Home Storage Hacks For Every Room

Keeping your home tidy is never easy - whether your home has two or twelve people living in it, maintaining an organised home can be a challenge. Keeping every room clean can be tricky, but here at Spotlight we're pleased to offer you home storage solutions for every area of your space. From high-traffic areas like the kitchen and living room to quieter but still important spaces like the office and laundry, we've got home storage supplies and ideas to help keep these areas organised, all available for great prices.

Discover three of our home storage solutions for every room in your house here!

Quick Links:

• Living Room Storage Ideas
• Kitchen Storage Ideas
• Bedroom Storage Ideas
• Bathroom Storage Ideas
• Office Storage Ideas
• Laundry Storage Ideas
• Extra Home Storage Ideas

Living Room Storage Ideas

As the place where you unwind and relax, the living room is often a busy place at home! You'll watch TV, play games, interact with pets and children and probably just walk through your living room almost every day. This means it's prone to accumulating toys, blankets, cushions, books, cups, plates, shoes and more - which means you'll want plenty of lounge room storage ideas.

Here are some of our favourite living room storage ideas you can try.

Utilise an ottoman

Useful for when you need somewhere to put your feet or even elsewhere to sit when the couch is full, ottomans can also contain extremely valuable storage space. Many ottomans have a hollow centre which you can access by opening the top like a lid, and this space is perfect for storing throws and blankets for colder days, extra cushions for the couch, video games, books and toys.

If you don't have the space for a large ottoman, you can also invest in a small footstool - if it has the same storage ability, you can use it to store smaller things like books, coasters or controllers.

Add extra shelving

People usually decorate the walls of their living room with artwork or wall hangings, but if you need some storage space why not add a shelf or two? Not only can shelves be used to store things like cushions, books and toys, but they can also hold decorative items like plants, candles and figurines as well.

If you have the option, try to choose shelving that blends in with the wall so it feels like an intentional design choice, rather than a quick home storage hack! Alternatively, if you want to make a statement with your shelf you can match it to another element in your space. For example, if you have white walls and a black coffee table, choose a black shelf.

Coffee tables and side tables

If you have a side or coffee table in your living room, it can also be used to store a few extra things if needed. And not just on the top, but underneath it as well! Many side tables come with drawers or shelving underneath for storing things like magazines, so if you're choosing a new side or coffee table for your living room, make sure it can pull double duty as storage as well.

If you want to store a bit on top of your coffee table but still want it to look neat, consider using a tray to keep all your knick knacks together. Metal and wooden trays are a stylish addition to any living room, and can be used to help compartmentalise the things on your coffee table so they look neater. Check out our guide to styling a coffee table for more information on this topic!

Kitchen Storage Ideas

Out of all the rooms in your home, the kitchen is probably the place you want to keep clean and organised the most! When you are in the middle of cooking, not being able to find what you need can completely derail the process! Plus, an untidy kitchen can attract pests and lead to more opportunities for your food to go off.

Try these kitchen storage ideas to tame the kitchen chaos!

Hang your pots and pans

Large pots and pans can be the hardest kitchenware to store due to their large size, long handles and sometimes fragile coating. Plus they're a nightmare to try and get out of a drawer quietly! That's why hanging your pots and pans is a great idea, if you can install a rack or some hooks/pegs. Most pans and pots will come with a handle that is suitable to hang with, and it's also a really rustic and charming look that looks great in most kitchens.

If you have a kitchen island, installing a hanging rack over it is the best option as it will prevent you from hitting your head on any of them. But if not, use hooks to hang them straight from the wall or even from above your stove.

Organise your pantry

The pantry can quickly become a source of frustration in your kitchen - with so many different things to store, it can be hard to keep it all organised. But putting in the effort can pay dividends!

Clear out your pantry, wipe it down and throw out everything old and out of date. Organise your dry goods like flour, rice and pasta into clear storage containers, and put things like species into racks or a drawer. Put the things you use the most at eye level towards the front, while ingredients you rarely use can go higher up or towards the back.

For a more in-depth guide to organising your pantry, read our blog on the topic here!

Install racks inside doors

A secret storage space that's ideal for use in the kitchen is behind the doors of your pantry and cupboards. Installing a rack - either hanging over the top of the door or screwed into the inside of the door itself - gives you space to store jars, spray bottles, canisters and bags.

