With the summer upon us, the children home from school causing chaos in every room, practical storage methods become key. How often have you arrived home feeling refreshed and revitalised after staying in a beautiful holiday villa or hotel only to despair at every corner jammed with ‘stuff’? A stark contrast to the minimal and peaceful aesthetic you enjoyed while away. Good storage can turn your home into minimalist escape you always dreamed of, it can be subtle or make a statement, or perhaps even the two together!
If undetectable and subtle is key then the ottoman is the hero. Beautifully upholstered ottomans not only provide sumptuous elements in a bedroom they can easily disguise those piles of woolly jumpers instead of hideous plastic boxes, the likes of which only draw attention to clutter. Ottomans can come in the form of neat little filing systems which double as a footstool in a living room or a stool at a dressing table. Yet these hugely practical pieces of furniture, can hide what you need them to whilst at the same time enhance any scheme with wonderful fabrics to make that the statement in the room if you so wish.
There are neat and clever ways to tackle many of our storage problems from tall narrow hall units housing numerous pairs of shoes or wellies, storage drawers hidden under beds and slim line deceptively spacious storage for bijou bathrooms. Baskets, boxes, hidden hooks and concealed racks, there is always something that can be found to solve the problem.
We would always suggest trying to be rid of any ‘stuff’ you can really live without and then try to be creative with the necessities but we’re realistic too – we’re not all Mary Kondo after all! It is very hard for many of us to be minimalist and many of us need the ‘clutter’.
Statement storage can be beautiful, think open shelving and antique cabinetry – open shelving can give you the opportunity to explore your inner interior stylist displaying collectibles and objet d’art from your travels.
Perhaps invest in a beautiful credenza or console unit; you can fit a lot of items inside cabinets and then the extra surface space provides wonderful platforms for design and styling.
There are numerous designers out there inspired to find ingenious ways to hide our unsightlies and it provides us with a challenge to find a solution that works for you. Equally there are a multitude of weird and wonderful ideas of ways to play with mundane objects. Whether it be attractive ways to store your loo rolls without keeping them in a cupboard or the fun and practical wetsuit dryer in our Cornish project. Storage doesn’t have to be hidden away and can be stylish and striking in equal measure.
If you are able, designing a bespoke wall unit is ideal. A carpenter can combine any number of unique combinations of cupboards and shelves to suit you. These can be painted in contrasting colours, cleverly lit using hidden atmospheric lighting. Can incorporate mirror and tiles. They can display stand out door furniture to add another dimension or have none at all to create a completely seamless look; there are so many fun options and examples we can show you.
You can always use space that isn’t normally used, surround doorways and windows, use corridors, enhance alcoves and never forget the cupboard under the stairs. The possibilities are endless and there are always ways to enrich your home from a design perspective but also on a helpful and practical level too and we would be delighted to show you how.