Storage solutions for small homes

So as you've probably guessed by now, I'm all about trying to turn my modest first house into my dream home, and while I have the most fun doing this, sometimes I do hit snags. Namely with storage... 

If you've ever owned a more modern property you'll know that storage space is usually a problem. This, coupled with the fact that I'm not a fan of having everyday household 'things' on display, it can get quite tricky to organise my home! However there are a few ways I've tried to tackle the storage issue, whilst still keeping everything pretty of course.

There are a grand total of two cupboards in our house, one under the stairs we use for tools, the Hoover and general junk, and one by the front door I've hidden coats/shoes/umbrellas in. That leaves us with no airing cupboard space. However, after spotting these pretty (and very cheap) boxes from good old Ikea, we decided to keep our sheets, pillows etc in those on some shelves in our smallest spare room. 

I don't know about you, but I find our kitchen seems to attract the most 'junk'. Any post and important documents seem to end up in here, plus my husband has a rather annoying habit of dumping his wallet and keys on the kitchen counter every evening! So I bought him his own (throw-covered, naturally) 'man basket' (you can find a similar one here) which lives in our hallway, and is somewhere he can dump anything and everything he wants to. Also in the hallway, our shoe cupboard stores SO many pairs of shoes, whilst being really slim so takes up very little space in our already thin hallway. 

In the lounge, my life saving purchase is our Ikea TV stand and baskets (you can find similar ones here), which hide a multitude of sins. The baskets are really sturdy, and are currently home to all our CDs, DVDs and PlayStation games.  

Other little things we do that really make a difference is maximising 'lost space', under the sofas and beds - using pretty storage boxes and baskets like these can prevent it looking cluttered. For example, I have a number of boxes under the cot to store all the baby stuff I can't find homes for. 

One of the biggest issues a small home brings is a lack of dining space, which we've tried to tackle through our conservatory - where we keep our table and chairs. I've previously blogged about living with a small kitchen, however the main way of maximising space in here is through a breakfast bar, which not only doubles up as an eating space, we also use it to store our bin and tumble drier under.  

Hope this has given you some ideas about how you can have a tidy and pretty home, even if all your 'stuff' doesn't seem to fit in with you! 

What are your tips for living in a small home?

Thanks for reading!
Sam Xx