Storing large or awkwardly shaped things in these racks frees up space in your pantry for things that are easy to store and stack. It's also a good option for things like potatoes and onions, which require a rack to preserve their lifespan.

Make sure to read our buying guide on organising your kitchen and pantry for more helpful kitchen storage ideas on keeping your kitchen tidy.

Bedroom Storage Ideas

A messy and cluttered bedroom can make it difficult to sleep, plus you don't want to be tripping over clothes and shoes when you're up trying to get a midnight snack! Try these bedroom storage ideas to turn your bedroom from a messy nightmare into a relaxing haven.

Make the most of your wardrobe

You'd be surprised at how much more you can fit into your wardrobe with the right storage accessories! If you have a fairly tall wardrobe, consider adding a second clothing rail halfway down that you can hang shorter garments like shirts and skirts from.

If you have a lot of shoes, consider a two-tier shoe rack so you can store double the amount without having your shoes piled on top of each other. This will prevent your shoes from potentially scratching each other, as well as helping you find the shoes you want quickly.

Store behind your door

The bedroom door is a great place to hang a large shoe storage rack, especially if your wardrobe is overflowing. Door shoe racks can hold many shoes, and can double as storage for things like jewellery, handbags, hair accessories and technology. You can also install a similar rack behind the door of your wardrobe if there is space.

Look under the bed

If you have space under your bed, consider storing extra blankets, pillows and even seasonal clothing underneath it in covered baskets or containers. Look for flat storage that can easily slide in and out the small gap under your bed, and make sure to always cover it so any dirt or dander from your mattress doesn't get into your containers.

If you are in the market for a new bed frame, many come with in-built drawers that are perfect for a little extra storage space. These will provide more space than most containers, plus they are easier to access.

Read our blog on wardrobe storage solutions for more ways to utilise your bedroom wardrobe storage space and other useful bedroom storage ideas.

Bathroom Storage Ideas

Because of the humidity and water that makes its way around the bathroom, it's important you have the correct bathroom storage to prevent slips and damage to your bathroom supplies.

Use a shower caddy

Shower caddies are a godsend in smaller showers, as they elevate slippery bottles and soaps off the ground up to eye level where they're easy to reach. Shower caddies are easy to install, and usually don't need any screws or nails to adhere to your wall, instead using suction that won't damage your wall. Or they might just easily hook over your showerhead or taps!

Keeping things off the floor of your shower means there's no worry of you tripping or slipping on them, plus it also means you won't get rings of soap scum around them that you then have to clean off.

Use door racks for bulky electronics

Things like a hair dryer, straightener and curling iron can all take up valuable space in your bathroom vanity storage, plus all their wires can easily tangle together. That's why installing racks on the inside of your vanity doors is one of the best bathroom storage ideas you can implement! Something as simple as a steel half-circle to slide your hairdryer into is all you need, although specialised racks for these tools are also available.

Make the most of your medicine cabinet

The many small shelves of your medicine cabinet can hold all kinds of small, useful bathroom products - but why not make use of the door as well? Much like the racks we mentioned above, the back of your medicine cabinet can be used for extra storage.

There isn't often a lot of horizontal room in the medicine cabinet, so rather than trying to install a rack, use a flat magnetic strip (much like the kind used for storing knives in the kitchen) for storing your grooming accessories instead. Metal nail clippers, files, scissors, hair pins, combs, and clips can also be stored on this strip, freeing up space in your cabinet and drawers for larger things like brushes, razors and headbands.

Read our bathroom storage guide for more great bathroom storage ideas to try.

Office Storage Ideas

Whether you use it for working from home or it's your child's study area, having an organised office area will make getting your work done so much easier! Not only does a neat environment provide fewer distractions (which we sometimes look for when the work we need to do isn't so interesting), but it also means you'll have all the stationery supplies you need on hand at all times.

Use magazine racks

The kinds of racks you see holding magazines at doctor and dentist's offices are actually really handy for use in the home office as well! Use them to organise loose documents, hold folders or just keep spare sheets of paper in place. You can stack them vertically or horizontally to suit the dimensions of your work desk.

