Storage cupboard transformation
I recently visited a client living in a beautiful old villa that boasted all the hallmarks of these traditional and historic homes - stunning high ceilings, wide central hallway; but on the downside, minimal storage space. They had installed floor-to-ceiling cupboards in their daughter’s bedroom, and these cupboards were working super-hard to contain the entire household’s belongings. They were packed to the gunnels with everything from clothes, to linen, to sentimental items, to a crossbow and arrows.
The brief was to tidy up those cupboards, but without a major declutter and purge. That’s right - not all tidying missions involve clearing stuff out of the house. My plan for these cupboards was simple - sort, categorise, and put back in a way that was livable for this busy family.
During the sorting phase, it quickly became clear that once everything was categorised and tidied, it would not all fit back into the cupboards - sometimes, creating order actually takes up more space. My client gave me the go ahead to set aside all sporting and renovation gear, which would be rehomed in the garage. This left me with enough space to add storage cubes to help the family maintain the categories in the future. I chose to use four storage cubes per shelf; in busy cupboards with multiple categories, small and many containers are often more appropriate than large and few.
The final step was to label the containers and repopulate the cupboards, grouping like with like (e.g. all baby clothes on one shelf, all Christmas decorations on another) to maximise ease of use in the future. And voila, transformation complete!
“Rebekah is an absolute miracle worker...Everything is sorted by purpose and clearly labelled so that I can find anything I need in less than a minute. And it’s so pretty to look at! ”
— Amy, Northcote Point
I have three key tips to share with you based on this project:
Compromise! If there is nothing to be culled, be prepared to compromise on what can go back into a finite storage space. In the name of order, relocating some of your items to elsewhere in the home will likely be necessary.
Categorise! During the sorting phase, create categories for your belongings, and keep it loose at this point. For example - baby clothes, clothes, sheets, etc.
Contain and label! Choose containers that make the most of your space AND make sense for your belongings. Label those bad boys and get specific - now is the time to drill down, for example “Baby clothes: size 3-6 months”.
Locked and loaded
Before...
After!
If you need some help getting your storage cupboards to maximise the space available AND look good, holler for assistance! I’d love to take the “rage” out of storage for you, haha.