In the realm of home design, space is a prized commodity, and the quest to make the most of every square inch is a never-ending journey.
For most of my life, I’ve lived in small spaces. At least as far as I can remember. This meant I had to figure out how to maximize my space very early on. I think I’m really good at it. Or I should say I’ve gotten very good at it. And leveraging vertical space is a big part of how you optimize the space in your home.
In most homes, vertical space is usually an untapped resource waiting to be utilized. So today we are going to talk about how to make the best use of this space to increase functionality, add organization while still maintaining your home’s aesthetics.
Also, it should be worth mentioning that when I say maximizing your vertical space, I don’t just mean storage.
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Assessing Your Space
First step to unlocking your vertical space is first to identify untapped potential in your home and setting some objectives for your home. The last thing you want to do is introduce a lot of vertical space storage solutions and end up creating a very cluttered look and feel in your home. I remember in one of my homes, I was determined to make every inch count and ended up creating a total nightmare of shelving and cabinets. Don’t do that!
Start with your living room and first, Look around to see if there’s any need for additional storage or decorating in this space? For example, are you seeing a stack of books on the floor that keeps accumulating over time or a table top that’s cluttered with mementos. Or maybe there is a large section of a wall that is completely empty. In my case, it’s a stack of artwork I’ve collected over the years that hasn’t been hung up yet and is still sitting on the floor.
Next look for a potential space where you can introduce storage to remove the clutter off the floor. Or decorate to make your room feel finished. For example, my art collection on the floor is perfect for a gallery wall I could create over the Sofa that would add a ton of style into my space.
Now repeat this process in the other rooms of your home.
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Kitchens can be notoriously short on storage space. Assess your kitchen walls for opportunities to install open shelving, spice racks, or hooks for pots and pans. Consider the space beneath upper cabinets, which can often be underutilized. Also, kitchens are often neglected when it comes to decorating. Is there a wall space that could use a little glow-up?
In the bedrooms, the focus should be on optimizing storage. Examine your closet, but also look at the wall space above your bed, beside dressers, or even behind bedroom doors. Can you add additional storage units or create a wall-mounted wardrobe? How about decor?
Vertical space is critical in a home office to keep clutter at bay. Consider wall-mounted organizers for your desk area, bookshelves, and even a pegboard for easy access to office supplies. Do you have the perfect backdrop for your zoom calls? If not, maybe you can add some decor to up the style factor in your home office.
Bathrooms can benefit from vertical space optimization too. Look at opportunities for wall-mounted cabinets, towel racks, or shelves for toiletries. Utilizing the back of the bathroom door is also a clever space-saving idea.
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Vertical Storage Ideas: Shelves
The first thing to come to mind when it comes to vertical storage ideas is the various types of shelves you could install.
I’m a big fan of floating shelves for the high end or custom look it gives for a great price point. I especially love the Ikea LACK shelves for this reason. I only wish they came in different lengths.
We also love built-in shelves because they offer a customized solution that looks great, although a bit pricey to execute.
The one thing that bugs me about the use of shelves is that they become an easy spot to collect clutter. And often I see homeowners that style their shelves with a lot of knick knacks. Instead, choose fewer, more substantial decor pieces to anchor the styling of your shelves. If you have clutter, use boxes or baskets to organize the items you need to store on your shelves.
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Vertical Storage Ideas: Cabinets
Cabinets, freestanding and wall hung are also great way to utilize the vertical space in your home effectively. We do this often in the kitchen but rarely elsewhere in the home. There’s really no reason not to, if you have the wall space and need the additional storage.
Personally, I prefer closed cabinets, whenever possible, to keep the clutter out of sight.
Vertical Storage Ideas: Furniture
If you’re in a really tight space, you could leverage the space under your furniture for storage as well. You can buy furniture that has built-in storage. This is my preferred option over choosing to use baskets and totes to store things under furniture. I find the latter ends up creating visual clutter which will then make you feel a little stressed in your space. And that’s never the intention of good design.
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Vertical Gardening
I love the idea of having an indoor (or outdoor) vertical garden. I created a mini vertical garden on my terrace a while ago and I can see how that could be expanded to something more substantial that could serve as a major design focal point inside your home.
When you’re creating a vertical garden indoors, start by thinking through how you will maintain and care for this garden. You need adequate lighting to ensure your plants receive the right amount of natural or artificial light. You can consider adjustable LED grow lights for areas with limited sunlight.
Think about what kind of soil and substrate you need for your garden. Be mindful of the watering needs of your plants. Some may require more frequent watering than others.
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Now to the fun part – choosing your plants. Here are some ideas:
- Herbs: Compact and aromatic, herbs like basil, mint, and thyme thrive in vertical planters.
- Succulents: Low-maintenance and visually striking, succulents come in various shapes and colors. Think of vertical gardens you usually see in offices and hotels due to their low-maintenance nature.
- Air Plants: These unique plants require no soil and can be attached to vertical surfaces with ease.
- Ferns and Spider Plants: These leafy greens add a touch of elegance to your vertical garden.
The other fun part of creating a vertical garden is choosing the containers for the plants. One option is to use hanging planters. Hang baskets or macrame plant hangers from hooks or ceiling mounts. These are perfect for cascading plants like pothos or ivy.
The other option I love is to use wall-mounted pots. Attach wall-mounted pots or plant pockets to your vertical surfaces. These can be arranged in patterns to create living wall art. Cool, right?
Images via Pinterest.
We’ve already discussed some awesome decorating options for your vertical spaces in this blog post. So I won’t repeat it here.
Your walls, once underutilized canvases, now hold the potential to shape your living environment in remarkable ways. As you take on leveraging your vertical space, experiment, refine, and adapt to find the perfect balance between form and function, aesthetics and practicality. Remember that your home is not just a place to live; it’s an ever-evolving canvas where your creativity and practicality can coexist to create a truly extraordinary living experience.
Got a small space? You might be interested in these small space design ideas.
