This week we’ll be focusing on one of the hardest working rooms in your home – the hallway. It is used as a thoroughfare for getting from downstairs to upstairs, it is home to lots of items such as coats and shoes and yet you still want it to look welcoming and presentable should any visitors or callers come to the front door.

So many halls have wall mounted coat racks or hooks, which are fine except for when they are home to 17 coats and the depth of them stands a metre from the wall! Put away the ‘out of season’ coats and jackets or the little-used ones into a spare bedroom if you can.

Some of the best storage space in a hall can be found under the stairs and if that space isn’t being used for a downstairs loo, there are plenty of ways of making the most of that space, from using it as a home office (I did that in 5 Lower Road, Salisbury many moons ago) or install slideable drawers to utilise every spare inch.

One Irish company making these slideable drawers is Smart Storage and as understairs storage goes, these are brilliant for items such as children’s schoolbags, boots, shoes, hurleys, footballs – all those items that you use on a daily basis but if they haven’t got anywhere to go, you end up falling over them half a dozen times a day, plus it is all about making your hallway look presentable and welcoming.

I’ve decided to focus on a different room each month so for a week each month, there will be a blog post focusing on one room in the house. I’m going to start with children’s bedrooms as they’re one of my favourites – I can really indulge in nostalgia and fun while playing around with ideas.

One of the key themes with children’s bedrooms has to be storage.  Apart from storage for clothing, children will require storage for toys and books.  The better the storage is, the easier it will be for the child to tidy up! – well, that’s the parental intention!

Ikea supply a wide variety of shelving options which are all budget friendly. You can never have enough shelves. However, ensure that wide shelves are split along with dividers as it will make it easier for children to replace books if they aren’t all about to fall on them.  Ensure that the shelves aren’t too tightly packed so the child will see spaces to put their possessions.

Make a bookcase more interesting and personal by making one out of the child’s initials. (Source: Tove Lisa)

I also love this idea for shelves – perfect for making books more accessible and having them on display, even one shelf will be perfect as the favourite books (why do young children always prefer one book that you have to read millions of times) can be displayed there.

Isn’t this fabulous? It makes a great feature wall as well as creating a perfect spot for having time out with a book. (Elizabeth Sullivan)

Beds with storage underneath are a great idea for smaller bedrooms – whether you opt for a bed with drawer storage or a bed that can be raised so that there is space to play or study underneath.

This set of bunk beds is great – apart from the under bed drawer storage, I love the quite sophisticated stairs to the top bunk and with the side drawers, every inch of space can be used for storage. (Source: Bunk Beds A2Z)

And here’s a more feminine version of a set of bunk beds with storage. (source: Fit in House)

And this is one of the most gorgeous examples I’ve seen of beds with a play area underneath – Imagine having your own VW campervan equivalent in your bedroom! (Source: The Lettered Cottage via pinterest)

Eva Byrne set up her business Houseology in 2005, originally trained as an architect and now she specialises in house consultations, helping people to make the most of the space, light and storage in their homes.  She decided on this business idea when she saw advertisements for ‘wardrobe consultations’ where women could have their clothing sorted in a couple of hours and decided to start doing house consultations! So do read on for some tips on increasing the space, light and storage in your own home.

• Assess your furniture layouts. Re-arranging/re-allocating furniture can have a profound effect on how you experience and use each room.
• Assess your colour schemes. Lighter, unified colour strategies will maximise the sense of space as well as light.
• Assess and address your storage needs. Reduced visible clutter will enhance your enjoyment of the space available.
• Explore if rooms are best matched to their use: assess the use to which each room is put. Re-allocating room uses can be refreshing and transforming.
• Re-locating a door is a minor alteration which may have a huge impact on a problem space. Simply changing the side on which a door is hinged can also be effective in many instances.
• Where extending, explore the opportunity, to provide an enhanced quality of space, not to just replicate the existing, with taller/profiled ceilings or rooflights.

• Assess your furniture layouts. Keeping furniture – and kitchen units – away from windows, or placing smaller pieces at windows, will enhance the flow of both space and of light.
• Assess your windows and window dressing. Painting window frames a light colour internally will increase the amount of reflected light. Keep window dressings light in both colour and feel.
• Assess your colour scheme including all furniture and all finishes and  all accessories, not just walls.
• Don’t be afraid to take a brush to natural timber where this will improve light reflection.
• Assess where it might be possible to provide rooflighting. If located correctly, a rooflight can transform a dark room still further by allowing direct sunlight in also.
• Explore whether some day time uses might be facilitated at first floor level. Spaces at an upper level will be naturally brighter all year round. This can be especially welcome in Winter when daylight levels are low.

