Places to store small items. Tips on how to turn storage into a designer highlight. What's the best way to store things?
Daily household comfort largely depends on how well the storage of things is organized in the apartment. When every item has its own place, it's easy to find it and then put it back in its place without creating clutter. The Village asked designer Galina Tishutina how to think through home storage to free up more space for living.
The main thing you need to know about storage, - the output should be spacious and comfortable. After all, the best space for living is one that has a lot of air and empty surfaces. But in small apartments this is a difficult task, which also conflicts with our traditional ability to complicate everything, as well as our passion for shopping and hoarding. However, the world has become technologically advanced: a wide window sill can become a home office, Wi-Fi allows you to work even in bed, there are fewer wires, stationary units are almost a thing of the past, gadgets are rapidly decreasing in size, and all volumes of the encyclopedia fit on a flash drive. All this helps to gain additional living space.
Sorting
Before you start optimizing everything, you should divide things into necessary and unnecessary. First, you should get rid of things that have not been used for a long time. Each of us has some kind of toaster, which was last turned on a couple of years ago, while it was tightly located on the windowsill in the kitchen. It’s better to throw away such things, sell them through Avito, or give them to someone who will use them. This way, only the necessary items will remain - we will plan storage space for them.
The necessary things will also have to be sorted. There is, for example, a hot and cold rotation system. The hot rotation includes those things that should be at hand every day. These are clothes, shoes and household gadgets - from a vacuum cleaner to an ironing board. To correctly calculate the dimensions of your wardrobe, measure the linear meters of the bar for long items (outerwear, dresses), and separately calculate the meters of the bar for short items (shirts, blouses, jackets). Also determine the volume of shelves for other clothes and shoe boxes.
Cold rotation items include suitcases, boxes, Christmas tree decorations and other seasonal items. You can put your home library in the same category if you don’t access it every day, and household items that are dear to your heart - everything that can be put away.
Hidden storage
A well-organized apartment can be compared to a car, the interior of which has a lot of air and space, while the space under the hood is packed to capacity. We also need to get as much space as possible in living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms, and use office spaces - that is, the hallway, corridor and closets - to the maximum.
Instead of installing several wardrobes in living rooms, it is better to fence off a small wardrobe somewhere in the hallway. A wardrobe, even a small one, is the best thing that can happen to a small apartment. It effectively uses space right up to the ceiling, like the hood of a car, where every millimeter is used. A wardrobe is a bulky piece of furniture that stands in a room and takes up a lot of space.
Open storage
It is best to minimize the number of things laid out on surfaces. Firstly, they create a feeling of disorder, and secondly, they complicate the cleaning process because they need to be dusted off. Open storage is only permissible in the kitchen and bathroom, that is, where there are items that are simply inconvenient to put away in cabinets several times a day.
Kitchen storage
To see if your kitchen storage is well organized, do a Sunday shopping test. Let's imagine that you are bringing home a supply of groceries and household chemicals for the next week or even several. If you can't organize everything into cabinets so that you can still access every package, then it's time to change something.
Small kitchens usually want to be kept as spacious as possible, so as not to further reduce the space with an abundance of items. In this case, a good solution would be a cabinet located on the way from the front door to the kitchen, in which you can store products that do not require refrigeration - water, groceries, sauces. This will allow you to shop less often and not turn your kitchen into a warehouse.
For storage inside kitchen cabinets, you should get identical containers and pour everything you can into them - from tea to cereals. The fact is that factory packaging of different shapes and sizes is difficult to ergonomically place inside the cabinet. As a result, a lot of space is wasted, and food from unsealed boxes often spills. Label each container and use the same ones for each type of food. This storage system increases the level of order and greatly speeds up the food preparation process.
