There are many ways to hide the clutter in your smaller home, apartment, or dorm room. OK, let's not call it "clutter" because these items you do need and you do use often. If you don't use them and you don't adore them, you should get rid of them now before trying to hide them.
To get rid of the clutter, first, visit this post to help you awaken to the clutter in your home before you find creative ways to hide your stuff. This post is the beginning of a three-part series that will help you awaken to the clutter in your home.
Now that you decluttered but still have things out, you may be wondering why you need to hide some of this clutter in a small home.
Why hide the stuff in your home?
People have stuff around the house and don't even realize that the cluttered space can affect them. See the list below of the ways clutter may be affecting you.
- It can be dangerous. Your stuff can create a hazard on the floor where you can trip and fall.
- The stuff can distract you. It can draw your attention away from what needs to be done without you even knowing it.
- Items left out are usually symbols of incomplete actions that will represent unconsciously or consciously how many to-dos you have to take care of in your life. This will result in more stress and will limit you from relaxing. Below is one of my favorite quotes to share with clients.
These are just a few impacts that can take a toll on your life and home. Now, go and clear that unwanted clutter and actions.
Then, come back to this post and start hiding the wanted stuff. In this post, "clutter" will be the items you use and want but do not want to see, day in and day out. Here are creative storage places in a small home you can use to hide your used stuff.
Hiding Stuff Options in Small Homes
Use a Pressure Rod and Curtains
Hang a pressure rod and hang a curtain in front of a set of shelves. I used one blackout curtain to create two curtains to cover these shelves. I cut them and measured the opening, and then created a place for the pressure rod and finished off the bottom edge.
Decorative Fabric Stapled to Wood and mounted to create a curtain.
Use fabric, a piece of wood (2 x 2 inches), a staple gun, and 2-3 screws to hide stuff behind an open console table. Staple the fabric to the piece of wood by overlapping the fabric to create a fuller look. Then, screw the wood into the bottom of the console table. I used two café curtains here from a discount store.
Solid Baskets to hid the items inside
Use baskets in closets, on the stairs going upstairs as a catch-all small items bin, and other areas to store small items you don't want to see. Visit our 12 ESSENTIAL CONTAINER TYPES to see the variety available.
Large Zippered Bags
Use your largest bag to hold smaller bags. Or, buy a cheap (large) tote and store all the bags in them.
Solid False Fronts to Hide Stuff Behind
Use fake books fronts and fake cans to store valuables. Here are some I found on Amazon(affiliate).
Cabinet Doors In Front of Bookshelves
Get doors for your tall bookshelf cabinets. This is great for a teen girl's room since they have lots of small stuff. Add boxes with lids that fit inside to organize the items even further.
Under the Bed Drawers or Bins
If you have a bed frame, you can easily store things under the bed in zippered or lidded bins to keep them free of dust. They are easy to access and are perfect for those infrequently used items.
Some bed frames have these drawers built into the bed frame itself, making it super easy to organize. Ikea has a large selection of these types of bed frames. Feel free to check them out here.
Use the Space Between your Refrigerator and the Cabinet or Wall
Some smaller homes have space between the refrigerator and the wall or cabinet. This is a great place to install a pull-out narrow drawer. Here are some examples from Amazon (affiliate).
Below are additional tips to help you hide the clutter:
Make sure these are items you want to hide. Ask yourself, if I hide these items, will I forget they are there? Some things need to be left out to remember to use them. One example is your daily vitamins. We like to keep our vitamins out to remember to take them.
Be sure to organize "behind the curtain," too. Add bins to use in the hidden area for similar small items. Labeling the different containers works great, so you can easily find the right bin.
If the items are serving dishes and other platters you don't often use, be sure to have them covered, so they do not get dusty. See below things from Amazon.com (affiliate).
I hope these places help you and your tiny home. Remember hiding your clutter will help your room feel spacious, less distracting, and more functional. Try it and see for yourself.
Please leave a comment below on how you hide things in your home. I would love to hear from you.
Below are other posts to keep your small home organized. Feel free to visit ours and other popular posts about small homes organizing and hiding the clutter.
Benefits of Living in a Smaller Home
17 Clever Ways to Hide Clutter in your home
10 Sneaky Ways to Hide all the Clutter
7 Creative Ways to Hide Chargers
Lucy Kelly
Curtains on a tension rod are such a smart idea for this situation, Seana. You can change them out, wash them easily, reach behind and grab what you need - what's not to like?
Julie Stobbe
I am really glad you started out with decluttering and then hiding. Lately, I have been telling clients to put a note on their phone to remind them where things are stored (hidden) like winter coats, gifts they have purchased. If they don't see the items they forget. I used the space between my filing cabinet and wall to store large envelopes, sheets of paper and posters. I also hide pictures behind the couch until I change out my pictures on the wall to make my place look new again.
Janet Schiesl
It is always challenging to find homes for items that you don't use often and you have some great suggestions. I'm more challenged to help those clients that want everything out. If it's behind a curtain or cabinet door they won't remember they own it. I find that having clear homes for groups of items is helpful, so we name spaces - the cleaning cabinet, the key drawer - something like that.
Julie Bestry
Your title was sneaky, of course, because you're not hiding clutter; you're hiding what looks like clutter because it's hard to keep it looking tidy out in the open! I'm afraid I don't have the handy skills to add the curtains or doors, but I am a big fan of corralling things in baskets and behind false fronts. Neato post!
Linda Samuels
Your title is so enticing. But of course, you're really advocating to release true clutter and make space for things you want...but in a way that doesn't distract us. I love all of your solutions, from bins to curtains to those nifty 'slim' cabinets.
Seana Turner
This is an interesting idea. By providing a visual barrier between items and their designated storage location, you offer a bit of calm and clarity to your space. I was just talking with a client last week about the curtain idea. The doors on the cabinet beneath her sink are broken, and she doesn't have the budget to have them replaced. We are thinking this might be a good interim solution, so thanks for sharing!
Sabrina Quairoli
The curtain idea works out well because it can easily be washed when they get dusty and dirty.
Diane N Quintana
I love your ideas for hiding things in plain sight. I completely agree that these things must be things you need and use because if they aren't they do not need to be stored at all.
siulo darba lietuvoje
Very interesting, thanks for sharing!