You’ve come to realize that your belongings are taking too much space, leaving your home feeling smaller than what you once remember it being. You don’t want to move so the only other option left is to make space in your home. You’re looking at your home differently, seeing what you can do for it to meet your new needs. You know how you want it to look and now need to set out trying to achieve this. You decide to tackle this in stages, but where do you begin? This article will give you ideas about how you can create more space in your home without having to compromise.

What Items Do I Need or Want?

The first stage is often the one we tend to put off: decluttering our home. This must be done first because it can help you see what space you have to play with. You need to leave your emotions at the door of each room, and tackle whether you need or want each item. For instance, that shirt in your wardrobe that you haven’t worn for over a year, are you likely to ever wear it again or would you opt for that shirt you recently purchased, instead? You have to be prepared to make some hard choices. The best way to approach most things is to consider

1. Whether you knew you had it
2. The last time you used it
3. Whether you actually need it

If you have forgotten you had an item, haven’t used it in over a year or don’t actually need it, get rid of it; either chuck it in the bin, recycle it or give it to someone else. Periodically doing this will prevent your home from looking overcrowded with items or storage boxes. If you sort out each room, very often you will want to clean it, thereafter. You may even have no choice! Regardless of your reason to do a spot of cleaning, research has shown there are therapeutic effects of cleaning your home, such as reducing stress and is also a way to keep fit. This, in turn, also has health benefits, so cleaning your home is a win-win on all levels. 

Is there Unused Existing Space?

This can be room under the stairs or the stairwell itself, which is an area that is often left redundant. Creating a storage room under your stairs can provide space that you never had. This could be made into a cupboard with drawers or a set of drawers, depending upon the space you have. This space could house umbrellas, coats, jackets and wellies, which would not only save a lot of space but make your home look tidier. Also having shelves going up your stairwell would make an ideal place for books or other household items that can be easily accessed. Furthermore, if you have a garage, using overhead garage tote storage will free up space on the ground that could be used to store other equipment you don’t want to keep in your house. Overhead storage is ideal for items that are periodically used, such as camping equipment. They also provide you with space on the ground for other items, like a lawnmower, that would not make your garage appear too cluttered. 

Another area to look at is the space at the top of your stairs. This is often left unoccupied but would make a great space for a small chair and desk for someone to work at. Or you could have a chair, small bookcase and sconce, making it an ideal place for someone to read or make a telephone call. 

Give Every Room a Purpose

Critically look at every room in your home. Do they have a specific purpose? We’re not talking about bedrooms or kitchens, here, but the rooms that are poorly utilized, like a box room. Such a room is too small to be used as a bedroom or as a living room, so why not create a study or exercise room? If you work from home or have children that either shares a room or have rooms that are too small for a desk in addition to their bed and wardrobe, your box room may provide the ideal study space for them or a work area for anyone that has to work from home. If no one requires a study or workroom, then why not create an exercise room? Everyone could benefit from it and it would mean any exercise equipment would all be in one room, rather than dotted around your home and/or your garage. 

If there’s no need for a gym, then you could use this box room as a small game room or a smaller version of your living room. You could have a sofa and TV in there, which would be ideal for your children and their friends to play games in, or for you to relax in if they take over your main living room. It could also be used as a dining room if your kitchen is too small. The possibilities are really endless for rooms without a specific purpose, it really depends on the needs of your household.

Purpose-Built Storage

This is an investment as purpose-built storage is bespoke according to your needs and the available space. You will be able to receive tailor-made storage units, functionally designed to save space whilst being unobtrusive. They will also look great, too. Designers will look at the space to be used and create storage that will meet your needs without taking space that traditional stand alone storage units would. Of course, this means that you cannot move the storage units around because they are built in, so you want to ensure you are totally happy with the designs you are prevented with before they are built into whatever space you have. One particular example would be overhead bedroom storage that’s built around your bed to maximize space above it as well as around it. Using overhead storage is often overlooked, but there is plenty of space above ground that can be used to clear space around ground level.

It is often when we purchase items that we realize that we need to make room for them. This can often lead to sorting through our possessions. Doing this prevents you from purchasing storage boxes, which is very often what we periodically do. But there comes a point when this becomes ineffective as we realize we, again, need to make more room. Decluttering cannot be avoided, no matter how hard we try. It makes sense to periodically do this so our homes are clutter-free and have enough space to store the items that matter to us the most.