Bathroom storage
The approach to organizing storage in the bathroom is very similar to the kitchen. It is necessary to allocate hot rotation items and think about storage for cold items. Leave only those tubes and items that you use regularly on open surfaces. The rest can be put in the closet. It is worth considering hanging a wide shelf directly above the door. It is invisible, and it is also convenient to store a supply of washing powder and toilet paper.
Storage in rooms
Beds with a lifting mechanism and a storage system inside are often much inferior in terms of convenience to ordinary beds with legs, under which drawers on wheels from IKEA are placed. And besides, such beds are much cheaper.
If we talk about the nursery, it seems to me that the child should maintain order in his toys on his own. Therefore, all boxes should be placed at an accessible height. In this case, the little person will have the freedom to choose for himself what to put and where.
Good Habits
A convenient storage system is not only cabinets and shelves, but also a certain set of good habits. Train yourself to audit things a couple of times a year in order to get rid of junk in a timely manner and free up space. Keep track of the overall balance: if after a vacation or successful shopping you brought a couple of bags of things into the apartment, then the other pair of bags should leave it in the foreseeable future.
Photos: cover – WorldWide /shutterstock.com 1 – horiyan /shutterstock.com, 2 – Richman21 /shutterstock.com, 3 – Photographee.eu /shutterstock.com
Everyone knows that the biggest enemy of a large number of things in the apartment is clutter, which distracts, irritates and sometimes makes you depressed. Add to this the inability to quickly find what you are looking for, for example, car keys or a pair of socks, and a spoiled mood for the whole day is guaranteed. Whether it’s neatly laid out or hung household items that don’t get lost and are always at hand. If you consider yourself to be an organized and pedantic person, then this publication on the Dream House website will tell you what unusual ideas there are for storing things in an apartment or house.
The imagination of people who come up with various hooks, shelves and boxes for all sorts of little things sometimes causes admiration. We invite you, without delay, to plunge into the fascinating world of order and organization.
Storage ideas for bulky items
We have already considered options, so in this article we will briefly describe where you can save out-of-season items, such as scooters, sleds, skis and, of course, bicycles - for adults and children. Of course, all these large items can be hung somewhere under the ceiling on guy ropes or on the wall, so they will take up little living space.
Another option will appeal to those housewives who cannot come to terms with the presence of a “pedal friend” in the apartment - ask your husband to hang it outside the window. To do this, you need to fix two fittings in the wall, curved in the form of a hook, and hang a bicycle on them. A similar device can be used to hang a sled outside a window or balcony.
And if there is a tree next to your house, then a tension cable from the balcony to the tree will solve the problem of storing large items in the apartment. Several bicycles, sleds and scooters can be hung on the cable at the same time, and such a structure will be controlled using rollers, one of which is fixed to the tree, and the other to.
The next method will be useful to everyone who watches their figure and values their health - to implement it, the bicycle is placed on a special stand, as a result of which the vehicle turns into an exercise bike. Yes, this idea cannot be classified as compact storage of things, but the health benefits are obvious, and there is no need to buy a home exercise machine separately.
Tacx bike stations - a bike trainer
If it is not possible to purchase such a bike stand, then you can make a stand for the rear wheel yourself at minimal cost. The principle is clear in the next photo.
Methods for storing small laundry
Small items of underwear tend to get lost and create clutter in the closet. It seems like they put things in order on the shelf, but a few days later the socks are already scattered, and all the tights are in puffs. To organize your underwear, you can use cardboard or textile “boxes” with many small sections. It is still fashionable today to call them organizers. As a rule, they are small in height and can easily fit on a shelf in a closet or in.
And one of the needlewomen came up with the idea of making a laundry organizer similar to a honeycomb - the partitions in it are made of cardboard, and the container is small in size. This is a great option for storing socks and other underwear.
To prevent bras from losing their shape, manufacturers offer special boxes with indentations for the cups of women's clothing items.