• Identify what is to be stored and provide appropriate, conveniently located storage in each case. Your home will still get messy from time to time but at least each item will have a “home”.
• Adjustable shelving will maximise the usefulness of most general-purpose shelved areas.
• Hot Press/linen storage shelves work well with shelves 30cm apart in height. Shelves 45cm deep are useful here.
• 30cm is a useful depth for bookshelving, while 34cm is a good height between shelves vertically.
• Coats and jackets are more usefully stored on hanging rails, not hooks, where overload occurs easily. A rail needs to be placed in a space 60cm deep.
• Smaller children naturally gravitate towards adults, so provide at least some toy storage and play space in or close to the kitchen, preferably open shelving with loose items in tubs and baskets.

Drawings for Eva’s own open plan house

The photographers are Tony Gavin, Kate Horgan, Philip Lauterbach and Paul Sherwood.  I’m loving these tips about shelf height and as for that large larder type built in storage, I’m in love!  You can check out more tips and photos over at Eva’s Houseology website and she’s on facebook too.

I am a complete clutter queen but I actually got rid of half of the worktop in my kitchen last year as I found I just kept cluttering it up, no matter how much I tried not to. By limiting the length of my worktop, I find I have to keep it reasonably clear so I have enough room to dish up dinner etc!  But that means creating more storage. You just can’t have too much storage in your kitchen and if it can be pretty, all the better! Kitchens can look somewhat soulless if all of your crockery and foodstuffs are hidden away behind kitchen cupboard doors and the worktops are bare, now you won’t want to be displaying your tinned peas but what about displaying some pretty items? On the other hand, glass fronted doors displaying ordinary jars, cups and mugs or too much clutter on the worktop won’t be pleasing to the eye either so how do you create a happy medium? So here is a few tips for creating a kitchen with some personality as well as having pretty items on display and the necessaries neatly tucked away and hidden.

Kitchen Storage Tins

Pretty tins such as Greengate’s tin box containers are ideal for storing items such as tea, coffee and sugar or as they are made of tin and are sealable, they are perfect as little biscuit tins or cake tins.

Greengate Pretty Storage Tins at Garrendenny Lane

Shelves

Open shelves are lovely in a kitchen and are perfect for displaying items such as antique bottles or any kitchen curiousities you have picked up on ebay, garage sales or antique shops. Inject some personality into your kitchen with a display of your favourite items, just don’t over do it. One set of shelves with your collection is plenty for most kitchens. Pretty tins make great storage canisters and jugs make great vases for spring flowers.

And I spotted these shelves over at Living Etc, it is simply created from a CD storage unit from Heal’s, together with an elaborate painted frame.  Isn’t it perfect for your favourite mugs and pretty bowls?

Use an open dresser or shelving unit for your kitchen storage – you can keep it tidy by using wicker baskets, metal boxes, tin boxes and similar items to hold everything. Leave the occasional space bare with one single pretty item such as a jug or a vase and this prevents it all taking up too much visual space in the kitchen. By creating space around a couple of single items so the eye can be drawn to the back of the shelf, it really creates an illusion of much more space.

Hang it on the Wall or from the Ceiling

Rather than having a magazine rack that takes up floor space or having them piled onto a shelf or scattered, the Black and Blum Ring Ring wall mounted magazine racks fit snugly against the wall and your favourite magazines will be on display and to hand when you want to relax with a cup of tea.

Ring Ring at Garrendenny Lane

I also love seeing copper saucepans hanging from a rack, even a simple metal pole and some hooks is all you need. Spotted this over at Living Etc too.

Multi purpose

Use a peg or notice board to hold all those important notices. The Black and Blum Time Square clock is great as it doubles as a clock, a Magnet board and a blackboard. It even has a little ledge along its upper edge to keep the enclosed chalk handy to hand.

Let your personality shine by choosing your favourite items to be on display while hiding those not so pretty essentials. You spend a lot of time in your kitchen so make it as pleasant a place to be as you can.

I would think we (female readers anyway)all have at least one pairs of shoes that we adore. I know I have one pair that I don’t wear very often because they are extremely high but are wonderful.  You can enjoy your special shoes even more by putting them on display in your bedroom and if they are under a cloche like this, not only do they look even more special but they won’t get dusty.