For the average homeowner, finding enough storage for all household necessities can feel like an impossible task. So it’s only natural that tiny house dwellers would experience this struggle tenfold.
Of course, decluttering is essential to this lifestyle. You can’t pack your life into a few hundred square feet if you own every item under the sun. But there are only so many things one can get rid of before living in a tiny home starts to feel like torture rather than freedom!
Good news: You’re far from the first tiny house owner to encounter this problem.
With the growing popularity of minimal living, innovative storage ideas are becoming easier and easier to find. If there’s something you don’t know how to efficiently store in your home, there’s a good chance someone else has already discovered a solution.
Check out these 20+ tiny house ideas for storage to start organizing your life!
Tiny House Storage Ideas
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1. Ladder Shelf
Whether you have 200 or 2,000 square feet to call your own, maintaining a clean, organized living space is far from easy. Ensuring you have enough storage within your tiny home will keep clutter at bay and create a more peaceful atmosphere.
Ladder bookshelves are a recent trend in contemporary interior decor that can be used for far more than just books. A ladder shelf offers plenty of space to store toiletries, kitchen goods, and more without taking up as much elbow room as a traditional bookshelf.
2. Staircase Drawers
Tiny homeowners are always at the forefront of unique storage ideas! Rather than let the space under your stairway go to waste, consider installing drawers, shelves, or cupboards.
This storage idea can be customized to your exact needs and home layout — the only requirement is that you have a staircase. You can use the space for miscellaneous household storage, a kitchen pantry, or even as a wardrobe.
3. Pull-Out Spice Rack
Some things just can’t be downsized. If you spend any amount of time cooking at home, then you know how important a diverse collection of herbs and spices is to daily life!
There’s a good chance your kitchen cabinetry features an awkward gap or two. This unique pull-out pantry can make good use of that empty space and give your must-have seasonings a place to call home.
4. Shelving Nook
You might be amazed by how much stuff can fit into the smallest space. While tiny homes rarely feature even an inch of unused space, it would be a mistake to let any corner or nook remain empty.
This bathroom shelving nook is the perfect spot to store extra towels and toiletries. But you can also incorporate this idea into your kitchen, bedroom, or another space entirely.
5. Floating Workspace
Working from home is growing more and more common. And if you live in a tiny house, it can be hard to balance productivity and space-efficiency. This convertible desk is the ideal workspace for anyone who spends time in front of a laptop each day.
Not only does the wall-mounted design not take up any floor space but each shelf independently folds up. You can easily customize your desk space to meet your storage needs without committing to a long-term setup.
6. Hidden Compartments
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Even the most minimalist home design is going to include some furniture. One of the best investments you can make when furnishing your tiny house is to purchase furniture with internal storage compartments.
These hidden compartments are useful in more ways than one. On top of preventing wasted space, they can also hide clutter and help keep your tiny home organized.
7. Open-Air Linen Closet
Closet space is limited in most tiny home floor plans (if it exists at all!). Unfortunately, just because a space lacks standard closets doesn’t mean that the items stored inside just disappear from necessity.
It’s amazing how compact linens and towels can become when properly stored. Invest in versatile shelving and baskets that match your home decor to hold the items you can’t go without.
8. Recessed Shelving
The extra few inches saved by building recessed shelving into a wall might not seem significant. But when every square foot counts, this project can make a big difference in your home’s storage potential.
For convenient tiny house clothes storage, use recessed shelving in place of a traditional closet. Or create a space-efficient media center by mounting your TV or computer monitor to the recessed wall.
9. Wall Hooks
Adding more horizontal space to your tiny home isn’t easy. Instead, look for ways to move your storage and organization solutions skyward.
Mounting hooks on your walls isn’t just for coats and tote bags. Sturdy hooks can be used to hold baskets, blankets, and other items that aren’t always easy to store elsewhere. Plus, hooks are far more versatile than mounting these things directly to the wall.
10. Cushioned Storage
Anything can be a bench if you throw a cushion on top. Try converting storage crates into dual-purpose seating by strapping or tying a stylish cushion to the top.
Upholstered cushions come in all different shapes and sizes. But making your own is surprisingly easy and allows you to customize the final product. Use Velcro, snaps, or fabric ties to keep the cushions in place.
