Shelves

Shelving can be made of any flat material, ranging from glass to hard woods.

Freestanding shelving units
These can go anywhere in a room and are available in designs and styles to suit every purpose and interior. Units with adjustable shelves are the most practical.

Flexible shelving
Wall mounted shelving systems are usually modular svstems that you can add to as vour needs grow. Some designs will take heavy weight items.

Individual shelf
Inexpensive and simple to fix. This is useful for awkward areas or for space over radiators or doors.

Cupboards and closets
Essentiallv these are shelves behind doors.

Freestanding shelves
Useful for storing items out of view and protecting possessions from dust, it does still need to be periodically cleaned, but can be moved around the home to suit other furniture.

Fitted shelves
This mainstav of modern kitchens and bedrooms is an ideal wav to make full use of unusual or awkwardly shaped rooms. Clever devices, like turntables allow access to corners and may be made to measure, or come with standard dimensions from a prefabricated kitchen or bedroom retailer.

Shelving Tips

• Try to get the most out of your shelving units. Adjustable shelves can be altered to accommodate larger or smaller items. Take time to store items of the same size together to save room.
  
• To avoid shelving looking densely packed, try breaking up lines of books or files with a single ornament or plant.
  
• Freestanding shelves may have doors that will hide storage, keeping the room looking clutter-free.

Drawers

Drawers can be regarded as storage boxes and serve a dual pupose, as they not only store, but offer a surface for displaying.

Freestanding chest of drawers
This is an ideal way of keeping groups of similar things in one place and small items protected from dust and light.

Fitted drawers
Usually built into kitchens and bathrooms they provide pull-out storage for easy access. Deep drawers may be chosen instead of cupboards for larger items.

Freestanding drawer units
Unlike chests of drawers, these are simply a stack of pull-out storage units. They can be made of a variety of materials, shapes, and sizes and sometimes have wheels for greater flexibility. These can be used in just about any part of the house - from bedroom to kitchen to hallway - so long as their size is suitable for your needs.

Smaller storage
There are now many storage extras , for example, drawer dividers that create individual pockets for socks, and baskets that can slide onto shelves in the kitchen or the bedroom to hold smaller items.

How to make space

• Don't waste space with things you no longer need or enjoy; throw them out or recycle them.
• Put least-used items at the back.
• Group similar things you use only occasionally and store them above wall cupboards.
• Squeeze extra storage from larger cupboards by fitting racks onto the backs of doors. Hang up keys, small tools, ties, etc.
• Pack bookshelves effectively. Adjust the height brackets to avoid wasting space above books. Stack too-tall books in horizontal piles.
• Leave one cupboard per room empty as a quick hideaway for clutter if guests suddenly appear.

Creating More storage:

Look around your home to find usable space:

• Above coat pegs: a shelf for hats and bags.
• Above radiators: a display shelf for ornaments.
• The kitchen ceiling: racks, lowered by a pulley for cooking pans and utensils.
• Utility room ceiling: rack for airing clothes.
• Space above doors: shelving for little used files.
• Above the toilet: a cupboard for cleaning supplies.
• Around the basin: add a vanity unit.
• The backs of doors: great for hooks.
• Under beds: store out-of-season clothes in dustproof packing.
• Under desks: many are just tall enough to house a filing cabinet.

Under the stairs:

• Create a home office, for occasional use. Install a desk and computer, and a shelf or two. Add lighting and a set of metal stacking drawers under the desk.
• Make a sewing station with the same desk, chair and lighting, but use stacking storage containers under one side of the table to hold the materials you're working on.
• Insert a floor-to- ceiling bookcase. Install a vertical metal shelving rack, then cut wooden shelves different lengths to fit the space available.
• Get an estimate for converting the space into an extra bathroom. This is most likelv to work in homes with a full height walk-in cupboard under the stairs.
• House a wine rack or build a shoe and boot tree.
• Create a coat room or sports locker.

Add a hook - gain a drawer

To free storage space around the home, hook these to the wall:

• keys
• shopping bags
• long-handled gardening tools
• coffee cups above a kitchen worktop bathroom sponge and shower cap
• games equipment ;
• aprons and overalls

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