With three years worth of memories, friendship and education awaiting, moving away to university is an exciting time in any young adult’s life. It’s undeniably emotional for the parents – but it does come with its perks: you’ll be able to reclaim the house once more and enjoy more space than ever. While it’s important to note that your children will most likely need their rooms during the holidays, there’s plenty of storage solutions you can use to transform the space and make it yours in the meantime.
University halls of residence are usually on the smaller side when compared to bedrooms in the home, plus they’re already decked out with furniture. Having a bedroom full of unused furniture is a waste of the space, but throwing it out for good isn’t the best idea if your child plans on returning home to live once they’ve finished their degree. Meet in the middle and have the best of both worlds by placing the unused items into a secure unit from the likes of Cubic Storage. With 24/7 access, you can be confident that your items are safe and secure, ready to be used when your children come to stay.
There’s bound to be little knick-knacks lying around that they’ve left behind, but can’t bear to throw away. Whether it’s school awards that remind them of their childhood or the little trinkets that littered their room, finding a place for them can be hard. You’d be surprised by the many sneaky ways there are to hide bric-a-brac without disposing of them altogether. In fact, Buzzfeed has a list of 33 clever ways to organise all the small things, most of which use inexpensive methods of doing so. From using ice-cube trays as storage dividers to stuffing bean bags with old stuffed animals, you’ll find a place for everything using this list.
You’d be surprised how much you can fit on the back of a door. It’s not just shoes and coats on the back of bedroom doors either, you can use baskets and shelving on pretty much any door in the house. Get creative using folders, hooks and pegboards to create an attractive storage solution. You’ll be able to store your child’s stuff without ruining the appearance of the room, plus they’ll be able to grab their items at a moments notice. Not sure where to get started? Find 12 great examples of door storage on the One Good Thing blog and make them your own.
Everyone has heard of under bed storage, but are you using it to your advantage? It doesn’t have to be pretty – old shoe boxes are perfect for trinkets – but there are things you should do to perfect the art of under bed storage. If we’ve learnt anything from organisation icon Marie Kondo, it’s that folding and stacking your belongings in the right way is key.
While Marie is mainly known for using this trick for clothes, being smart with folding and stacking can save you a lot of space. Not only that, but it allows you to see what’s in the box rather than leaving you to dig through them in hopes of finding one item. Take a minute to figure out the best way of storing something – Marie recommends vertically – before getting stuck into the task.