Storage Hacks for Under Your Bed

I’m going to be focusing on an alternative storage solution for under your bed. I live in a really small apartment, which means our storage space is even smaller and I’m also married so I have to share it with someone else and it kind of like forces you to get super creative on where the heck you can put stuff without making it look cluttered. So it occurred to me, the bed takes up the majority of the real estate in the room so wouldn’t it be great if I could utilize that space by putting stuff under it and making that a great storage solution. Before you start you might want to do a Hey Siri or Hey Alexa search for under the bed storage solutions. You want to get rid of any dust bunnies, any trash, any old socks or spider webs anything that is unwanted that, you know, you do not need to keep, get rid of it. That way you can start with a clean slate and you can keep things nice and organized under your bed. Number 2 get yourself some bed risers and a bed skirt. Utilizing under bed storage is a great way to create a visual boundary between you and the stuff that you do not need access to on a day to day basis. Whether it’s seasonal clothing or just basic household things that you are storing under there it helps limit the number of things that you have entering your visual space, so you don’t have to see them all the time.

If you guys have beds that are already super tall and have a lot of space under them, then that’s perfect. If you have a bed that has built in drawers, then that’s even better. But if you’re like me and your husband bought a hundred dollar bed frame on Amazon, then you are going to want to get some bed risers that you can put under all the legs and then it’ll give you enough storage to really stock at least two bins or the long skinny ones on top of each other. A good place to get these totes or bins is at Crate and Barrel or Bed Bath and Beyond. Many times, with a platform bed and/or a bed with a thick box spring and mattress, using 5, 6, or 8 inch risers is not an option because it puts the bed too high off the floor. In this case, a 2 ½” riser is the perfect solution. There are many companies that make 2 1/2” risers such as: Utopia Bedding, Home-It, Home Solutions, iPrimio, Kingsbrand, Slipstick, Geenco, Dura-Casa, and Tech Team https://techteamproducts.com/. We happen to like Tech Teams 783 https://www.amazon.com/Tech-Team-Heavy-Duty-Protects-Adapters/dp/B07VNBH9WZ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=tech+team+bed+risers&qid=1566239046&s=gateway&sr=8-1 the best because it is rock solid, and it can fit either a ¼” socket or ½” socket on standard steel bed frames. In addition, it offers a wide base that provides excellent support. You can really maximize a lot of storage under there that way. Also, a good tip is to get that bed skirt, because if you don’t, you’re gonna have a big space that people could see underneath your bed. If you just get a simple white skirt, you solve that problem and it looks really clean.

Number three, decide on what you were going to store in that space. You should ask yourself, what are the things that you’re going to need on a weekly or monthly basis but you may not need it on a daily basis, but you definitely use it frequently enough that you would like access to it weekly or monthly. Are there are household items that you could use extra storage for, like maybe hangars or bed sheets or do you guys have any bulky items like sweatshirts or maybe some dressy purses that could use a hidden home? Those items are great to put underneath your bed, including items like, you know, one of your 70 pairs of shoes. But let me tell you, if you put them under your bed and you don’t see them for six to eight months, once you take them out, I can almost promise you for the most part, you’re gonna be like me and look at it and go this is so out of season I can’t believe I wanted to like wear that or I’ve worn this so much and I think I’m ready to get rid of it. You’ll alleviate the bond that you have with it and are able to sell it or donate it or part with it.

Number four, pick your bins. If you guys have zero budget don’t worry you can use something like an Amazon box or shoe box or something like that. I don’t highly recommend that option, but if you really cannot do any plastic bins, that’s totally fine. You guys can still make this apply for your spaces. If you guys do have a little bit more of a budget, I highly recommend that you invest in clear bins with good locks on the side. These are even available at Menards, I speak from personal experience on this one. I have purchased the ones that IKEA has that don’t have the locks that are just like super cheap. They have a lid you can put on top because they are way cheaper, and I absolutely hate them. In fact, I ended up replacing them, which sucks because I wasted money on the IKEA ones, and I have to buy them again, whereas if I just bought them nice the first time, I would have only paid for them once. So I highly recommend you guys look for ones that have those clip on the top of them. It’s also a really good idea to make sure that you try to find bins that glide in and out easily and especially ones that have wheels as that will really help the ease the glide and you will be able to pull things out easily and access them really easily. Get the ones with wheels and get them clear so you can see into them, so you know which bin you’re trying to get into and make sure you’re pulling out the right one. If you guys have important documents or memorabilia that you’re wanting to store under your bed, I recommend trying to get like a file cabinet thing or maybe a locked box. That way you guys can store them safely. Sometimes putting those items in the garage they can get destroyed or eroded or whatever.

If you guys are trying to store shoes especially hiking shoes or boots, you don’t necessarily want to do all the long boxes. I would recommend trying to find boxes that are all the same width, but maybe not all the same length. So, for example, when I pull out a long box, I still have three separate boxes on top of it that I can put sheets in or I can put shoes in or things like that. But it still is kind of all the same width and lines up correctly when I stack them so they’re clean and neat and simple and easy to access.

And last but not least, number five, use vacuum sealed bags. These are awesome for so many reasons, yes, they are good for storage, they’re also really good for traveling. If you guys need more room in your suitcase, like the val pack. I think it comes with like two cubes for packing or something. They create more space in the bins and they also help protect your stuff against all those dusty little critters that could get in there over time. Lastly, it actually does help divide up a big plastic bin so if you guys have a big bin, you don’t want to necessarily have all of your clothes mixed together or you want to easily maybe get to some of your, like, nice dresses. I have a plastic vacuum bag that only has my nice dresses. All those vacuum bags go into one plastic container. It’s all nice and neat and organized and if I need to get to one thing, I don’t have to open up all those bags just to find that one little dress. These are available at Bed Bath and Beyond or online from Amazon. That makes sense, hopefully.