Those of us who live in small homes know we have to be creative about storage and organizing. This is a theme which seems to play out in so many of the posts on DIY Del Ray — every nook and crannie has to fill a purpose, furniture needs to serve double duty and clutter must be kept to a minimum. How do you do this? Here’s a few of our favorite ideas from around the neighborhood.

1. Under-bed drawers are a definite must in small-space bedrooms. Extra bonus: no dust bunnies under the bed to clean!

2. If you’re lucky enough to have a window in your kitchen over your sink, put it to work with a reinforced rod to hold pots.

3. Leslie and I both took advantage of underused closets (such havens for clutter) and gave our oldest children a private office and sanctuary from their doting younger siblings.

4. When there’s no room in your kitchen to store commonly used dried goods, turn clear glass containers and mason jars into decorative pieces on a shelf or in an open cabinet. No need to go hunting through a pantry to see if you need more pasta; it’s always there in plain view.

5. Sometimes closets aren’t the problem, it’s the door getting into them. Widening your doorways is a hearty task, but Mary shows you how it’s done.

6. If you look close enough, I’m sure that even in the smallest of homes you’ll find unused space. We love how the awkward area under the stairs can be transformed into functional storage. All in a day’s work. 

7. The stairwell wall is also perfect for posting important papers and sorting mail and school work. Clutter-phobes rejoice! And a bookcase can be wedged into the side of the staircase.

For more ideas, check out our small-space solutions page.

What ideas have you come up with? Tell us in the comments.