Image Credit: Minette Hand

14 Sneaky Ways to Add More Storage to Small Spaces

by DANIELLE BLUNDELL

Image Credit: Mariana Guimaraes

We looked to a few of our favorite tiny house and apartment tours to bring you some ideas and products you can use to be stealth about storage in your space.

Image Credit: Maya Goldfine

Rethink your bedside table

If you’re trying to sneak in storage, here’s a bold move: Why not use an actual shelving unit? Yes, it takes up more square footage, but the ROI might be worth it for you. 

Image Credit: Viv Yapp

Hang hooks

Max out your vertical space by mounting hooks—right on a piece of furniture! Walls obviously work too. And if you can’t or don’t want to make holes in your walls, opt for a removable, self-adhesive option.

Image Credit: Minette Hand

Camouflage with curtains

No proper closet?  Try installing shelves, racks, and bins galore right onto your wall and then just use curtains on a tension rod to hide this makeshift wardrobe. 

Image Credit: Melanie Rieders

Use corner

Inconspicuous hooks make corner storage so simple and much less obvious than when using a stool, rack, or table. You can hang up purses, coats, and umbrellas, and save yourself the precious floor space.

Image Credit: Liz Calka

Select seating that serves another function

Dual-purpose chests and benches with hidden compartments are your best friends for stashing all sorts of stuff—and providing seats for friends and guests. 

Image Credit: Maya Goldfine

Repurpose a dresser as a media console

One of these guys could take up the same amount of floor space but pack way more heat in the storage department, since it’s taller. 

Image Credit: Minette Hand

Turn an accent wall into a storage wall

If you have a small, somewhat awkward uninterrupted stretch of drywall, try to find a storage unit that you can squeeze in there as tightly as possible. You’re basically faking a built-in.

Image Credit: Viv Yapp

Consider the above-the-sofa-space

Use a barely-there ledge to store and display a variety of framed pieces and items. This kind of setup also makes it super easy to switch out items in a growing collection.

Image Credit: Viv Yapp

Boost your bed’s storage potential

Most mattresses are wide and long enough that you should really be utilizing the space underneath them. Try a bed frame with under bed drawers. 

Image Credit: Minette Hand

Go vertical with shoe storage

Over-the-door shoe racks are by no means chic, but they get the job done and use dead space in a constructive, creative way. Try an over-the-door towel rack in your bathroom, too.

Image Credit: Liz Calka

Give stairs a secret feature

This isn’t a product, per se, but if you can do any construction at all in your home, consider rebuilding your stairs or a stair landing to include pull-out drawers. How James Bond of you!

Image Credit: Mariana Guimaraes

Maximize the area above the cabinets

Take inspiration from this petite London flat, which placed baskets atop a pantry cupboard to make storing items appear neat, intentional, and orderly.

Image Credit: Lucy Vernasco

Beautify your radiator

With a wooden slab-style shelf and a few decorative accents, you can transform an ugly radiator into a perfect little display shelfie.

Image Credit: Melissa Nichols and Jake Durrett

Grab the spot above your door moldings

Above a door frame, you’ll find the perfect spot for a mini indoor garden, and this idea can be replicated anywhere you have an interior door or wall cut-out.