11. Mini Mudroom
Creating a well-organized entryway is a great way to set the rest of your home organization up for success. If a built-in mudroom isn’t possible, consider using a compact bench to store your shoes, outerwear, and other necessities.
For the most storage possible, you’re going to need more than just a bench. Look for a structure (or build your own) with an attached coat rack and shoe cubby underneath the seat. You can also opt for wall-mounted elements to save even more space.
12. Trundle Bed
Storing clothes and other household necessities is one thing. But how do you store a guest bed without giving up irreplaceable floor space?
A trundle bed could be the perfect solution to this common problem. Trundle beds are thin mattresses that sit in a “drawer” underneath a traditional bed frame. This clever piece of furniture can be used in the bedroom or the living room in the form of a daybed.
13. Elevated Bookshelf
Home storage does not need to constantly be within reach. Even if it requires a step stool to access, the top few inches of your walls can be a great place to stow books and other media.
You can easily customize the size and number of shelves to suit your living space. For items that are harder to keep neat and organized, baskets or file organizers can be incredibly useful!
14. Wall-Mounted Crates
For something a bit sturdier than a floating shelf, try hanging wooden crates along your kitchen or bathroom wall. This storage idea offers multiple surfaces to hold items plus extra stability thanks to the cubic shape.
If you’re decorating a camper van or RV, then wall-mounted crates are a great alternative to regular shelves! You can even attach makeshift doors to keep items in place when you’re on the road.
15. Entryway Cubbies
If there’s one area to prioritize adequate storage in the home, the front door is a prime candidate! By turning your home’s entryway into an (organized) dumping ground, you can keep clutter away from more functional living spaces.
This setup can be scaled up or down to fit your tiny house floor plan. Just remember to include elements like a built-in bench for storage that is as versatile as possible.
16. Kitchen Shelves
Cabinets are the most common choice for accessible kitchen storage. Unfortunately, many small kitchens must go without.
Use floating shelves as tiny house kitchen storage to free up valuable space above your countertops. You can store everything you’d keep in a cabinet on these shelves. You can even include a few decorative items while you’re at it.
17. Freestanding Pantry
Of course, you can utilize shelving in your tiny house space-saving ideas in more ways than one. A simple shelving unit can take the place of a pantry to hold dry goods, utensils, and cookware.
A shelf the same color as the wall will blend into the background. Meanwhile, coordinated containers and baskets will keep everything looking neat despite being out in the open.
18. Versatile Cabinetry
We all expect to find cabinets in the kitchen. Yet we fail to utilize this no-brainer storage solution throughout the rest of our homes.
Cabinets can be hung just above head-level to store miscellaneous items without impeding on the living space. Use cabinets in the bedroom, living room, office, and elsewhere to make the most of your home’s vertical space.
19. Dresser Bed Frame
Living in a tiny home often means eliminating all bedroom furniture except for the bed itself. So any opportunity to include storage in your bed frame should be taken advantage of.
You can purchase a bed with storage drawers already built in. Or convert an existing bed frame by filling the space underneath with standalone drawers or totes. Either way, this idea is a must for maximizing tiny house bedroom storage.
20. Window Shelves
Mounting a shelf above a window is not exclusive to tiny home design. But it’s hard to think of a better space to take advantage of this unique storage idea.
Add shelves to every window frame in your home or only where you truly need them. Don’t worry, you don’t need to give up traditional window treatments to install shelves in this way. Just install your curtain rod or blinds to the bottom of the shelf for an all-in-one solution.
21. Half Loft
Lofts are ubiquitous with space efficiency. Even if your tiny home lacks a full-scale loft, this architectural trend can help create storage space out of nothing. Think of ways you could conjure up storage space using this setup as inspiration.
This home features a storage cabinet built into the bottom of a half loft. While the loft isn’t necessary to the home’s layout, removing it would mean doing away with a major share of the available storage space.
22. Hanging Cookware
You can only downsize a kitchen so much before you’re left eating freeze-dried meals and microwave dinners! Instead of limiting yourself to a single pot or pan, why not hang your must-have cookware from the ceiling?
Hanging kitchen racks come in countless styles — take inventory of your culinary supplies before selecting the right one for your home. This storage system, in particular, also includes a wall-mounted rack for lids.