Must-have space saving storage for small homes

Space has always been a huge problem in our home. We literally have two built-in cupboards in our entire house, both of which are full to the brim with hoovers, ironing boards and toolboxes. Throw in the hoards of plastic crap we’ve accumulated over the past two years, and you’ve got a recipe for tripping over duplo. 

So needless to say I've had to think cleverly about our storage and the space we have. Ideally I'd love to have lots of beautiful built-in cupboards around the house, however in reality that's not possible as our floor space is limited. Upstairs we've got room for one chest of drawers and two wardrobes - space is tight!

So I thought I'd share the five pieces of must-have furniture that are absolute lifesavers in my home. They not only hold a LOT of stuff, but take up much less floor space than you'd think, so are perfect for even the smallest of homes.

Must-have storage 1: Hallway shoe cupboard 
This one is my favourite – the classic IKEA Hemnes shoe cupboard. I can’t bear tripping over shoes in the hallway, so this was the perfect solution to smelly trainers in the way. This holds all our shoes, but is super slim so takes up hardly any space in our teeny hallway. The wide drawer at the top holds all those annoying little things that don’t have a home – think pens/notepads/phone chargers, so it’s a bit of a tardis in terms of storage. If you don’t have space for a cupboard in your hall, how about some baskets to hold all the shoes?

Must-have storage 2: TV stand with hidden storage 
Another IKEA find, our TV stand has masses of storage in the baskets meaning I don't have to have dvds/toys/cds on show, which would make a small room feel cluttered. The shelves are also the perfect size to store the sky box/playstation so we don’t have to have them standing out on the top. 

Must-have storage 3: Pull-down writing desk

A recent eBay find which I gave a lick of paint (I shared my top upcycling tips here). It's pull down top can be used as a desk - and more importantly can be packed away taking up no space at all when not in use. It stores all the dining room bits like tablemats/glassware, and the drawers deceptively deep. The conservatory has turned into a dining room slash playroom since little ladies been on the move, so this is also a great space for hiding yet more toys. I'll admit I originally bought this simply as a pretty addition to the conservatory, but it’s been so much more valuable for storage than I thought. 

Must-have storage 4: Double height wardrobe 
This one is essential for us - our wardrobe (another upcycling project) is double height, meaning me and my husband can squeeze all our clothes in here. We've simply not got the floor space for more than one chest of drawers (the one we have is in the nursery doubling up as a changing station too), so without this I'm not sure what we'd do to be honest! We also have some classic IKEA storage boxes stacked on top of the wardrobes where we store occasional clothes – think suits/my wedding dress etc. I realise we’re lucky with high ceilings but if you’ve got the space definitely think about utilising any space you have above a cupboard or wardrobe, rather than taking up more floor space. 

Must-have storage 5: Bathroom shelves

One of the smallest rooms in the house, there wasn't much I could do with our bathroom in terms of creating storage space - however yet another IKEA find gave me a brainwave. Why not use some ladder shelves (originally meant for the garden) to store some bits and bobs, whilst making use of the tiny floor space left between the bath and door?! I store my beauty bits like cotton wool balls etc in jars and baskets so the shelves are practical as well as pretty (because obviously that's important too!) 

Do you live in a small home? What are your recommendations for space-saving storage?

Thanks for reading,
Sam Xx