Eleven Storage Ideas That Actually Work in a Small Flat

Every one of these has been built in a flat under 950 sq.ft and is still in use.

1. Loft above every wardrobe. The 500-700 mm between a 7 ft wardrobe and the ceiling is the cheapest storage in the house. Suitcases, quilts, festival items.
2. Bed with hydraulic storage rather than drawers. Drawers need floor clearance to open and hold less. A hydraulic box holds an entire season of bedding.
3. Full-height entrance unit. A 300 mm deep unit from floor to ceiling by the door takes shoes, bags, umbrellas and keys, and defines the entry in a flat that has no foyer.
4. Seat with storage under the window. Adds seating without adding a chair, and swallows toys or linen.
5. Tall unit at the end of the kitchen run. More usable than a corner unit and considerably cheaper than a pull-out corner mechanism.
6. Above-door shelves. The 400 mm above an internal door frame is dead space in almost every flat.
7. Toe-kick drawers. The 100 mm plinth under a kitchen base unit can be a shallow drawer for trays and flat items.
8. Study desk with a wardrobe over it. In a child's room, stacking the two vertically frees the floor for actually playing.
9. Mirror that opens. A full-length mirror on a shallow hinged cabinet holds jewellery and daily items in the space of nothing.
10. Utility-balcony wall units. Closed units on the balcony wall, in a moisture-tolerant material, take cleaning supplies out of the kitchen.
11. Bathroom mirror cabinet instead of a plain mirror. Costs a few thousand more and removes the countertop clutter permanently.

The common thread: every one of these uses vertical space or dead space, not floor area. In a small flat, floor area is the thing you cannot buy more of.