How to Maximize Your Wall Space
There are a lot of ways to make space when your house or apartment is just too small for your belongings. You might start by giving away or selling things you no longer need. When you still have too much lying around, you can get a storage unit. But what if you’re then left with things you need at home, but your place still feels crowded with your possessions?
You find creative ways to make space! One of those is to think vertically. That’s right. You can store a lot, often in an attractive way, by taking advantage of your empty wall space, and here are some of the ways you can do that.
Shelving
There are many types of shelving one can install to use wall space, and what you choose depends on many things, including your own tastes.
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Get bookcases! There are many types of varying quality, so avoid those that are very cheap when new. I know from experience that cheaper bookcases can fall apart easily. When it comes to bang for your buck, Billy bookcases by Ikea are both affordable and sturdy. You may also want to check your local thrift stores that sell furniture. Often they’ll have well-made items for low prices. Set up your bookcases side by side, and use them for your books (naturally), framed photos, and various items you want to display.
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Create shelves right on the wall. The Home Depot has an excellent tutorial for putting up floating shelves. A great thing about these is that they can go at any level. You can even put them up high, say one foot from the ceiling, as a place to keep clothes or whatever else. One bit of advice, though: if you live in an area prone to earthquakes, do not store heavy items on shelves this high.
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Floating shelves can also serve as a place to hang blouses, coats, and more. With a hanging shelf at about chest level, you can stack the shelf with whatever you like, while setting up a hanger bar underneath.
Pegboard and Corkboard
The twin innovations of pegboard and corkboard can turn any wall into the perfect place to hang a variety of things.
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You can organize your shoe collection easily with pegboard. Install it into the back of your closet, put the pegs where you want them, and hang your shoes from them. Easy.
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Of course, you can also put a large pegboard on the wall and use it to hang shoes, coats, purses, and more. One great thing about pegboard (and keep this in mind for your shelves, too!) is that you can paint it to exactly the color you want.
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Speaking of painting pegboard, here’s a highly creative idea. After you’ve bought that pegboard for your bedroom or living room, why not turn it into a painting? You can come up with a picture, or find an image or design online that you can copy, and paint onto the board.
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For jewelry, corkboard is a more flexible choice than pegboard. Necklaces, bracelets, and earrings simply don’t weigh as much as things you’ll hang on your pegboards, and corkboard can handle them easily. Also, you can space your jewelry closer together on a corkboard. For this, get a piece of corkboard big enough to display your jewelry well and frame it. Hang it on the wall, then stick push pins into the corkboard and hang your jewelry from them.
Other Hanging Things
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Of course, there are more options for hanging things from the wall, especially clothes! Have a look at Bjarnum hangers from Ikea. You can install them easily into a wall.
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Where do you put your clothes after you’ve worn them? A hamper on the floor takes up space. A hanging hamper for your wall, however, is a great alternative. One good place to put this is on the inside of your bathroom door. It will also serve as an eye-level reminder to do your laundry! There are many types available, here are instructions to create your own that will work perfectly.
