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10 Tiny House Clothes Storage Ideas
So you have moved into your lovely new tiny house, and you start unpacking your possessions. Even though you knew you needed to downsize and declutter, and you took endless bags to your local goodwill, you simply do not have enough storage space for all your stuff. Unfortunately this includes your most commonly used – and important – possessions: your clothes. What can you do when you seem to have zero storage space for your clothes? Unless you want to live like Mark Zuckerberg and wear the exact same t-shirt and pants every single day, you need to find extra storage space.
Luckily there are plenty of ingenious clothes storage solutions and hacks you can use to keep clothes in your tiny house without any stress. This can involve under-the-bed storage, shelves in places you would not think of, smaller than usual furniture and much more.
1. Under the Stairs Drawers and Shelves
When you need tiny house clothes storage ideas, never underestimate the staircase if you have one. Storage areas under the stairs can be really useful for clothing. If you do not do this, you are missing out on a ton of extra space. If you have a taller cabinet, you could put a shelf or a rod in it. All you really need is about 30-inches for a shirt to hang in. This means if you have a broom closet there, you could easily add two rows of rods and have ample storage for shirts.
When you do not already have storage under the stairs, you may have to put a little more effort into making it a usable space. You can add drawers that pull out from under the steps or add shelves behind the loft stairs. Ikea provides several affordable DIY units if you are unable to cut the boards yourself. Depending on the length of the shelf you want, you could spend $18-$24. However, you also have the option to purchase a shelf with drawers in it, which could be useful as a sock or undergarment space. This is actually a desktop, so it does measure 31 7/8” x 13 3/4”, which could be a little large for under the stair storage, but it may be useful in other areas of your bedroom.
2. Use Both Sides of the Shelves
Tiny houses commonly have a huge problem: no storage, and no space to add it. What if you could add storage by using unexpected areas? For instance, a single shelf, or a wall of them. This is effective storage for clothes and maybe even quite a bit of it. You can add more to it though. A single shelf is ideal for holding pants. Add a towel rack under it and you have a place to hang your shirts. Honestly, towel racks can be useful for many things in a tiny home. You can hang anything that is small from them.
If you have tank tops or bras, you can use “S” hooks to hang more. A dowel rod can be put there for ties or belts. There does not have to be a lot of space between the rod and the shelf. As a bonus, all of it can be done for very little cost!
3. Drawers Under the Bed
This does cost a little bit of money, and you do need to have a little extra headroom above your bed, but it can be very useful. Under the mattress and bed is often just empty space. However, adding drawers under the bed can give you some much-needed storage – and can be possible by raising the bed off the floor even a small amount, because these drawers do not have to be thick. Small drawers can hold an extra set of sheets, undergarments, night clothes and more.
If you do not have space to put storage under your mattress, you could also add it to the head or foot of your bed. A headboard or footboard with pull out storage on the sides can add instant storage for smaller items. If you are going to build your own, you will need a headboard that you can build a box off the back of, a track, and other necessities.
We have an example of optimized bedroom ideas , where we took a look at the Silk & Snow storage bed.
4. Shelves From Floor to Ceiling
In loft bedrooms, floor space is not something you have a lot of. This is where shelves will be most useful. You could even put floor to ceiling shelves beside where you step up into your loft. You can then store clothing items there. You just have to remember to roll your clothes and stack them on each shelf. From the floor, it will make a colorful mosaic. From above, where you need it the most, you will find it completely handy. This is one of those tiny house clothes storage ideas that may not work for everyone though. Most people who have shelves in that area want to put decorative items on them. If this is you, you may choose to simply fill up a different wall in your bedroom with shelves, especially if your bedroom has a peaked ceiling and you are unable to walk or crawl in that space easily.
5. Ceiling Storage
You should never underestimate the beauty of storage around your ceiling. It is space that would otherwise be wasted, which is bad when every inch of space counts. Along the ceilings, you can add shelves or small cabinets. These overhead compartments can be used for sheets, blankets, winter items, and so much more. If you do not want to fill up your wall space entirely or you do not have room to spare, you could always just add this storage over your head. Cabinets that you rarely get into work especially well above the head of the bed.
If you do not have a loft bedroom, these shelves and cabinets may also be placed over the doorway, where you should have at least a couple of feet in extra space.
6. Small Open Cabinets
The convenience of little collapsible bins is undeniable. They are fantastic to use in all sizes of homes, but tiny homes owners are truly loving them. These storage boxes are available in all sizes and they can hold a lot of stuff. If you want clothing storage, you may need to practice rolling your clothes, but it is well worth it. You can build or buy a simple open shelving unit that only has one level to it. Storage boxes can fit on top and under the shelf. Small boxes can hold smaller items, larger bins can hold shirts, pants, and other items. Exactly how much you can store, depends on how much space you have in your tiny bedroom for your clothing.
If you have very little space in your room, you can put shelves under your steps to accommodate clothing stored in these storage bins. It just means you have to walk down steps to get to clothes as you head to your bathroom for a shower. This is something most of us will do anyway.
7. Go Between the Studs
You can build shelves in between the studs in your bedroom wall if you want. It may not be ideal for clothes unless you are designing a bedroom for your newborn or toddler, but it can be effective at helping you find space within your tiny home. To make use of this space, you need to first locate your wall studs and cut out an area of sheetrock between them. This can go floor to ceiling or any size in between. Most wall studs are only going to be about four inches deep, so it may be best to use it only for smaller items. Ties, belts, scarves, and other items can be hung from dowel rods in this space and then hidden by a mirror or a photo. You can leave the area open to have just a built-in shelving unit. It depends on what you want to do with it.
8. Go Down Under!
Perhaps one of the most creative tiny house clothes storage ideas is to add storage into your flooring. To do this, you may have to build up your floor a little, but the results could be well worth the effort if it does not sacrifice too much headspace for your bedroom. Once you have the floor built up, you will want to create a trap door, or maybe even more than one. Inside, you can have divided areas for clothing, sheets, and more. Once the trap door is closed, no one will see your clothes. If you toss a small rug over it, no one will even know that you hide your clothing, or anything else, in that area of your bedroom. This space could also work very well for hiding shoes, extra purses, and other things.
9. Platform Beds!
If you have a dome style ceiling in your loft, you may be able to build a platform for your bed and then add a full closet under it. Dressers on rollers that can pull out of the space are a great idea if you have the ceiling height to do it. Another option is to have your mattress lift up so that you can get under it. Some people on Pinterest have even left little doorways so that they could walk into their “closet” once their bed was lifted off its base. This is a great idea if you have a lot of space, but it can also be effective if you have only a little space above your bed.
10. All Things Tiny
Due to the constant increase in the popularity of tiny homes, most furniture stores have items that are both large enough for traditional homes and small enough to work well within a tiny home. Tiny home dressers, night tables, and other items are available. If you have explored the rest and decided that none would work for you, maybe it is time to try your luck at finding tiny dressers, tiny wardrobes, or other small home furnishings. You may even visit thrift stores and such to find old furniture that you can repurpose to meet your clothing storage needs.
Photos & Videos
Some of the great storage ideas mentioned above can be seen in the photos and videos below:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/713679872169821911/