Space saving tips in a flat please...

[PavlovtheRedNosedReindeer]

live in a flat, have cupboard space but not well designed, have high ceilings, one double, one single bedroom.

Apart from being ruithless and chucking out things we don't need, what space saving tips do you have? Things to use, etc. We are prepared to spend some, but not tons of money doing it.

(ie, in bathroom we have no storage apart from large sill, small kitchen).

Be as inventive/creative as you like, we are being open minded! (links are useful too)

Pav- are you back? How was NY? Happy New Year!

re storage- floor to ceiling is good if you can- especially if you have high ceilings. Looks uniform, and cuts down on clutter. Think of using something like Kitchen cabinets in other rooms, but all the way up the wall- if you have the ikea catalogue rather than just website, they usually have loads of ideas in there.

Happy New Year EachPeach! (and everyone else!) - yes back from NY, and after being in BILs spotless NY apartment, realise just how cluttered our place is!!! NY was FAB!, we did so much, DD even went iceskating (at 2.5!).

Ikea is not too far - we are going to take a drive up at the weekend, do the list thing and then go. I am also buying some things from that Store website which is great (they have a wooden bath caddy with a book stand, and another one with a wine glass holder, book stand and candle holder on it! Not that it saves space, but still!).

I am particular buying an under sink cupboard - I have seen lots which go right around the sink and I have been scared about taking off sink and putting back on, if it will fit etc. But this site has one that does not go right round, in shaker style which is nice and simple, and is only £55, then a couple of small corner units in the bathroom too, for flannels and hand towels, one of those metal bottle holder things for the wall by shower, towel rail to put onto under sink cupboard near bath (save the floor getting wet as we stretch to heated rail for towels), on and a toilet roll holder as we don't have one! And thats the bathroom pretty much sorted for £100 (just over)

Then in the kitchen, they have a binbag bin! we don't have a bin. We just have a carrier on the floor by the door and it gets taken about couple times a day to main bin. We had one under the sink but it is so cluttered with stuff, it never got emptied, and it was a pain to go hunt the millions of carriers around the place and it was gross so we stopped it. However this, it goes on the door, so not going to get covered in stuff thrown in, and underneath it has a place for the plastic bags! here its perfect!

Do you think those sheila maids would be ok in a bathroom? Or is it too damp there? We have a huge ceiling in the hallway, BUT we also have a loft hatch right in the perfect place for it, the only other place would mean people being hit by clothes as they walk up the stairs!!! Or at least seeing my undies as they look up!

Ooh- Pav- Ikea used to do a bin like that that went in a cupboard... but it was way cheaper (think couple of quid) -don't know if they still do it, as we bought ours around 9 years ago.

Bathroom might be too damp for airer tbh. How big is kitchen? Is there room in there at all, as usually kitchens are warmest in flats.

That under-sink unit (shakerish one) doesn't have any internal shelves it says!!!! Not sure how useful that would be.

Each peach - shelves are not a problem really, I have a cheap metal shelf thing that can go in it, like a tidy, but in the loft as quite ugly!

Oh god I don't know. I want a house with it all already done!

just found the bin at Argos - same one, so can save on postage at least!

Bargain - Lakeland £9.78!!!! lovely, having that!

I think yes, probably bathroom too damp for the airer thingy.

However - if you put it in the hall, you could very easily lower it and remove all the slats (they just pull out) if you wanted loft access. Great thing also is that you would be able to see the joists and where to screw it into! I was guessing with mine - still a bit afraid it is only supported by something screwed into an electric conduit rather than a joist up there!!

You only need to attach it in two places, the rope runs between them but could be shifted to one side to get past.

Check for dead space within your existing storage. Kitchen cupboards are rarely stacked to the top, so you can get little stands that go inside and effectively give you another layer. Storing standard tins in a cupboard that's 25 or 30cm tall is really inefficient.

The same goes for bookcases - if the shelves are 30cm apart or 30cm deep, don't have a single layer of paperbacks. Stack them horizontally and in a front and back layer.

'Kitchen cupboards are rarely stacked to the top' - you've not seen ours, lol. They are all chockablock!

