During the winter, we spend a lot more time indoors keeping warm. With all those thick winter coats, woolly hats and odd gloves crowding your hallway, as well as family members and pets driving you to distraction, you can be forgiven for sneaking online to check out the latest property listings.
Before you take such a drastic step of moving house, however, you should consider these alternative solutions for creating space at home.
1. Use Furniture as Storage
Sick of everything getting jumbled up in your chest of drawers? Use mini crates, boxes, pen pots or jam jars to separate everything out into neat compartments so you are never turning your room upside down to find anything again.
Likewise, in the living room, there is a fantastic range of storage cubes available on the high street. Think Ikea! They are quirky, they add a pop of colour to your home and you can sit on some of them – Result! Use them to store papers, books or any other item you are in the process of using, but don’t want out on display all the time.
Does your bed have drawers to store linen? If not, no problem – Flat plastic crates on wheels maximise the space under your bed for quilt covers, shoes and out-of-season garments.
2. Adopt a Seasonal Wardrobe
It’s chilly outside, but those woolly jumpers will soon be a thing of the past once we get into spring. If you have separate clothes for winter and summer, then you can put your winter clothes and coats away in the loft during the summer and vice versa.
According to Loveyourclothes.org.uk you should use plastic crates lined with cotton sheets instead of vacuum bags, as these can ruin your clothes in the long term. Ensure your clothes are clean, dry and properly protected before storing them away.
Also read: Forget about Winter and Get Ready for Summer with Seasonal Self-Storage
3. Get Rid of your Tables
If flexible living space is what you are after, it is pointless having fixed tables that you use for a maximum of two hours a day for meals. When they are not being used for eating or working at, it is too easy to load your junk mail, newspapers and washed laundry onto these surfaces. Instead of a static dining table, consider swapping it for a fold up table and chairs.
Coffee tables are mainly used for resting drinks on. It uses up a lot of space for something that has no real purpose. And what about those glossy coffee table books, you say? Is your house a reception for a design studio? If not, then your books will look just as good on a bookshelf. Purchase a space-saving nest of tables, and your floor could be used for home workouts or a child’s temporary play area – The possibilities are endless!
4. Declutter
Granted, this is not the most fun suggestion. Yet, after decades of accumulating, people understand the fact that possessions can be asphyxiating. Not only that, but it is impossible to relax when there are visible reminders of things you should be doing. Think of all those cookbooks you haven’t opened, the workout DVDS still in their cellophane and the gadgets you still don’t know how to use. Relieve yourself of this sense of failure and have a good sort out.
Also read: Could there be Psychological Benefits to Self-Storage?
5. Go Fully Digital
How not to have your possessions and still have them! Most of us are at least half way there. You can store an entire library of books on your mobile phone, and streaming videos and music is the most convenient way to enjoy your entertainment. Not only can you remove the albums, books and DVDs themselves, but think of all that space you will reclaim when the bookcases and cabinets have been dismantled.
6. Rent a Storage Unit for your Possessions…Or for Yourself!
Going 100% digital may be a step too far for most, as many items are gifts from loved ones or have special memories attached. In this case, why not keep them in storage? Storage units come in a range of sizes and can be used to house large equipment or a few boxes of mementos. You can even use your storage space as a place to spend a couple of hours of “me-time” away from the madness of everyday life. Thinking of keeping an armchair and a bookcase in your unit? Go for it!
These are just six of many solutions to reclaim the space you live in. So don’t call the estate agent just yet!