How do I use the awkward spaces in a house for storage?

Every house has volume that nobody has thought about, and it is invariably the volume that is inconvenient. That is not a problem as long as you match it to the right contents: the awkward space is exactly the right home for the suitcase, the Christmas decorations and the spare duvet, and exactly the wrong home for the hoover. Matching the awkwardness of the space to the frequency of use is the whole technique.

Safety

Step by step

1. Survey the house for dead volume before buying anything.Walk each room and look above door height, behind the door, into the corner at the end of every run of units, and at the gap between the top of a wardrobe and the ceiling. Write them down with rough dimensions. It is usually several cubic metres.
2. Use the band above door height.A shelf at around two metres runs the length of a wall without affecting how the room is used at all. It is the single best awkward space in most houses, ideal for boxed and archived things, and needs a proper fixing because it will end up loaded.
3. Open up the eaves in a room with a sloping ceiling.The triangle behind a knee wall in a loft room or a dormer is substantial and usually completely unused. A small access hatch, or a run of low doors, converts it into deep seasonal storage. Check for insulation and ventilation paths before enclosing anything.
4. Use the stair void properly.The space under a staircase has a wedge shape that suits pull-out drawers on runners far better than shelves, because the deep end is otherwise unreachable. Keep any gas or electric meter, and any consumer unit, accessible.
5. Reclaim the corner of every L-shaped run.The dead corner in kitchens, wardrobes and shelving runs is real volume. Carousels, corner pull-outs and simply accepting it as long-term rather than daily storage are the three options.
6. Use the backs of doors.Over-door racks and hooks for shoes, cleaning cloths, wrapping paper, ironing boards and bags. The depth is small so it suits flat things, and it costs no floor at all.
7. Look at the gap above wall units and wardrobes.The space between the top of a fitted unit and the ceiling is normally a dust shelf. Boxed and labelled, it holds the seasonal categories comfortably, and closing it off entirely with a filler panel is also a legitimate answer.
8. Check the awkward space is dry and safe before filling it.Eaves, understairs cupboards and boxed-in areas are often unheated, sometimes damp, and occasionally where a leak has been running unnoticed. Look for staining, feel the wall, and check what services pass through before anything goes in.
9. Match contents to accessibility, deliberately.Twice a year at the top and back, monthly at mid height, daily within easy reach without a step. Getting this wrong is why good storage stops being used within a month.

Tips

• Anything requiring a ladder or a stool to reach will not be used more than about twice a year, whatever you intend. Plan for that rather than fighting it.
• Shallow and wide beats deep and narrow in every awkward space, because the back of a deep space is functionally lost.
• Put wheels on anything going into a deep low space. A wheeled crate under the stairs or in the eaves converts unreachable into a single pull.
• Do not board over a loft area without raising the boards above the insulation — compressed insulation loses most of its value and you create a condensation risk.
• Fixings above door height carry real load. Use a proper wall fixing matched to what the wall actually is, not a plasterboard plug on a whim.

Common mistakes

• Storing things around a boiler or in the meter cupboard — Boilers and meters need clearance for ventilation, servicing and emergency isolation, and combustible material against a heat source is a fire risk.
• Filling the eaves without checking ventilation — Blocking the airflow path at the eaves is a common cause of condensation and mould in a converted loft room.
• Putting frequently used items in the hardest space — It stops being used within weeks and the item ends up on a surface, which is the problem you were solving.
• Fixing a heavy shelf at high level with the wrong plug — High shelving accumulates weight steadily and fails without warning. The wall type decides the fixing, and dot-and-dab in particular needs a specific one.

Questions people ask