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Ask a designer: clever storage for a small home

You love your things, but you’re moving to a small space. You don’t have to ditch possessions to make it work.

Some clever solutions and storage in unexpected locations could be the answer. Interior designer Joseph Abbott shows how to make the most of a small home without having to bid farewell to your favourite things.

Storage in a row of BILLY glass-door bookcases. Two lamps are lighting up the room in the background.

A mix of photographs, home-furnishing details and decorative items scattered across a light surface.
The top of a piano with a BEGÅVNING glass dome, a shooting twig in a glass vase, and other decorative items.
A black-and white, blueprint-type sketch showing the layout of an apartment.
A man with a blonde beard and blonde long hair, sitting on a stool by a piano.
A living room with a dark-grey PÄRUP three-seat sofa with chaise longue, a BORGEBY coffee table, and musical instruments.

Living in a small space? Let interior designer Joseph Abbott show how you can make every cubic metre work for you and create a beautiful, organised space without parting with the things that bring you joy.

The ceiling is the limit

In this small home, Joseph chose storage pieces that took full advantage of vertical space. By placing a large PAX wardrobe in the bedroom and choosing the rather unconventional home in the hallway for the BILLY bookcases, he created bigger, practical storage solutions for many items and collections.

See the BILLY series
Storage in and on top of grey-turquoise BILLY glass-door bookcases. LINDSHULT LED cabinet lighting lights up their fronts.
See the BILLY series

Monochrome camouflage

Restricting the colour scheme in your home can help make things look a lot more put together while also creating the illusion of more space. In this home, Joseph matched the wall colours to the furniture. He used the same trick with the smaller storage boxes, fittings and accessories too, making for a cohesive, unified look throughout.

Kitchen accessories stored on a mineral-effect SÄLJAN worktop on METOD base cabinets, and also stored on the wall above.
A pair of grey JAKOBSBYN pendant lamps hangs over a worktop with a chopping board and other kitchen accessories on it.

Telling your story with open storage

When using open storage, Joseph suggests being super selective about what you display. So, decide what you want to display and spend some time organising it by colour, material, finish, pattern - the list goes on! It can be a wonderfully visual way to share your own story with whoever visits your home.

A recess fitted with wall-mounted TRANHULT/SANDSHULT shelves with framed art, glass domes and other decorative items.

Storage at your service

There is an idea that if you live in a small home, you either need to pare back your belongings, or live in constant clutter. With this little, lively apartment, Joseph shows that you can have it all and keep it organised, even with limited space.

A beige HILLARED cushion cover
A birch BJÖRKSNÄS chest of 5 drawers, with decorative items on top, beside an ash IKORNNES standing mirror in a bedroom.
A corner with an ash IKORNNES mirror holding clothes on hangers next to a PAX wardrobe with grey-beige REINSVOLL doors.
A nickel-plated LINDSHULT LED cabinet lighting in the bedroom
A light grey KOMPLEMENT box

Every millimetre counts

Living in a small space doesn’t mean you have to give up on the things you love – you just need to think of space more imaginatively! This tiny alcove has been turned into a hard-working make-up corner, with enough surface space to try out the latest tutorial and vertical storage to organise and store all her palettes and perfumes.

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A tanned leather ÖSTERNÄS leather handle in the bedroom
Beauty accessories on wall-mounted natural-wood shelves, many of them organised in a DRAGAN bamboo three-box set.
A plastic cork SAXBORGA storage box with mirror lid in the bedroom
A gold-colour SILVERHÖJDEN frame in the living room
A bedroom with a BJÖRKSNÄS birch bed, dark-blue KOPPARBLAD bed linen, a NORDKISA dressing table, and an ODGER swivel chair.
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