Ideas for storing shoes in an apartment
To keep shoes and boots in order, there are also interesting storage ideas for them. One of them uses the same idea with honeycombs, and the design itself is quite compact and convenient. To bring it to life, you will need a plastic sewer pipe, which needs to be cut into equal sections and glued together. The advantage of such a device for shoes is that its dimensions and shape can be varied as you wish, placing the “honeycombs” vertically or horizontally.
Sandals, flip-flops and ballet flats can be stored in a textile organizer on the wall, and high-heeled shoes can be stored on the railing in. And if you lay narrow wicker baskets with their sides on top of each other and fasten them together, you will get a kind of “multi-story” shelf for shoes.
Jewelry storage ideas
Women are divided into two categories: those who love to wear jewelry, and those who do not accept this type of jewelry. And for the former, it’s a real problem to find the right beads or fish earrings out of a box where chaos reigns. Is it possible to organize your jewelry? Certainly! The simplest, but no less functional idea for storing jewelry is to hang the beads on a hanging shelf with hooks. This way they definitely won’t get confused and you’ll quickly find the right copy.
You can also make a shallow cabinet with separate sections. And true connoisseurs of jewelry will certainly hang all their wealth on a large stand located nearby - many hooks of different sizes will allow you to store here not only necklaces, but also earrings and bracelets.
And if suddenly you have an unnecessary frame from or from a mirror in your household, then by stretching several rows of lace ribbon inside, you can organize storage for earrings in the frame. Even versatile door handles mounted on a wooden stand turn into a functional item for storing jewelry.
Where to keep vegetables and fruits
A few ideas for storing vegetables in the kitchen will help keep them not only visible, but also in order. The best option is to make a box with pull-out shelves, where each section will be reserved for a separate vegetable, for example, potatoes will be stored in the bottom drawer, onions in the middle, and garlic in the top. In such conditions, it is better to build such a box into a closet.
A functional option for storing fruits and vegetables brought from the dacha are baskets placed under the kitchen sofa (two or three will definitely fit there). In this way, both space saving and... The main thing is to decorate the baskets themselves beautifully, for example, paint them with bright paint or apply a design using a stencil.
To store onions and garlic, you can sew narrow bags with holes on both sides and hang them on the wall. You need to pour vegetables through one hole and take them out from the other side. And so that they do not get enough sleep ahead of time, the ends of such a bag are equipped with a convenient drawstring.
How to store various small items for needlework
Any needlewoman knows better than anyone else how important it is to keep all your supplies in order. All pins, needles and clasps are small in size, so they are easy to lose. In addition, skeins of thread and spools of ribbon tend to unwind and intertwine with each other. It is better for them to have separate boxes with many divided sections, but even in this situation they also unwind.
Here's an interesting idea for storing spools of thread - keep them in transparent jars, making a beautiful lid from multi-colored fabric. And in order to prevent the bobbins with ribbons and lace from unwinding, they are placed in a pyramid on top of each other, and covered on top with a cap made from a cut-off plastic bottle.
In general, there are a lot of ideas for storing accessories, in particular, spools of thread. For example, a tree hanger will accommodate a lot of spools on its pegs, besides, you can arrange them according to colors, and this will become a worthy decoration for a needlewoman.
There are also special stands for reels, similar to the one shown below.
And entire stands, specially equipped for convenient storage of accessories, will become simply an indispensable thing in the seamstress’s corner.
It is better to sew pockets for the tools, where scissors, knives, rulers and pencils will be placed separately in each section. Small items such as buttons, snaps and various fasteners can be conveniently stored in transparent jars, not just on the table, but in a more original way - in a suspended state. To do this, you need to glue or screw a metal lid on the bottom of the shelf, and simply screw the jar onto it. Thus, all handicrafts will not only be visible, but also kept in order.
To apply for a loan online, just fill out an application form on the MFO website containing your passport details, the desired loan amount and some other information. Also, if you plan to receive money on the card, you will need to have a registered Visa or MasterCard with CVV2 to receive funds.
