1. Assign a place for everything
Brenda Scott, professional home organizer and founder, Tidy My Space, says: ‘The tip to storage in a living room (actually any room) comes down to determining how you want to use the room, what activities are going to take place in that room and what you need for that activity. Measure, measure, measure! Leave enough room between furniture for foot traffic and getting around, nothing’s worse than a room crammed full with furniture.’
Assign a place for everything: ‘For example, the remote goes in the basket on the table, magazines go in the basket or stacked on a shelf, books go back on the shelf. When everything has a home and can be stored quickly and easily, then any room will look like it has lots of storage solutions even if it doesn’t.’
2. Curate a mini library with a bookcase
Fancy a break from the tech and screen brain drain? Create a cozy living room corner with a comfy armchair, and a bookshelf stacked with favorite tomes.
Jen Noseworthy, professional organizer, The Simply Sorted Home, says: ‘Bookshelves are a perfect way to store special mementos – but don’t overstuff them! By keeping a little white space, you’ll let your special items shine, while allowing your shelves to look nice and organized.’
Farah Merhi, style expert at Designer Looks Furniture, says: ‘For a bookcase, depending on the design of the space you’re working with, you could opt for more of a mid-century glam option with the Shea Bookcase in Gold or a simple, minimalistic and mid-century modern look with the Harvard Bookcase. Each option has four large shelves that can be styled easily with books, accent pieces, or anything in-between!’
3. Save floor space with nesting tables
A great and versatile option for a modern small living room where floor space is limited, choose a stylish set of compact nesting tables that can nestle snugly at the end of your sofa, or provide extra surface space for snacks and drinks when entertaining guests. Nesting tables make a fantastic coffee table alternative too.
4. Go built-in and bespoke
Jen Noseworthy, professional organizer, The Simply Sorted Home, says: ‘If you can swing it, custom built-in shelving ideas are what storage dreams are made of. With a combo of open shelving and cabinet doors, you can disguise even the biggest of messes, and store everything from books to toys and games, while creating an attractive display above.’
5. Make a feature with an entertainment display
Scott says: ‘If you have a television in your living room, you can maximize the storage of audio equipment by utilizing a media wall idea. Opt for a media console design that features integrated shelving on either end to store books, movies, CDs, decor items, or more media equipment.’
The Industrial Modular Media Set from West Elm offers plenty of storage and shelving space with its large console and two bookshelves. Supported by blackened steel frames, each piece is subtly unique, due to the natural color variations in the mango wood. Bringing modern charm to media storage, its mix of open and closed storage gives you the option to display or hideaway.
6. Max-out hidden storage with a lift-top coffee table
Store all the more with an innovative pop-up design like the Topeakmart wooden lift top coffee table with hidden compartments, from Walmart. Features include hidden storage space and a lift-up tabletop with an adjustable height. The bottom open shelf below offers adequate displaying/storage space for your handicrafts, flower pots, and magazines.
Cameron Johnson, CEO and founder, Nickson Living, says: ‘A coffee table with a lift top can serve double duty as a place to store items and can act as a desk or work station when lifted.’
7. Swap drink bottles for decorations on a bar cart
The best drinks trolleys deserve more than just being used to store bottles and glassware. So whether you’ve invested in a cheap and cheerful buy or splashed out on a statement piece, make the cost per use go further by using it to display decorative ornaments that show off your interior personality. The brass Kayleigh drinks trolley from Habitat pictured in the corner is a luxury, but affordable choice if you’re looking to add some art-deco vibes to your lounge. But if this doesn’t suit yours scheme, we’ve lots of other bar cart ideas to whet your creative appetite.
Alternatively, go gung-ho in your lounge and create your own DIY bar cart idea for the ultimate bespoke living room storage idea – they’re portable and versatile.
8. Strategically place a ladder
Ladders are a city dweller’s BFF if you’re looking for low maintenance, small apartment living room ideas. They don’t take up much floor space and can be leaned on an exposed brick wall for added industrial chic vibes or against a clean white wall for a relaxed way to organize items. Hang coats, blankets and throws over it, as a quasi shelf/rail or whatever you need it to be.
Using a ladder will actually draw attention to your ceiling too, so make sure your living room ceilings are looking on point (whether it’s a statement light fitting or just a dust of any cobwebs). After all, it is your fifth wall according to the experts.
Choose a classic wooden ladder, or go for gold (quite literally) with a metallic, brass-colored ladder to add warmth in an airy urban space. Crucially, you’ll want to make sure that the ladder fits within the parameters of your parlor, so you may want to take a note of the height of your wall before you shop. For reference, the decorative metal ladder pictured is available from Target and comes in at 66” tall.
9. Make the most of alcoves
If you have been blessed with alcoves in your living room make the most of them, that prime storage space. Floating shelves are always a good option when looking at how to decorate a living room as they can be used to add some decoration as well as a place to keep books.
But if you need some closed storage too, a great idea for alcoves is to use the bottom space for a storage unit, or even have something built-in so that awkward floor space isn’t going to waste.
Like the hue selected for this blue living room idea? St Giles Blue by Farrow & Ball is a close paint color match that’ll revitalize a boring wall recess.
