How Installing Shelves Can Eliminate Your Storage Woes

By Franky Brown

Finding storage solutions for our belongings, clothing, foodstuffs papers, books and home accessories is a recurring problem for many. One of the best ways to add extra storage space is to install a variety of shelves in different locations around your home.

A huge selection of storage solutions is available to the home owner or apartment dweller. From garage storage units of metal to pretty glass floating shelves, whatever you need for shelving is readily available for purchase. Often home improvement stores are the best place to find your new shelves.

Before you buy, consider what purpose your new storage unit will fulfill. Think about how much weight it will need to support, where you can locate it, whether it will be wall mounted or free standing, and how it looks. Shelving intended for use indoors should match or coordinate with the room decor as well as be attractive.

For heavy efficient garage storage to take care of seasonally used items like camping and sports gear, workshop tools and yard maintenance tools, you can find shelving units at your local home improvement center that will work well for you. Another alternative that is more economical would be to build your own from lumber and plywood.

Kitchens are often lacking in storage space, and thus can look cluttered. Counter clutter can be solved by adding shelves to an open wall in the kitchen. Pretty serving dishes, mixing bowls and special plates look attractive on open shelving, freeing up cabinet space. Within a cabinet, slotted vertical dividers will make it easy to store baking sheets and cutting boards.

One way to make lower kitchen cabinets more accessible is to install sliding shelves. These can be mounted at several levels within the cabinet, with full shelf extension. This a good addition for making that hard-to-reach space much more available. A good use of these areas is for storing larger kitchen utensils and machines that are used only occasionally.

If you find your bedroom closet is jam-packed and you just can't find what you want, then investing in closet organizers is a good idea. Many types can be found in home improvement stores, and are quite simple to install. They are usually make with wire shelving, mounted on wall brackets. The clothing racks are adjustable, so you can add a variety types and of levels of storage to fit your particular needs.

Bathrooms often are lacking in storage space as well. One idea is to mount a floating shelf above the counter to hold lotions, toothbrushes and other things you use daily. Another spot that is available is the wall space above the toilet. A cabinet or set of shelves mounted there can hold towels. Organize the small items like extra soaps, boxes of first aid supplies or cosmetics each in their own basket, and set them on a special shelf.

Even a wide hallway can be used for extra storage. A bookcase along a bare wall can hold not only books, but your favorite decorative accessories. By adding attractive baskets to the shelves you can organize small items like keys, mittens, scarves and even your household papers.

Many answers are available for solving clutter and disorganization. Just by adding extra shelves or storage units in available spots within your home, you will be able to stay organized and your living areas will be much more attractive.

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