A decision on an application is made from a few minutes to half an hour. If the loan amount exceeds 30-50 thousand rubles, the application is reviewed manually, which affects the processing time. The speed of receipt of money depends on the chosen method of receipt - to an account, to a card, to an electronic wallet or in cash and on the loan amount. Money is transferred at any time of the day, as well as on holidays and weekends.
You can increase the loan term for a period of 1-30 days. In some cases, if there are compelling reasons, the loan is extended without overpayments. In other cases, an additional commission fee is paid for loan extension. The number of possible extensions must be clarified with the microfinance organization.
For the first time, you can borrow an amount from 1 thousand rubles to 30 thousand rubles, depending on different conditions. The size of the first loan is affected by the borrower’s income, loan term, good credit history, and conditions for certain programs.
The MFO checks the validity of the passport through the FMS database, registration address, contact information of the borrower, assesses his solvency, and looks at open records in the FSSP database. Online client profiles are checked by an automated scoring system. Data from the BKI and bank card information are also checked.
A bad credit history is not a reason to expect a refusal. If the CI is damaged due to the fault of the creditor bank, you can contact the BCI with a statement. In other cases, you can try to correct it with a chain of small microloans taken sequentially and repaid in a timely manner.
If the loan is not given, you should find out the reason. For example, get your CI and study it to see if there are any delays caused by the banks. Maybe you have accumulated debt on utility bills - it needs to be paid off. After some time, you can re-apply to the microfinance organization to receive a smaller loan amount. Several consecutive small loans taken and repaid in a timely manner will improve your position in MFOs.
If the money is not returned to the MFO in due time, you will be charged penalties for a certain period stipulated in the agreement. If you do not contact and repay the loan during this time, your case will be referred to a collection agency, which will work with you to resolve how to return the money. If you avoid communicating with debt collectors, the case will be transferred to bailiffs who:
- funds on the salary card will be seized;
- travel abroad will be limited;
- will seize your personal property.
The main rule for the entire apartment is not to forget about such rarely used places as corners, the space under the ceiling and above the door, as well as places under the bed and under kitchen cabinets. How to store things in a small apartment? Use multi-functional folding furniture and things like banquettes, ottomans, lift-up beds, furniture and storage units on wheels. Wherever possible, store items vertically so they take up less space.
Ideas for small apartments: kitchen
This is where soft hanging sections come in handy, which can be found in abundance in stores and can even be sewn yourself. For example, this one is for a small tabletop dishwasher. 
Look how much you can fit on just one refrigerator wall!
If there is a small space between the refrigerator and the wall (15 cm is enough), you can build a pull-out rack by screwing furniture wheels to the narrow shelves and attaching a handle to one side.
You can also install a cabinet under the kitchen sink. Hang two rods on lightweight curtain brackets, available at hardware stores, to hold extra trash bags and, if needed, extra paper towels.
Paper holders made of metal mesh are a convenient replacement for large vegetable baskets.
Another option is to store vegetables in hanging laundry bags, which can be placed anywhere convenient by simply hanging them on a hook.
If you have very little table space in your kitchen, don’t forget that there are options for folding tables. And the most compact ones are those that are attached to the wall. They do not take up space on the floor either unfolded or folded.
When there is little space, you need to use any suitable surface. Is there a free wall of the cabinet? Great! Screw a light rail onto it, buy some S-shaped hooks and store your kitchen utensils.
And, of course, a small kitchen cannot do without a magnetic strip. And you can place not only knives on it, but also any other metal kitchen utensils. The meaning is very simple - there will be more free space on the countertop.
Always try to buy items that are more compact and also ones that can be folded. For example, such a folding grater is just a godsend for a miniature kitchen.
And another great example. Is the cupboard too narrow to fit everything? Screw a few hooks to the shelf and you will have another row of dishes for mugs.
Ideas for a bathroom in a small apartment
Remember multifunctional furniture? It is needed in almost any bathroom. An upturned bar stool, for example, turns into a cosmetics shelf and heated towel rail. 