10. Add a chic sideboard
Sideboards make for great living room storage as you can use them to hide clutter, but the top can be the perfect space to curate some cute decor. No one need know the cabinet is filled with old magazines, a million wires you have no use for, and your ever-growing collection of board games, because from the outside it’s so chic and sophisticated. Wayfair is our go-to when looking for a sideboard or buffet table at a fair price.
11. Go modular to get a bespoke feel
If you want to create something that perfectly suits your needs, a storage system would be the way to go. You can customize the size, the layout, or how much open and closed storage you have. Plus they look super chic too, perfect if you like a more modern living room with contemporary Scandi style in your home. This flexible shelving idea means you can add and take away sections as and when you need to.
‘Modular, open shelving provides a great way to fit storage into small spaces. The best thing about modular furniture is that it really can be installed anywhere.’ explains Peter Erlandsson, co-founder and director of String.
‘There are only two things you need to consider. The first is making sure your shelving is deep and tall enough to store your belongings, but narrow enough that it doesn’t compromise your precious square-footage. The second is making sure you use a mix of open shelving and cabinet styles to create a display unit that is flexible enough to hide the things you don’t want on show.’
Whether you’re based in the UK or US, String Furniture’s shelving solutions can be shipped to you from Utility Design.
12. Make your living room storage a feature
Living room storage isn’t always about hiding everything away. Sometimes a bit of clutter is a good thing. Curate the clutter by picking color schemes and still planning where everything is going to go. We love the rustic look of these short bookshelves in this living room, it almost creates the effect that the books are floating on the wall for a shabby-chic home library idea.
The good thing about bookshelves is that you can handcraft them yourself with scrap wood and some basic home improvement equipment.
13. Add a window seat for hidden storage
If you are lucky enough to have bay windows, why not use that space for storage by adding a window seat? They are perfect for storing spare cushions, blankets and bedding plus they look gorgeous and create a real feature in your living room.
Curate a seating area with the best hanging chair – the perfect place to cozy up with a cup of tea and book… And voila, you have a reading nook idea too. Find a similar Rattan hanging bowl chair at HK Living.
14. Install floating shelves
If you are after some quick living room storage that you can put up yourself in just a few hours, floating shelves are the one. They always look lovely and double up as decor too so you can use them to bring some texture and personality into the room.
We like how these are wall-mounted above the television – perfect for it you want to make your TV less of the focus in the room.
15. Pick out double duty furniture
If you have a living room that’s on the smaller side then your furniture has to work extra hard, so picking pieces that can double up as storage as key. Coffee table ottomans are great for this, but even if you don’t have room for an ottoman, a cute pouf with a tray on top can add some extra surface space as a coffee table alternative. The GLATTIS tray from Ikea instantly glams up this bohemian accessory.
16. Pick a coffee table with storage in mind
And if you do have room for one of the best coffee tables, pick a design that’s going to add some storage in too. Something that has drawers or cubbies to keep tech or even lookout for furniture you can repurpose as a coffee table. We love how in this living room a vintage chest is being used, looks cute and has plenty of room for storage. A simple eBay search will show 1,000s of trunks that you can buy secondhand.
17. Go for a storage sofa
Now, we know even the best sectional sofas haven’t always been in style but they are making a comeback.
‘Having spent prolonged periods of time at home with the whole family, we’ve certainly seen a shift away from occasional seating, to much more expansive comfort. Large scale corner formats and softer fillings are taking center stage, now that we’re lounging more than ever.’ explains Ruth Wassermann, design director at MADE.COM.
The second best thing about larger sofas, after being super comfy, you can get plenty of options that have storage compartments which are an especially good idea for apartment living rooms.
18. Create displays with glass cabinets
We are loving the eclectic feel of this dark gray living room, and it’s another space that proves not everything has to be hidden away. Clear glass cabinets like Ikea’s HAVSTA offering are perfect for creating displays in your living room and giving you room personality.
Plus choosing a glass cabinet over a solid one means light can still flow through so your storage feels less bulky and doesn’t break up your room.
19. If in doubt, add baskets
The easiest and affordable living room storage idea? Baskets. They fit in any space and suit any style. Plus you can never have too many. They are ideal for keeping blankets, books, magazines, dog toys, kid’s toys, firewood – really they are a living room essential.
We love this lightweight SNIDAD rattan basket from Ikea which allows you to show off your home accessories, while adding warmth and interest to the room too. This living room idea on a budget won’t cost much either, and when you’re not using them in the lounge, they make great tidy-uppers for other rooms.
Top tip: Keep a ‘lost and found’ basket in your living room for all the things you take in there with you throughout the day that need returning to their rightful place. Put them in the basket, then when you head to bed at night, take the basket with you to put stuff away en route. Kid’s toys, lip balms, hair ties, the sweater you discarded earlier – they can all go in the basket to be transported to their rightful home.
20. Don’t like baskets on the floor? Hang ’em high
If baskets placed on your living room floor feel a bit too relaxed, organize them on your wall to free up some space underfoot and add interest to bare walls. It’s a living room wall idea that’ll add depth and dimension to plain paint decor.
Story by Originally published on Real Homes