Ah, well, you know what I mean.

You need to think quite carefully about your furniture. Blanket boxes/trunks instead of coffee tables or side tables, you can get sofas on which the seat lifts up and there is storage underneath, bed divans with drawers, etc etc.

Apartment Therapy is always full of photos of what clever sexy young New Yorkers have done with their "Classic Manhattan Railcar" (in British English = a shoebox)

this bathroom shelf thing that you attach on the corner of the bath is an absolute godsend. So useful - you can keep all your day to day shampoo, soap, extra bits and pieces on there.

Also, I think it's mentioned earlier but those very narrow wicker shelving units are brilliant and can fit under the sink often.

OOOO Ninedragons. That apartment therapy site is gorgeous. i've been sucked into a bit of house porn when I should be tidying my cupboards!

I know, it's one of my favourites.

There's a good article in this week's NY Times about what somebody did with his small and oddly shaped flat. The slideshow (navigate back to the main H&G page) is quite inspiring.

Clever clogs architect

Have been lurking, but just wanted to say that ninedragon's apartment therapy site is brilliant! Am drooling.

Hi
I recently bought one of those chrome shelves/basket thingys from Sainsburys to stick on the bathroom window - works quite well although they dont hold huge amount of weight. I got it to ensure that my husbands razor is kept out of reach of small hands. It looks OK and the window is wasted storage space - plua the basket is reasonably small and doesnt cut out light or anything! - only about £3-4.
HTH

OMG - just seen the store/place for everything website - OMG I LOVE IT!!! Just off to hyperventilate and get credit cards!!

We live in a teeny two-up two-down.

IKEA do a brilliant and cheap shelving system called Expedit that comes in various sizes and finishes. It's cubic and is a cheapo version of a conran/habitat classic.

here

It takes castors, so you can see underneath - this tricks the eye into thinking the floorspace is bigger than it is (good rule in small spaces.)

I have the 5x2 cube version in white, tipped on its side so that it's wider than it is tall (another good eye-tricking tip - if you can see all the way to the wall at eye-level or below, you don't notice the piece of furniture 'cutting in' to the room.

But the very big one (5x5?)is useful too, if you have the space. Keep a couple of cubes empty other than for something decorative - again, so that you can see right back to the wall behind and gain the sense of space.

With a bit of thought about what to put in each cube - it looks kind of stylishly, colourfully cluttered but contained - a more realistic aim with kids than neat minimalism.

If you stick to just this range, more or less, your storage will look uniform - again this creates the illusion of less clutter, more space.

They do some rather naff perspex boxes to cover things that you want hidden or that need to be contained - but you're better off using a variety of attractive boxes from IKEA or elsewhere - vintage is nice. They don't need to fit exactly.

Should I be anxious at how much thought I've put into this?

I have found half the items I want from Store, at at least half the price elsewhere, ie Lakeland! Result!

This is what I have done/doing, with advice from people here and some searching.

DH found some fab pine wood boxes with lids for £6 in Sainsabury's today- perfect for DDs train set and other toys, he has bought 5. I like them as they can be painted, which I am going to do, paint pictures of the items inside, make them funky and colourful, and not plasticy and unfurniture like! We are going to buy one of those ikea type shelving units (3,2,1) but without the boxes and put these boxes in them in a space in the hallway.

I am also going to buy some more for organising the cupboards and the loft when I eventually get up there, they are robust and big enough to take quite a lot. And I am getting a 4-tier plastic trolley with drawers for the hallwy cupboard to put wellies and outdoor clothing, brolleys, shoes, and bits and bobs currently stashed.

I am getting a Sheila Maid, did a bit of thinking and actuallly the perfect place for it (well not perfect, but reasonable!) and that will sort out wet washing problem, that is also in the hallway.