Each room has free space above the door. It must be used for shelves (open or closed). But don't forget that open shelves should look neat, and if they are filled with too many things, it will feel cluttered. To hide such clutter, place several closed boxes on the shelves and store everything in them. Little advice: When you buy towels for the bathroom, you don’t need to choose all the colors that you like. Stop at a certain range and one or two colors and always stick to them. This will make the room look tidier.
And again we use hooks and rails. Photo on the left: With one hook on the wall you can build an entire hanging shelving unit. We use several IKEA buckets held together with clothesline. A great place for makeup brushes, combs, curling irons or curlers. Photo on the right: no place for towels? Attach them to the bathroom door. Moreover, you can use not only the upper part of the door leaf, but also the lower part!
Small bedroom ideas
What if the room is so small that there is only room for a bed? We take the idea from the kitchen and place a hanging table next to the bed. We get: a shelf for things you need at hand, a desktop for your computer and a coffee table for breakfast in bed! 
Instead of a bedside table for which there was no room, you can use hanging sections, securing them to the base of the mattress with adhesive tape.
Many of us, whether by choice or necessity, live in small apartments. And most likely, we are looking for different ways to make our small home comfortable with a minimum amount of furniture and maximum amenities.
In order not to dump clothes behind the door or on chairs, not to think about how and where to place winter or summer shoes and clothes, and also to save space, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the tips that are relevant for many for organizing compact storage of things (shoes, clothes, books, all kinds of small things) using a variety of systems, methods and devices.
Let's talk about how to organize and put things in order in the house with the help of storage systems when arranging a small-sized apartment and make it cozy and functional, so that the residents are comfortable enough, and all things are placed practically, compactly and at hand.
Built in furniture
Built-in and wall-mounted wardrobes have been popular for a number of years. They store both kitchen utensils and household appliances.
Cabinets on wheels are a new and mobile storage option. They are installed indoors and can be easily and simply moved at the right time.
Storage system, photo
The main characteristic of built-in furniture is its functionality in small dimensions: a closet, as a rule, occupies a minimum area in an apartment, and you can place all the necessary things and objects in it, both for everyday use and those that are used only occasionally.
Furniture of this type looks like part of the home itself and fits perfectly into the overall design of the room.
Built-ins provide plenty of storage space. They can be combined and coordinated with the overall decor of the room and occupy an entire wall without reducing the area.
Built-in furniture can be perfectly adapted to suit your needs.
A big advantage is the correctly selected lighting, which is integrated into such furniture.
Before making such structures, it is necessary to plan what exactly will be stored in them and in what form, whether they will be shelves, racks, drawers. This can be clothing and shoes, as well as household items, tools, sports equipment (skates, skis, tennis rackets, etc.).
Advice. Thanks to the presence of shelves of different sizes, using boxes and baskets of different sizes, other storage devices, you can sort and fold shoes by season; the same goes for clothing, including socks, tights, belts and other small items.
The sleeping bed is used as storage for bed linen. The space underneath (usually drawers designed for storing pillows and blankets, other bedding) is an excellent place to store various things, each of which has its own part, so order in such containers is guaranteed, and you can always find the thing you need.
Built-in furniture (cabinets and niches with shelves) are an excellent solution for hiding a washing machine or dishwasher - both in the kitchen and in the bathroom. This significantly increases the space, and the overall design of a small room remains beautiful and uncluttered.
Multifunctional cabinets
Storage cabinets are one of the most common categories of furniture. They are:
- tall;
- low;
- small;
- large;
- hull;
- built-in
Today, the most common is the wardrobe, which houses numerous personal belongings and household items. In small apartments this is the most optimal and practical solution.
With such a cabinet, the house will always be orderly and clean, because its main characteristic feature is spaciousness and convenience, and it also takes up very little space.