Look for modular storage

Not only do they look sleek and modern, but modular storage shelves give you a fantastic number of cubbies for sorting your office supplies into. Bonus points if you can find a work desk with modular storage included!

Modular storage units are ideal for storing office folders, files, large pieces of stationery and loose paper. If it's being used as a kids' homework or craft desk, you can also use them to store paint bottles, rolls of craft paper, pencil and marker packs and craft supply packs. The open design allows you to easily see and grab what you need rather than having to go through drawers!

Contain your stationery

While it may be tempting to just chuck all your stationery into a case, sorting it into open containers, bowls or cups will not only make it easy to find what you need but also make your desk look much more organised.

This is especially important for smaller supplies like paper clips, rubber bands, pins and pegs which can easily be lost if left loose in a larger container. You can also use them to sort colouring supplies (pencils, markers and pens) and craft accessories like scissors, rulers and glue.

For more great office storage ideas, check out our blog on setting up a home office.

Laundry Storage Ideas

Laundries aren't the largest of rooms, so fitting everything you need into one can be tricky without the right laundry storage. Here are some of our tips for making your laundry both more organised and nicer to look at!

Use clear containers for your powders and liquids

Most laundries will have a basic washing powder, but they might also have a stain remover, silk washing liquid, cold washing liquid and a washing powder specifically for whites… with so many types, you'll find your laundry storage space is being used up, fast! So many kinds of washing powder and liquids together won't look very harmonious, but you can fix these by transferring them to your own clear storage containers or bottles!

Choose glass jars for your washing powder and bottles for your liquids, and make sure to add labels to each so you know which is which. Not only will this make your laundry look much neater, but the uniformly sized containers will stack together much neater than a bunch of different boxes and bottles!

Hang large appliances on the walls

Rather than leaning large tools like your vacuum, mop and broom in a corner, try creating some racks for them to hang from instead! Sturdy metal brackets are perfect for hanging large appliances from, which makes them easy to grab without knocking the rest over. It also elevates them from the ground, which keeps them dirt-free and makes cleaning under them easier too.

Install an inner laundry basket

A large basket of dirty laundry is never going to look nice, so why not tuck it away where it's out of sight? If you have a laundry cupboard, consider using the bottom third of it as your laundry basket! You can simply leave your usual basket in here, or go more hands-on and install a pull-out basket using a rack and a handle.

Check out our buying guide on laundry storage for even more clever laundry storage ideas!

Extra Home Storage Ideas

We've gone through some useful home storage solutions for your home, but there's always room for a few more ideas, right?

Labels, labels, labels

Labelling might not seem needed when you have all your things in their original packaging, but once you start sorting things into matching glass or plastic containers, you may start to realise you can't tell your flour and self-raising flour apart, or your washing powders for whites and for colours! That's why it's so important to label your containers as soon as you put things in them. You can use a label maker, write on stick-on labels and then adhere them, or write straight onto the container using a paint pen or marker.

You can label containers in the pantry and laundry, but also baskets and bins in the office, containers under your bed and even storage boxes in the garage and attic!

Keep it off the floor

A useful storage tip for the whole house is to keep your baskets, bins and containers off the floor if possible. This means making liberal use of shelves, cupboards and hanging storage - while it may take a bit of creative thinking, getting your things off the floor will make your space seem larger and also make your weekly vacuum much easier.

Use the small spaces

Keep an eye out for the small spaces you'd usually overlook that could become potential storage havens. Things like the gap between your fridge and the wall, or your washing machine and a laundry cabinet are candidates for slide-out storage racks that can be used to store small bottles and containers that would otherwise take up shelf space.

Small spaces on your wall can also feature command hooks or pegs that can be used for hanging things, or use that length of bare ceiling for a rack perfect for hanging kitchen utensils or even some home decor!

Discover Handy Home Storage Solutions With Spotlight

Ready to give your home the organisational makeover it deserves? Find all the home storage supplies you need at Spotlight, whether at your local store or online with home delivery.

Read our buying guides on folding fitted sheets, updating your bathroom, and cleaning and storing glassware for heaps of helpful ideas and tips to help you keep your home neat and organised. And for ideas and inspiration on organising your home, check out our blogs on linen cupboard storage, using a clothes steamer and cleaning your kettle inside and out!