Storage Hacks for Small Spaces

The place you live in is small. Tiny. Perhaps even minuscule. So, how do you store your stuff when you don't have enough room? These storage ideas for small spaces will help you find the storage you need, even in your itsy-bitsy little space.

1. Purge and Repeat

Maybe this tip seems like a cheat, but it’s the best place to start. Do you really need all of those pairs of shoes? Can you convert those albums of pictures into digital memories? You got that piano on Craigslist for $5 — awesome! — but you never play it, so it’s time to let it go. It’s not just you. Almost everyone lives with more than they need, but if you live in a small home it may be time to say Auf Wiedersehen to some of the clutter in favor of your personal space (and sanity).

2. Figure Out What Can Be Stored Attractively, and What Can’t

Our next point is a key one: Most of us don’t mind having our books on display, but we don’t want our underwear out for all to see. Separate the things you need to store into two categories: (1) Potentially attractive or interesting if displayed in the open, and (2) definitely not something people should be looking at. This storage hack will help you determine which things can go on a shelf in the open and which things need to be under cover or inside a closet.

3. Maximize Unused Space in Your Closet…

Take a look inside your closet. Are you really using all the space in there? If you have room underneath or even behind your hang-up clothes — which is true for many of us — you’ve still got a lot of closet to work with! Often, a chest of drawers, a set of shelves, or some other storage container can fit in the space below.

4. …Or Make Your Own Closet

If you don’t have enough storage space, make your own. You can do this by buying a wardrobe, a portable closet, or even an attractive trunk to put in one of your rooms. Or, just section off a portion of a room with an attractive curtain or a set of screens. Use the extra space as your own storage unit, organizing as much as possible inside. From the outside, it will be attractive no matter how much you’ve got in there.

5. Look Down for more storage space

Look down: Is there storage space under your bed? Fill it. Can you keep shoes in the ten-inch space under your dresser? You bet. A lot of furniture has legs that keep it up off the floor, which means there might be a little extra storage space underneath. Just remember to make it attractive, so it doesn’t feel like you’re cramming as much in as you can under there (even if that’s exactly what you’re doing). Want more ideas? Check out 4 DIY storage hacks to blow your mind.

6. Look Up for more storage space

Most of us keep our storage on the ground, because, you know, gravity. Can you build a shelf around the soffit in your kitchen or above your doorways? Could you use wall space for another set of shelves, or hang things like bicycles, yoga mats, TVs, or whatever else won’t break the wall? Can you put your bed up on stilts (a DIY loft) to create extra storage under it? Odds are there's plenty of room to store things vertically.

7. Become a Storage Ninja

If you’re really hurting for storage, get creative. Push the books on your bookshelf so that the spines are flush with edge of the shelves and, voilà, you can store things behind your books. Store rarely used kitchen implements (like a meat thermometer) inside other rarely used kitchen implements (maybe a Crock-Pot). Keep socks inside shoes. Get creative with seasonal storage ideas. Use empty luggage for storage when you’re not traveling. Take an inventory of all the empty spaces in your home, and you’ll be shocked at how many little spaces you can find.

8. Become a portable storage genius

As you may have guessed, we're kind of obsessed with the idea of portable storage. After all, it's pretty brilliant when you think about it: A storage container is delivered right to your door, you can fill at your leisure, and when you're all done filling it up, somebody comes and drives it away to a secure Storage Center. Need some of your stuff? Head down to your local facility, or have it re-delivered to your door. Yep, it's a pretty sweet deal if you're looking to create some more space in your cramped quarters. For apartment storage, we highly recommend our "mini yet mighty" 8-foot container.* 

Living in a small space doesn’t have to be a pain. With a little hard work and ingenuity, you can store the things you need and still have a functional, attractive, albeit small home. Just remember these storage ideas for small spaces and we’re confident you’ll find the storage you need!

*PODS is constantly upgrading its container fleet and container sizes may vary slightly from one model to another.