Home storage ideas

If you are like me, every now and then you may find that clutter is getting in your way, and preventing you from being expedient in your everyday tasks.

Of course, the most important time for dealing with clutter is when we intend to list our homes for sale. A cluttered home looks and feels smaller, and does not show its best. The prospective buyer will not appreciate your granite counter if it is obscured by a number of small appliances, cutting boards, cookbooks and other items that we regularly use in the kitchen. Even a beautifully renovated bathroom will loose its appeal if the vanity counter is filled with cosmetics, brushes and sprays, and the shower floor serves as a display of various soaps and shampoos. All that when kitchen and bathrooms are perceived as the most important selling points of the home.

But even when not planning to sell, getting rid of the clutter is liberating. The items that tend to accumulate, like magazines, papers, cosmetics, can be kept in baskets or in cabinets. Shelves in the shower will keep soaps and shampoos off the floor or shower seat. Bathrooms should have enough racks or hooks to accomodate all the towels in use.

If you are planning to renovate your kitchen, perhaps you should consider deep pot and lid drawers, and cabinetry will pull-out organizers. There are many kitchen cabinets organizers available now, and it is amazing how much convenience they provide! It is also a good idea, whether remodelling or not, to install drawer dividers to make utensils easier to access.

Some of more interesting kitchen spaces I have seen had a pot rack suspended from the ceiling. This looks particularly attractive if your pots are stainless steel or copper. A sliding rack for dishtowels can fit in the cabinet under the sink. I have one of these, and find it very good. Small coated wire shelves attached to the inside of cabinet doors can hold paper towls, aluminum foil and wrapping foil. In one of the more interesting kitchens I've seen a pull-out spice cabinet occupying a narrow space between other cabinetry.

In the bathroom, coordinated accessories reduce visual distractions and provide organized and uncluttered appearance. Shelves over bathroom doors can accomodate towels. Using labelled baskets or bins under the vanity helps controll clutter in that space.

Baskets, generally, are great for organizing, and they come in all sizes, colours and shapes. Large baskets can be used in the closets to hold sweaters, hats, socks, gloves and other hard to store items. Smaller baskets are excellent for small objects that tend to accumulate on kitchen surfaces, and for fruit and vegetables not requiring refridgeration.

If you are getting a built-in closet, you may consider unusual features, like pullout shelves for folded shirts (much easier to access), tilted shoe racks, drawers in a variety of widths, and hanging racks installed at various heights, to suit shirts, skirts, pants and dresses. Keep in mind that you may also need to store purses of various sizes.