A built-in wardrobe is a necessary piece of furniture in small apartments. This cabinet will be a highlight in the interior, as it helps not only to hide your things from strangers, but also to significantly save room space.
How to organize space in your closet? Since cabinets of this kind are made to order, and manufacturers leave the customer the right to choose the model and internal structure of the structure, it is better to foresee the number and location of shelves and drawers in advance.
The photo shows one example of the compact interior filling of a closet, reminiscent of a dressing room:
Manufacturers can help you calculate the required number of shelves and hangers for clothes, drawers and containers of different sizes for shoes, linen and sports equipment. You can store mattresses, blankets, kebab and barbecue sets and other household utensils in them.
Surely you will be offered already tested options that have been approved by more than a dozen buyers. Listen to their advice too.
We store things in a small kitchen
In a small kitchen there is a lot of space for storing kitchen utensils: in the work area, under the dining table and under the window, as well as on the kitchen walls. An excellent offer from modern designers are sliding shelves. Thanks to their presence, easy access to any area of the deep corner cabinet is provided. Such a furniture set makes life much easier for housewives, allowing them to compactly place dishes, household appliances, and cleaning supplies in the kitchen.
Plastic containers of different sizes are also convenient: they are useful for storing food, coffee and tea, spices, detergents and washcloths for dishes and furniture.
Advice. A separate box should also be provided for the necessary culinary literature, so that even recipes are always at hand when preparing dishes.
Pull-out shelves are a good idea: they increase the usable area of kitchen cabinets, they store kitchen utensils, and on the doors you can install narrow shelves and holders for cutting boards and pot lids, which is quite practical and convenient.
Shelving partitions
This is another innovative proposal, thanks to which you can divide the room into two functional zones, and store books, candlesticks, vases with flowers, cosmetics and much more on the shelves. An important feature of the rack is that everything the contents of the shelves do not spoil, but emphasize the beauty of the interior.The use of decorative curtains will create a unique atmosphere of comfort and order.
Book storage ideas
How and where to store books in a small apartment? Although today we increasingly prefer electronic rather than printed publications, fiction is always present in our homes, and we offer several options for storing books in a small apartment:
Imagine, experiment and you will definitely be able to arrange the most interesting bookcase, thanks to which the apartment will not be cluttered, and its design will look interesting and stylish.
Bathroom storage
In a small apartment, bathrooms most often also have a small area, and if the order in a small bathroom gets out of control, then you can resort to various options for storing items such as razors and combs, detergents and toilet paper.
Here are some of the suggestions:
Hooks on the wall
Such mounting on the walls of a small apartment is a practical solution to the issue of storing clothes, hats, bags, umbrellas and other things.
Modern designers suggest using coat hooks in an apartment furnished in a free and relaxed boco chic style, which uses unusual combinations of colors and arrangement of objects and reflects the essence of the owner himself.
All about: find out how to decorate a room with garlands and balloons to create a festive atmosphere - lots of ideas with photos.
Read and see examples in the photo on how to make your home cozy with your own hands.
Top storage tips:
Numerous ideas and plans for where to put things away allow you to choose the most suitable ones in each individual case. And no matter which one you choose, do not forget where and what you put, since each thing should have its own place. Only with this solution to the issue will a small apartment always be uncluttered, and will look beautiful and comfortable.
Living in a small apartment is a manifestation of strong character, patience, endurance of household members, as well as the ability to create order and a comfortable atmosphere in a small space.
Advice. Try not to clutter your apartment (especially a small area) with unnecessary gizmos and objects. Try getting rid of some of them.
But if this fails, then the tips suggested above will help you create a unique interior, where every thing is in its place and securely hidden from prying eyes.
Let the above suggestions and ideas inspire you to create ideal living conditions and put your home in perfect order.
Photo gallery
We invite you to look at a selection of photos with original solutions and unique ideas for the compact arrangement of things from the smallest to the massive - for your inspiration:
