I've stored stuff in my car, at my place of business, and all over the house. Don't tell the kids, but you can hide Christmas gifts in the piano! I also made a very shallow rack over the garage door to store long items like wood. We also have a lot of antiques that are good storage places, such as a Hoosier cabinet, pie safe, and old trunks.

OMG !!!!!!! IN the piano !!!!! You are sooooooo creative !!! LOL

In the piano???? Not if you actually want to play it and have it sound decent.

That's the whole point- nobody in this house actually plays the thing (it is also an antique).

Years ago my in-laws built deep shelves in their hallways above their doors so they could store seldom-used items like camping gear up there. They lived in a very small apartment in NYC, and storage was virtually non-existant otherwise. It worked like a charm, and we did the same thing in a house we used to own in North Carolina. The narrow hallways were 10' tall, so having the shelves up there brought the ceiling down to about 8', which actually looked a lot better.

We have built-in bookcases in a small sitting room. Since our books aren't as deep as the shelves, sometimes I store or hide things behind the books. On more than one occasion I've put something there and forgotten about it. Not the kind of place you'll accidentally discover a lost item, so it's a dangerous habit! Right now I'm storing leftover rolls of wallpaper there.

Tina

THat's an IDEAL storage space !!! How clever !!!

Take a round trash/storage container to use as a side table. Store "stuff" inside, top with a plywood circle (you can often find them pre-cut at lumber yards and home centers), cover with a round tablecloth. You can also get round plexiglass or glass circles to go over the cloth to keep the cloth clean. Great for bedside tables.

Walls that flank a window (especially those short walls that go from the corner to the window) - that's a good place to put shallow 3- or 4-inch shelves. Build a ladder-like shelf unit that fits into the space and secure with L-brackets. If you're into food storage (some of us keep a years worth of food on hand), this is an excellent place to put canned goods, grains/seeds/beans vacuum-sealed in quart canning jars, and other small pantry foods. Just cover the shelves with floor-to-ceiling drapes to match the window treatment.

If your sofa is backed by a wall, behind and under the sofa is excellent storage area. Off-season clothes and bedding in the reusable vacuum-packed plastic bags works very well behind and under a couch.

Pull-out drawers or plastic storage bins under beds. If you raise your bed, you'll have even more storage area.

Any space you can put a window seat can be both storage and additional seating.

Shelves can be placed just below the ceiling in nearly any room to hold collections, books, china/serving pieces, etc.

Platforms can run the perimeter of the garage, about 2-foot deep - about 3-foot from the ceiling. There are brackets designed for this available from home centers. Just lay plywood on the brackets. Deep enough to be useful, especially if you store things in plastic tubs with lids, but not so deep the items get lost in the back.

-Grainlady

Boy, Grainlady - you should have your own TV show . Your suggestions are excellent ! I especially like the round trash bin/table for storage . I might have to try that !

~ THANK YOU ~ !!!

Meduim sized painted milk can used to hold a little over 20lb. of dry dog food but now that dogs are gone, it holds clean/dry potting soil and bag of perlite for houseplants. Beats keeping it in garage for winter re-pots.

Covered basket in FR: wrapping paper, a few plastic tablecloths, lots of misc. stuff and serves as end table for chair.

Domed antique trunk with built in shallow tray holds all our VCR tapes, DVD's and booklets for TV, etc. Plus blankets for couch potatoes.

Plywood layed in rafters of double garage: Lots of STUFF THAT'S GOTTA GO like an old crib (now illegal), carriage, child's wooden rocking chair, toboggan, who knows what else?!

Pegboard on stairway leading from kitchen to basement is my favorite. Holds woks, lots of pots and pans, bags of onions and potatoes, and a plastic grocery bag for recycled cans. Its actually easier for me to grab and put away the hanging pots and pans than it would be if they were piled in a cabinet.

My tape holder is there too, hanging on the bannister support. Made it from a metal plant hanger and something on the end as a "stopper." Holds duct, masking, black electrical, and the myriad of other rolls of tape we need around the house on one neat hanger.

Fishing line strung between two nails inside cabinet doors lets me store corningware glass covers. Again, quick easy to reach and put away.

Leaves and pads from DR table behind couch. Sandy

Sandy,

The fishing line on back of doors intrigues me. How do you get that to work? Must be other things for this use too.

I did hang my china cabinet on the kitchen wall to free up space underneath and am planning on adding kitchen cabinets there for more storage.

Breenthumb,
Your idea of the painted milk can (old metal..am guessing) is great. I am using a tall plastic wastebasket with absolutely no charm. Could never find anything else big enough that didn't take up floor space. The milk can would really work well and look so much better.

Imagineer, glad you can use some of these. I just screwed the screws into each side of the door, then knotted the fishing line behind them leaving a little slack and slide the covers in with the knobs resting on the line. Just space them according to your specs., making sure knobs don't hit a shelf. Heavy twine would work too and probably be easier to knot.

Yes, the old metal milk can is painted black and just kind of blends in with the rest of the semi-antique, casual look, but I've seen some really fancied up. It held almost half of the 50lb. bags of foood for 2 labs, with 2 cup measure right in there too. A smaller similar pail also held cat food at one time. Now it holds a 6" begonia pot. Sandy

Building stairs on hinges allows you to store stuff in each of the hollows (my aunt had this on a little set of 3 steps going in to her kitchen).

Also, in our small apartment we're a big fan of the coffee table with cubbies and using hollow ottomans with lids. Great place to store blankets!

Sarah