Storage Tips

How to organize and optimize your space.

Does your clutter have more control over your house than you do? Are the kid’s rooms and guest bedrooms storage units instead of cheerful dwellings? At Kensington, we have the furniture, the style and the experts to give you back your home and to take over that scary clutter bug!

Super cool loft beds add space and style

 Let’s start with bedrooms; I know kids can be messy at any age so finding the right furniture will solve this problem. Going with beds that have storage is a great way to maximize the full space of the room and not cluttering it up with dressers and plastic wheelie carts. Storage can be under the bed drawers or a head board with compartments. (Captain style beds are great for the kids and it looks really cool!) Another idea is loft beds; they are great for removing the size of the bed from the equation and being able to utilize the entire floor space. Perfect for the office, guest room, college dorms and studio apartments. An extra great bonus to loft beds is the fact that you can have two beds and still have room for a desk and seating.

Hide away all of that unwanted clutter

       Multipurpose storage furniture is a must have.  Ottomans, coffee tables, end tables, cabinets, galore. If the room does not have large closets, or the house is lacking storage space all together, clutter can and will accumulate. Storage ottomans should become your new best friend. They can replace a coffee table, add extra seating in the room and hide all that unwanted clutter. You can keep it simple with a basic storage ottoman or jazz it up and get something that has your name written all over it. They are both great for storing blankets, board games or even seasonal decorations. If you place them in a kid’s room or the play area, they are great for toys but give the kids another cool place to watch some TV or read a book. Not a fan of storage ottomans? Maybe they do not fit your style, that’s okay because there are plenty or coffee or cocktail tables, end tables, and sofa tables that have storage as well. Nesting tables are all a great way to optimize space by taking them out when guests are over and placing them back together when they are not needed.               

Style

Practical

       Sleeper sofas: have a den or a study? Even the main sofa in your living room can be a sleeper. With new trendy fabrics and designs, sleepers are the perfect way to optimize your space without sacrificing style! Kensington has sleepers and futons in all sizes and styles to meet your needs. They really are a great way to provide more space in a room during the day but the ability to put up your guests for a night. Kensington offer plenty of styles and options to customize the furniture to match your style and the amount of space you have to work with.

Great room divider

Perfect storage opportunity

          Does your home have an open concept but you wish for a little more separation?

Bookshelves and cubed shelves are a great room divider without losing the openness of

the room. Double sided book shelves sold at Kensington are perfect room dividers as 

well as a great way to store your books, serving ware, or knickknacks. You can place them between a dining room and a living room or wall off a studio apartment without feeling too cramped. Cubed shelving can create a halve wall in any part of the house or use it for storage in the den or play room. You can place them back to back or side by side. Awkward layouts can be fixed if you add shelving behind the couch to wall it off just enough to create the perfect space.

Place it in the room

Hang it on the wall

        How do you make a small room look bigger by adding pieces to the room?  If you use a large mirror as a piece of art work or accessory it will immediately make the room feel bigger and brighter. Mirrors reflect light around causing the illusion that the room is larger than it really is. Keep in mind that if the space is painted bright neutral colors, the mirror will reflect those colors brightening the space enough more. A little side trick is using glass cocktail tables or vases, solid pieces fill the room as where transparent pieces keep it feeling open.

Add two more chairs or use it as a desk

         Tables are a great multipurpose piece of furniture as well. No formal dining room or separate office?  How about a multipurpose table. You can use it as a desk when home browsing the web, but easily slip away the laptop and serve dinner for four. Are you planning on having more people over?  Find a table that has multiple leaves for seating four to eight guests.

There are endless small room ideas that let you peacefully live in your home instead of sharing your space with clutter. If you have a bike that you do not have storage for, you can hang it on the wall. The Bicycle has great movement and will create an awesome piece of art. Jewelry and sports equipment? You can hang them as well! Placing hooks on the walls and filling it with necklaces or your sports gear will give that clutter a new home and automatically add color and art work around the room.

Storage is a crucial part of organizing, if you don’t have the tools how are you supposed to do the job. Repurpose, reuse, recycle. If there is a piece you don’t want in your room any more it is most likely because you are sick of looking at it. A dresser or a night stand can be painted and used in another room in the house. Repurposing is not always a chore, when looking for a desk, a small dining table could work or vice visa. A bedroom hutch could work great in a dining room. Nightstands for end tables and so on. Design and functionality can go hand and hand. If your house is the size of a mansion or a New York apartment, you still have to figure out what works best in each room and how to maximize the usage of each room.