As our interior designer of the year, Rita Konig, so aptly notes, “Unless there is proper storage in a house, life quickly unravels into chaos. There is a harmony that descends upon a home when you know where to find what you need and it is usually the mundane – batteries, Sellotape, paracetamol.” It's the cornerstone of an organised life and something that interior designers spend a lot of time thinking about and planning when they take on a project. However, as Rita continues, “it is easy to miss the opportunity to put it in: at the planning stage, it can be overlooked and, at the point of value engineering, it might be taken out. I’m not just talking about cupboards in bedrooms, but the back-of-house stuff one needs, which we tend to overlook.” Of course, everyone is aware of the value of cupboards and built-in joinery but over the years, there have been a few extremely nifty, clever storage solutions we've seen that are lightbulb moments of genius. As Saffron Aldridge and Scarlett Supple of Aldridge & Supple so neatly summarise, “discovering additional space in a kitchen, such as through a hidden pantry or extra storage beneath a bench or bed, can be immensely satisfying and adds an element of surprise.”
Take colour specialist Patrick O'Donnell and his very smart approach to bathroom storage, seen above. Whereas most of us put cabinets under sinks and behind mirrors, or shelves on the walls, Patrick has gone a step further and built very smart cupboards underneath his bath, making use of the space there. It's a subtle extra sliver of space that makes such a huge difference and is easy enough to swap in to a bathroom even after it's been decorated as it's as simple matter of making a bespoke bath panel, which any good joiner or carpenter could do.
“You hear time and time again that storage is key – most houses don’t have enough,” says Venetia Rudebeck of Studio Vero. “We love a layered look with lots of beautiful pieces out on display, but there is also so much that you want to hide away in order to keep the focus in the places and objects you want to draw the eye to,” she continues, something which interior designer Laura Logan has done brilliantly in her own house. When building a beautiful extension onto her Victorian house, Laura prioritised smart storage to hide the clutter of everyday life with two children. There are cupboards built into various spaces, and a very tempting window seat overlooking the garden, with ample storage underneath it. But perhaps the most genius little hack she has implemented is a single drawer at the bottom of the wall between the kitchen and the pantry, which makes use of the stair void. It's so easy to not notice but once you see it, and see the potential it offers for overspill, it's hard to stop thinking about. “It’s about using space cleverly and dedicating the space you can to storage,” continues Venetia and that's precisely what Laura has done here.
It's worth adding that not all smart storage needs to involve hiding things. “Open glass-fronted cabinets allow people to display their personal collections in an eclectic but curated way adding personality and character to a space,” explain Saffron and Scarlett, adding that “it can be enjoyable to display your possessions and share the stories behind them.” Perhaps they weren't thinking of shoes in this instance but one of our favourite open storage solutions from the House & Garden archive does just this. In the master bedroom of Robin Muir's London house, interior designer Caroline Holdaway built a long wooden window seat into the square bay, before adding a shelf for storage underneath it – essentially doubling the space available in which to keep pairs of shoes. The obvious thing to do would have been build a window seat with hidden storage beneath, but this is a very clever way to maximise the space and give it real purpose.
“In general, when designing spaces, it’s important to consider how the client is going to use the space,” explain Scarlett and Saffron, “and these practical aspects of their life can be integrated into the design of their home. The way a house feels can reflect the owner’s personality, and the storage solutions should be tailored to suit their lifestyle.” As a former Vogue editor, this is exactly what Caroline has done for Robin.
