Clever Storage – Trying to Make the Disorganised Organised

Can you ever have enough storage? I wonder whether having too much storage can be an achievable goal?

I love clever storage, it is probably because I am naturally disorganised and need things which help to counteract this. It is also important that my home brings me joy, a combination of functionality and beauty are so important.

I have tried to make the most of every little space in my home.

If you need any new ideas, hopefully, this blog will help and maybe even motivate you to think differently about some areas in your house.

I began building and fitting my own furniture to create lots of storage initially because of budgetary constraints. I always wanted something bespoke, which at the time was more than we could afford.

These days my reasons for designing and making furniture are are more to do with giving me complete control. I can create something unique and precisely what I want.

Having had the wall knocked down between our kitchen and dining room, I needed to re-position and re-fit most of the cupboards. It was an opportunity to improve on my first kitchen design and add even more useful storage.

Before knocking the wall down, our IKEA kitchen had a combination of oak doors, and drawer fronts, combined with a few deep drawers with stainless steel fronts. I had modified it to look bespoke by adding lengths of oak and fitting them around each cupboard, so it had an in-frame design.

I like IKEA because they have a huge range of drawer fittings which can be installed inside cabinets, so any sized cupboard can be divided up into easily accessible useful areas.

As you read this blog you will realise how much I love drawers, if it can have a drawer, it will. I like easy access and to be able to see what is stored instantly.

Why do we have low cupboards making us get on our hands and knees to see the things stored at the back? I’m not sure when my love of drawers began, but I do know I want everything to be easy to use. It does make the kitchens and furniture more expensive but I think it is well worth it.

Drawers aren’t just for cutlery or little things either.

Deep drawers can fit pretty much anything. I keep all my crockery in drawers, in another a saucepan stack has frying pans at the side with other cooking dishes. I can see everything so easily and access is no problem at all.

A set of drawers next to the cooker is very useful, if you can fit it in. Having decided that I didn’t want too many cooking implements either hanging on a rail above my cooker or in a tub at the side, an alternative was needed. Having a set of drawers immediately to the right of the cooker is so convenient. I have two drawers with a variety of cooking tools and gadgets, the most often used in the top drawer.

The knives are organised into different sizes and the same drawer includes chopping mats, a knife sharpener and a tin opener.

We all enjoy cooking in our family, so an organised well stocked herb and spice drawer is a must, I try to keep it in alphabetical order, but it doesn’t always stay that way.

It isn’t just drawers I have an obsession with, I love open shelves. However, they aren’t always easy to keep tidy, I really admire people who manage lots of open shelving,

In my kitchen redesign there was an area of wall crying out for a set of shelves. Even though it had a funny corner at the top where the stairs cut across, I just had to build one, it was a great use for oak floor boards.

I initially had a lot of glass jars on the shelves, however, many foods need to be kept in the dark. So I had fun buying a variety of ceramic and metal containers. Having dyslexia I have a terrible memory, so I needed a nice way to label the contents. I also love pyrography, so writing on wooden lids and swing tags was a lovely option, with that handmade feel. If you want something similar but don’t feel confident in doing it yourself find a local crafts person to make some for you or a company who do laser cutting, they can cut out and complete the label writing in one process.

One of my most recent  storage projects was to put a container shelf onto the inside of a cupboard door. I really like oak larder cupboards and have always wanted one, but don’t have space. This was one of my Covid 19 lockdown projects, visiting a wood yard wasn’t feasible, so I raided my wood store in our garage. I really miss having access to a proper workshop and currently make do with working in the garage. Luckily I have a range of machinery, I enjoy using my electric plane, bandsaw, belt sander and chop saw, along with so many other tools, they save time and improve quality.

I had a variety of oak floorboards and other bits left over from the original kitchen refurbishment which I used to make the bottle storage. It makes me smile each time I open the cupboard.

If you prefer the appearance of cupboard doors, that doesn’t stop you. I have a mixture of doors and drawer fronts, however, I do have drawers behind most of the cupboard doors too. Getting to items at the back is so much easier. These three drawers store all sorts of food. I was considering having tins laying down so you could see the labels, however, they take up less space standing up, so I just write the contents on top of the tins with a marker pen. 

Under the sink is a place no one wants to go, but a pull out drawer? No problem, this is a shallow drawer in a deep cupboard, so it doesn’t go right to the back to interfere with the plumbing. I pop spare refills and items only used occasionally right at the back. There is a space under the drawer which is rather shallow, but perfect for trays.

One thing which irritated me about our original kitchen was the space right under the cupboards behind the plinths. If you add it all up, it is a ridiculous waste of space. So the first thing I did was ensure there were drawers for baking tins, quiche dishes and much more. Those items which don’t get used every day, but you don’t want to get rid of, because they do get used. Please excuse the bun tins they are older than me so have had lots of use!

I love having our dining room as part of the kitchen. One of my favourite parts of the dining room is my window seat. I say my rather than our because my husband didn’t really want one, I don’t think he realised he didn’t want one until he got one! While he was working away for the weekend, I took out the cupboards which were our cocktail storage, and replaced it with a cocktail window seat! It stores just as much, if not more stuff and I love it, even the arm rests have storage. I would have liked both narrow cupboards to have pull out sections but the right hand side had to have a normal cupboard door because of a socket.

I made the two cushions in the middle from no longer used clothing and bits of fabric I already had. The red bird is appliqued onto an old skirt. The fox background was an old dress with embroidery on it, the fox itself is made from one of the fabrics I wove for my degree show, so has lots of sentimentality.

I hate throwing anything out, much to my husbands frustration, however, up-cycling is much more environmentally friendly. The cupboards which were replaced by the window seat have now been re-used elsewhere. One is in another window alcove in our dining room, medicines and all sorts of other useful things are in drawers, with some of our cookery book collection in the little cupboard.

The other half of the original dining room storage has moved into the lounge. Cladding, wood veneer and pyrography can transform furniture. If you click on the picture it will take you to another blog explaining how it was made.

Cables especially from the television can be a real pain, do you cut a channel out of the wall or have cables just dangling? I decided that a strip of oak kitchen work top with a channel cut out would do the trick. Hopefully the addition of the oak shelf finishes the whole thing off.

We’re old school and still occasionally watch DVD’s, so drawers here are very useful.

There are lots of quick ways you can add storage, especially in a utility room. Hooks are great and you can buy some amazing ones. It’s probably a bit indulgent to have a Cath Kidston bag for gardening tools, but it is on show, and it was in the sale! I really do need a new gardening kneeling mat, but I haven’t seen the right one yet. I really like the hooks hand made from spoons which I bought from a craft market.

A bag with shopping bags in it reminds us to take one with us on our way out and has definitely stopped us having to buy new bags every time we go shopping. I love the toucan bag and the hook made from a fork.

I haven’t finished yet, as I’ve been writing this blog I’ve had more ideas for the cupboards in our utility room. I also would like to do the shoe storage in the porch, it is never ending. Also, I haven’t included any upstairs storage ideas, I have an odd sock washing line on the back of a wardrobe door and jewellery storage so I can see everything with ease.

However, the next job will be under the stairs. I have a design ready, I just need the time to rip everything out and then build new more accessible organised series of cupboards, obviously with lots of drawers. I really can’t wait!!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of my storage ideas. Please have a look at my portfolio to see the rest of my work.

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