like to read? Why not create your own reading nook with a pendant lamp overhead and floating shelves to house your favourite books. For those who love to relax with TV time in their bedroom, a bespoke media unit is another great idea to fill in an alcove.

Add clever hallway coat storage beneath your stairs 

Coats, bags, shoes and other daily essentials often get flung across sofas, hung on bannisters, or left on kitchen chairs. This contributes to your house looking messy. Often your staircase will be situated close to your hallway area, making it a precious storage space for outdoor gear. 

Depending on the height and depth of your understairs area, installing a concealed fitted wardrobe to fill up the entirety of the space will create useful hallway coat storage. If you have children, this is also a perfect space to keep backpacks and PE bags until the next day, including any sports gear needed in the evenings or weekends.

If you’re a bookworm and sit daydreaming about how to use the space under your stairs, turn your understairs space into custom-made bookshelves to create a neat space to store all your favourite reads in one place.  

You could even transform the under stairs area into a cushioned seating area by install a bench and adding some soft furnishings with an integrated shelving to store any books or magazines. As you can see, this area is very versatile and the choice on how to transform it is completely yours! 

Make the most of your hallway with stylish storage benches 

This space is the first thing you and your guests see. Since it sets the tone of your home, your hallway needs to be both welcoming and practical.  First impressions count. 

Start by installing some shoe storage. Storage benches provide a comfortable space to sit and remove shoes, decompress on arrival, or pop your shopping down. At the same time, they offer added storage under the seat, which is great for housing any items you want to keep out of view. 

Console tables are also ideal for hallways due to their slim profile. Although slender, most console tables come with drawers that are very useful for holding small items that often get misplaced, including keys, wallets and phones. 

Adding further shelving close to hooks and pegs will also extend usable wall space without blocking entrance space in your hallway. 

Create a Scandi-style modular shelving system if your hallway width allows it. Alternatively, opt for layers of floating shelves at different heights to display photos, books, post and plants.

Top photo by Josh Hemsley on Unsplash