Your Apartment Has More Storage Space Than You Think -- If You Know Where to Look

If you’re not the type to get rid of half your stuff, check out these artful ways to optimize space and cleverly tuck away possessions for later use.

Most unconsidered and cluttered homes have both furnishings and belongings stuffed along the perimeter of a room and reaching only about shoulder height (if that). It’s time to look up.

In Your Entryway

Unless you’re lucky enough to have a proper entryway, the bit of room adjacent to your door is often the only space available for the important job of serving as a landing space for mail, keys, coats and more.

Wall-mounted hooks are a good place to hang coats and, behind them, purses, bags and grocery totes. A great basket directly beneath can hold shoes.

If you have a handy corner, CB2 has an unusual solution, a corner hanging bar (above), that takes up far less space than a traditional coat rack.

In Your Living Room and Bedroom

Anyone who has ever spent time with an IKEA catalog knows that designing up is a great idea when configuring small spaces.

Installing bookshelves that actually go from floor to ceiling will drastically improve not only the architectural look of your room, but you will have more space than you knew was possible for books and pretty objects.

You know how you can store out-of-season clothes under the bed? You can also store all manner of things under the couch. Don’t just look high; look low. Pick a storage vessel that blends in with your flooring color-wise to make it visually disappear.

You can also hide things behind the couch. A narrow table positioned between a wall and a couch can display a lamp, a vase and books on its surface as well as hide items inside you don’t need to access often, such as holiday decorations.

Dual-purpose furniture can also be a lifesaver in a small apartment — though some will disagree — and some pieces, like this incredible armoire that folds out into a completely organized craft station or home office, can be a game-changer.

The space above your doors is prime — and often unused. Have an excess of shoes or bags that don’t always get used, but are acceptable for display? This is a great solution.

In Your Kitchen

It’s hard to find a small Brooklyn apartment-dweller who isn’t storing pots and pans in the oven. I’ve even seen folks use their microwaves as bread/cracker pantry space — stick snacks in a basket, and remove when it’s time to nuke something. There are tons of other great ways to create storage space in a kitchen, however, that don’t involve stashing items inside of appliances.

Magnetic strips are your friends, as are wall hooks — think of your kitchen wall and backsplash as valuable real estate for knives and cooking utensils.

In Your Bathroom

The towels hanging on your apartment’s towel racks are taking up valuable wall space. If you can’t remove your towel racks all together without upsetting your landlord, it’s often easy to install free-floating shelves or backless cabinets around them, drastically increasing your bathroom’s storage potential.

If your towel racks are stuck to your door or wall, use those as jumping-off points to hang shoe organizers (to hold toiletries), makeup organizers, storage baskets, magazine holders, or other sneaky storage solutions.

Where will your towels go, you ask? Easy. Head to the hardware store with a $10 bill and emerge with some S-hooks, which come in gold and copper if you’re into that.

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