5 Easy Ways to Utilize Shelves for Storage

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5 Easy Ways to Utilize Shelves for Storage. Doesn’t that sound fun? 😉 Do you have open wall space that you don’t know what to do with? Do you lack storage space? We have little to no closet space in our home and while utilizing shelves won’t solve your storage issue, they can help by creating pretty focal points in a room while keeping items organized too. 

5 Easy Ways to Utilize Shelves for Storage

My new modern farmhouse office space is a perfect example of how to utilize shelves for storage.

#1 Hanging metal shelves + wire baskets 

| Cork board | White Shelf | Wire Hanging Small Baskets | Pencil holder | Colorful Folders | Notebooks in black shelf – HomeGoods

The metal 4 shelf hanging wall rack (similar/mine is sold out) was a great storage solution for my decorating books and it also was large enough in scale to create a nice balance against the cork board from HomeGoods. I decided that the floating shelf from HomeGoods under the cork board added visual appeal and character to the wall. I tried leaving the cork board free standing and it looked lost. I like how the shelf holds small mementos like a picture or card. 

Desk | Rug | Armless Chair | 

Here is another example of where we used hanging wire baskets on the wall for storage.

Upstairs Laundry Room

Glass Jar | Hanging + Wire basket | Laundry Sign – HomeGoods 

#2 Closet Wall Organizing Shelves

Our basement laundry room is a great example of where we utilized inexpensive closet maid shelving to store wicker baskets and plastic bins. Our laundry closet is tiny so we utilized any storage option we could find. Free standing shelf units, like this chrome rack below, is great for storing additional items that you use daily. 

Closet Organizer | Metal Floor Shelf

Utility Baskets | Green Plastic Bins + Glass Jars – HomeGoods

#3 Free Standing Metal Shelves

In addition to the small free standing chrome shelf in our laundry room, we took it one step further with this oversized heavy duty metal rack to create a space for toys. Toys are one of my arch nemesis and it’s a never ending battle. These shelves though, are by far, the best thing we ever invested in. They are strong and very sturdy. They are adjustable too which if you pre-plan what you plan on using them for, you can set the shelf height exactly where you need it. Be sure to check out the toy storage tips article along with before pictures of this space with the toys, it was a disaster. 

5 tier metal rack with wheels (on sale!) 

#4 DIY Wooden Shelves

We created DIY floating shelves in our laundry space and they were the most inexpensive option we could find to create storage space.

We also created DIY wooden shelves in our small bathroom closet which I wrapped in cute polka dot paper to store towels.

 #5 Pull Out Shelves 

Pull out shelves are the easiest storage option in tight spaces. Our bathroom closet was deep and narrow and everything kept getting lost in the back. The pull out shelves solved that problem!

Closet Maid Pullout Shelf

Here is another space  where we installed pull out shelves in one of our vanities. 

As I was looking through all of our old posts, I was inspired by the shelving in our home. -ha. I had forgotten about some of these projects and I now want to go back and organize some of our other vanities and closets that are a disaster. Hopefully you found these 5 easy ways to utilize shelves for storage useful and are inspired to tackle an organizational project this weekend. 

Meet Jessica

What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.