9 February 2013

Finding Storage Space Part 3 - Go vertical

Photobucket

There's no point in my talking about storing things in logical places and leaving empty shelves and drawers and categorising real estate when you are bursting at the seams and haven't an inch to spare. Sure, moving things around will help a little. Decluttering will help even more. But in the end you have to work with the space you have and make best use of it.

Luckily there are a few tricks you can employ to maximise the space you have.

Photobucket

Have you thought about tipping flat things on their sides and storing them vertically? For instance, cookie sheets, muffin tins, bread boards and glass baking dishes all have quite large footprints but not much height. They often get stacked one on top of the other which becomes a pain when you want the one at the bottom.

By turning them on their sides you are able to slot them into a much smaller footprint and they are immediately more accessible. You can create dividers with
  • tension rods
  • plywood sheets
  • purpose made racks
  • shelf brackets turned upside down

Here you can see ready-made racks used for cooling racks, glass plates and baking dishes:
Photobucket
Source

Photobucket
Source

Tension rods make great dividers:

Photobucket
Source

Photobucket
Source

Consider having a purpose built rack made (or make your own):

Photobucket
Source

Upside-down shelf supports make great dividers and would work with vertically stored cookie sheets or cooling racks too.

Photobucket
Source

Use a tension rod to store pot lids vertically in a drawer:

Photobucket
Source

CD racks enable you to store your plastic lids vertically too:

Photobucket
Source

Photobucket

My chopping boards are stored vertically inside my pantry:

Photobucket

My baking sheets and cupcake pans are stored vertically in plastic tubs:

Photobucket

My bigger cookie sheets and cooling racks are stored vertically in a base cabinet:

Photobucket

Two trivets are stored vertically next to the microwave:

Photobucket

I store our board games vertically in the living room - it makes it so much easier to grab a game this way than if it were at the bottom of a pile. If needed, add elastic bands to keep the lids on less sturdy boxes.

Photobucket

Can you think of anything in your home that would free up space by being stored vertically instead of horizontally?

Part 1 - Logic for your life
Part 2 - Categorising your space
Part 3 - Go vertical
Part 4 - Hooks
Part 5 - Pegboard and towel rails
Part 6 - Doors
Part 7 - Magnets, ends and bottoms
Part 8 - Tension rods and nooks
Part 9 - Maximising cabinet space
Part 10 - Think outside the (storage) box


Pin It
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...