I love watching the organizing shows, such as Clean Sweep and Clean House. I am amazed at how much stuff people try to fit in their houses. Sometimes these house are twice the size of mine with what looks like plenty of closet space. Many times the people have invested in expensive storage systems that go unused.
While de-cluttering is a must when you can’t see the floor, good storage strategies are important, too. If you stockpile items to save money or to be prepared, you know how important storage is to your efficiency and your sanity.
Here are two of the very frugal storage ideas that I have practiced or gathered through the years of living in small spaces.
Under the bed storage: Invest in a pretty dust ruffle or bed skirt that hangs down to cover the space from your mattress to the floor. You can then store out of season clothes and other items out of view. If you are handy with a sewing machine, you can sew a simple skirt for free. Or, you can go one step beyond and use bed lifts to raise the bed for more storage. In college we did this with cement blocks, but there are actual kits out there that you can buy to raise your bed off of the floor, thus gaining more space for storage underneath.
Instead of running out and buying lots of plastic containers, why not try using free cardboard boxes? I find that that warehouse stores have great boxes for home storage. They are generally high in the back with an open top and a cut out window in the front. I use these boxes to store my health and beauty stockpile. The shampoos, for example can line up quite nicely, and I just reach in the window to grab a new bottle. If you want to stack these type of boxes, you can simply put a sturdy piece of cardboard on top of the open top of the bottom box and then simply stack the next box on top of that.
How do you store your stuff? Would you like to see more storage ideas?
Related Articles:
Ten Ways Being Organized Can Save Money
The Frugal Move: Free Packing Boxes