The basement is the primary room where seasonal items, excess items, and items for a rainy day go for storage. However, the basement stays damp year-round due to condensation, soil moisture, and wet pipes. As homeowners rely on cabinets, drawers, plastic bins, and baskets, use every inch of space available, including these neglected areas.

Doors

Over-the-door storage space is just as effective in basements as they are in closets and bedrooms. The basement entry door plus doors in the basement area are prime real estate to add shelves, hangers, baskets, and pocket shoe organizers. It’s a perfect area to store small and hard-to-find items.

Corners

Except for built-in storage, the corners are not thought about often in storage organizations. Increase storage space by transforming inconvenient corners into a storage area. Purchase corner cabinets and corner shelves to fill that space.

Stairs

A missed opportunity in storage is underneath the stairs. Some stairs are near a wall, and if so, you can add shelves and drawers between the stairs underneath and the wall nearby to create a storage area. Pull-out drawers underneath stairs are a brilliant solution too. You can create storage for stairs in the middle of the room, but it will require a solid vertical wall base underneath the highest stair first.

Ceiling

An unusual, yet nifty idea is to store items near the ceiling. Ceiling drawers are one idea. Overhead racks and heavy-duty hooks will create idea number two, suspended storage. The key to keeping the ceiling storage operating is storing light and awkward items such as Christmas trees, skis, ladders, luggage, and surfboards there.

By using every inch of space, you will have more than enough storage for every unstored item in the house plus new items purchased. There is no excuse to keep your items in cardboard boxes on the floor.