Crafty Ways to Create More Storage Space in Your Home (VIDEO)

Regardless of your home's size, you probably think you don’t have enough room for storage. Some collectors don’t know how to pare down what they have. Apartment dwellers are often making do in small spaces. If you’re looking for new storage ideas, here are several crafty ways to get things in order, from making your own storage baskets to organizing a dry goods pantry. You can get everything in order with a little effort and ingenuity. 

Build Your Own Storage Baskets

Few storage items are quainter or more common than a basket. Everything looks a little cuter when dropped in one. But maybe you don’t feel like shelling out 20 clams every time you need another storage spot? If you’re crafty, have a hot glue gun, some rope and a cardboard box, you may be able to make it yourself. First, hot glue lines of rope around the sides of the box. Then use linen or another material and sew a cover that fits over the box. Take it off and then the material transforms into the lining.

Find Room for New Shelves

You may have used a peg board to hang your tools in the workshop. By supersizing the same concept, you can make flexible shelving that also has a shabby chic style. Not only is this approach a lot cheaper than the standard set of shelves, the adaptability of the concept means you can fit the shelves into almost any open space and also change the shelving levels to fit items beyond books like a kitchen mixer or sewing machine. 

Hang Your Shoes on Moulding

The history of crown moulding dates back to ancient Egypt and Greece. The wall liners were originally designed to add ornate flair to interiors and divide spaces. If only those ancient civilizations knew you can hang stilettos and pumps on them. In this design, wood moulding is attached to the wall and spaced out so shoes hang from their heels. An important early step is picking moulding that has an angled lip at the top that will serve as a ledge to hang the shoes from. While white or natural wood can work just fine for the hanging shelves, you can create a room accent by panting the molding. The number of rows you’ll need depends on the size of your shoe collection.

Create a Pantry Where There Isn’t One

A lot of apartment dwellers and small house denizens don’t have as much pantry space as they’d like. With planning and a handful of purchases, almost any space can become a storage cellar for dried goods. As Sarah Ashley Spiegel demonstrates, creating a Pinterest worthy display of flours and spices can be accomplished with evenly sized and carefully labeled containers. Those containers might range from antique doctor’s office tongue depressor jars to plastic, dollar store cereal containers. Almost any option can work as long as its air tight and evenly sized. For labels, you can write on blackboard stickers with a silver Sharpie or get a little craftier and use chalkboard paint with white paint to write the ingredient. Sarah has plenty of other helpful ideas to get your vinegars, oils and other ingredients in order.

Craft Supply Storage Hacks

If you’ve got a lot of craft supplies — whether they’re cloth swatches, yarn skeins or unevenly sized stamps — you probably have a hard time corralling them. Rebecca Kepel’s tips for keeping those doodads and whatchamacallits organized are clever and cost effective. Nail polish holders turn out to be good for holding more than just little bottles. Clear lucite fridge bins are great for holding paper, stencils, background stamps and plenty of other things you need to flip through quickly. Diner-style sugar dispensers can also store twine and ribbons. A peg board can be used to hold binder rings filled with Washi tape or packages of embellishments. Ink pad organizers will not only fit ink pads, but also refill bottles. Plenty of other containers can be used for craft materials. What are your fave non-traditional containers?