In the bathroom - I am buying two x 4 wicker drawer/seagrass drawers to put down one side of sink, and then if we need another one get another one for the other side (might get 3 drawers, not sure yet, go to find them, run out of steam yesterday! We are going to put spare toilet rolls, shower stuff etc in these drawers, plus nappies, wetwipes, cotton wool etc, and also a drawer for spare face clothes, hand towells. Then I am getting suction held caddy/tidy for by the shower, to hold daily used shower gel, shampoo etc. AND, I am seriously considering putting in a door of some kind under the bath - ours has fallen off a few times and i just took a peak, there is loads of space there - and it means I could buy one of those nice bath things with the book holder and glass holder and candle holder and store it there with smelly candles etc!!!

Kitchen/diner- we have bought a plate rack for space on the wall that is not used (used to have boiler there, now nothing - and we are going to put vegetable rack up in a corner that has a high ceiling and a low cupboard. We are getting a plastic bag bin, which will sort of bin issue and our 'where to put the carrier bags' issue, and a clip to hold the kitchen roll so the sides will be clearer, and a carousel spice rack so we can tidy up the spice cupboard and stop it falling out on me! I am throwing away a ton of tupparware, make some more space, and have cleared the tops of cupbards and top of fridge of clutter - it looks soooooo much better in there already!

PHEW - a lot eh? DH and I spent ages last night sorting this, lots of it is not bought yet, but written down and some bought, some on way.

That leaves the bedroom and front room - bedroom is mostly ok, front room - we have a relatively big project planned for this room, so it is long term sorted, not just boxes and and hideaway sorted. It will take some time, planning and a bit of building work. In the meantime we are throwing out a sofa and stuffing under the other sofa!

Thank you so so much for advice, kick starting my brains and great suggestions/websites!

keep the ideas coming though, we are not finished yet. When we are done, we will have space for you to all come around for tea!

Fantastic thread - I was thinking of posting something similar.

These Sheila Maid things - are they heavy? Is there any danger of bringing down the ceiling??

Any recommendations for coffee tables with drawers?

Wow Pav- sounds amazing- what a lot of changes... but an excellent way to start a new year

My recommendation is just: have one place, just one, assigned to each & every thing you have - like living in a yacht, or a submarine. The scissors always go back in the one scissors place. The Enid Blytons always live in the Enid Blyton place. When we (that means me, dh is neat-ahoy) let things in our flat get out of place it is astounding how quickly it becomes a tip.

(I have just spent this last entire week, "on holiday" from work, turning out and overhauling the room which is dd's-bedroom-and-both-of-their-playroom to match the above principle. It took me 4 full days because it was so dreadful - but now is clear and neat and efficient and a joy.)

Also look for hidden space above doors: you can often fit high shelves up there.

I have a couple of good interior design architecture books about living in small spaces (in fact, I think one is just that). Americans use Murphy beds a lot (beds that fold up into wall) but I think they are expensive and probably only worth it if a multipurpose room.

Spaces under kitchen cupboards good for hanging racks for cups, glasses etc.

Do you have stairs? I have seen some stair storage solutions too: ie drawers built in under each stair, or into the recess underneath them so accessed from the side.

Couldn't agree more with Bink about having a place for everything.

Otherwise you can't find the screwdriver/extra coax cable/spare pilot light bulb and end up buying another one. Then the door opens to clutter and it just goes pear-shaped immediately.

Good tip about having a place for everything - we are very much in agreement, and it is true about buying double of things if you cant find it...we have about 3 lots of shoe polish for that very reason. And its still not in one place!!!

I hope the Sheila Maid will be ok for the ceiling - it is an old victorian house conversion, and it will be going onto the ceiling that goes up into the loft (nice and high, and relatively discrete), so I am hoping that it is a robust ceiling. We might get a friend round to help do it and advise if it needs re-enforcing in some way - if we can locate the beams in the loft, maybe we can attach directly into one?

Yesterday, I put some of the things in the kitchen that I bought (a carousel for herbs, has given me half a cupboard back, which has promptly been used again!), plate shelves for the cupboard to stack plates, and also cups/coffee, made the space much more accessible - also meant I re-organised, and threw away an entire bin-bag of stuff that we just do not need (lids with no pots, empty spice jars), out of date sauce packets, water bottles for DD that have no lids/are looking scanky and not used, cracked plates).

Hallway today (and most likely the rest of the week)!!!

I feel quite refreshed at this, but want it done NOW!!!