Stylish Storage and Organisation Ideas for Your Home

While technically it’s not time for a spring clean, there’s never a bad time to get your home cleaned and organised. In fact, summer is a great time to go through your kitchen especially. With the temperatures rising, who knows what’s going on inside your cupboards! If you’re anything like the rest of us, you’ve got a few open packets of things you’ve forgotten about, and several more foodstuffs that have probably gone off. Storage and organisation solutions don’t have to be ugly, and you don’t have to keep everything hidden away. If you’re lacking cupboard space, then these stylish ideas will be perfect for you. We’ve got some great tips to help you get organised in style, all throughout your home.

First things first, let’s start with the kitchen. Before you can get things properly organised, you need to see what you have. A great way to start things off is by giving your kitchen a good clean. Not just the usual wash up and put away. Go through your fridge, freezer and all of your cupboards and give them a good clean. Wipe down all of the surfaces (including inside your cupboards) and throw away anything that’s gone off or that has been open for too long. Once you’ve got everything clean, you can start organising.

One of the best types of container to use in the kitchen are clear jars. These can be made from plastic or glass, depending on your preference or budget. The reason why it’s good to buy clear containers is because you can see exactly how much you have, so that you know what to add to your shopping list! With clear containers, you don’t necessarily have to add labels (unless of course you’re trying to distinguish between plain and self-raising flour), but they do add a nice touch. You can buy different styles and sizes of containers, but if you have 3 or 4 of each style or size, things will look much more neatly organised. If all of your containers are unique, it might make your pantry look a little messy.

Baskets and bowls are also lovely to use in the kitchen, particularly for fruit or vegetables which don’t need to be refrigerated, such as onions and potatoes. Also, if you don’t have any storage space for tea towels and aprons, you can put up hooks. If you rent an apartment in Malta, you probably won’t be allowed to fix anything with nails or screws, but you can buy stick-on hooks which shouldn’t mark the walls or the cupboards. Cutlery organisers are nice to use inside a drawer, or even on the counter if you don’t have room anywhere else. You can also use an adhesive magnetic strip to store your sharp knives. Again, if you don’t have much cupboard space, you can buy a stand to put all of your pots and pans on. The taller the stand, the less floor space it will take up.

Over in the bathroom, jars and baskets are nice, too. You can put things like earbuds and cotton wool pads into clear glass jars. This will look much nicer than the plastic box or bag that they came in. Plus, you can recycle the plastic and just buy refills next time around. Toothbrush holders are great, too, and if you don’t want to buy one, you can just use a nice glass from the kitchen. Make sure you wash it out often, though, otherwise it can get a bit gross after a while. If you have a lot of products which tend to clutter up every surface in your bathroom, get a small storage unit with drawers. These aren’t expensive and they don’t take up much space. You won’t damage the wall by putting up shelves and you can take it with you when you move to your next rental property. It also looks nice to put your toilet rolls in a wicker basket, or something similar. You’ll always have a spare roll near when you run out!

If you have a shower, you can buy a shower caddy. This looks much nicer than having all of the bottles on the floor of the shower and saves you from having to bend down every time you need something. Shower caddies normally hang from the shower head or you can find ones that stick on to the shower wall. If you are renting your flat in Malta, then make sure you get one which can be put on and off without marking the wall. Alternatively, if you have a bath/shower, you can get a caddy that stands in one corner. Or, you can buy a bath tray to store all of your toiletries.

Last but not least, there are lots of great ideas you can use to organise your bedroom in a stylish way. Like in the kitchen, start by going through everything and getting rid of what you don’t wear or need. If your clothes are in good shape but you just don’t wear them anymore, give them a wash and donate them to charity instead of simply throwing them away. Inside your closet, hang up shirts, dresses and jackets. You can buy protective covers for precious items, to keep away dust and clothes moths. In the summer, you can put away your winter clothes too. Vacuum pack your winter wardrobe to give yourself more space for your summer clothes and switch again when the weather gets colder. Whatever you don’t see when you open your closet, you won’t wear. So, this gives you the opportunity to display your seasonal wardrobes and make use of all your lovely clothes.

When you buy new shoes, keep the box. You can stack your shoeboxes at the bottom of your closet to keep things neat and tidy. Otherwise you’ll probably end up with a shoe pile and you’ll never be able to find a matching pair. For the laundry, you can buy a pretty basket to put the dirties in. Make sure you buy something big enough, though. If it’s too small, all your dirty laundry will spill over the sides and end up on the floor, which will completely defeat the purpose of buying a laundry bin. If you have a lot of pillows or blankets on the bed (especially in winter), consider getting a trunk or an organiser to put these in, instead of throwing them onto the floor when you get into bed. Utilise any space you have under your bed for storage, too. You can buy boxes that can slide underneath the bed to keep your belongings organised and out of site.