Useful Stuff Part II: Hanging Storage Baskets

Useful stuff part II. This has clearly come about because the 17-year-old has requested to move rooms and will henceforth be living in the spare room while his old bedroom becomes the spare. This is good as it gives me a room decorate but has involved an unholy amount of clearing out and chucking out and trips to tips and charity shops.

And there’s nothing like a few afternoons spent filtering through boxes of stuff to realise that storage is one of the most – the most(?) important thing in the whole house. Tom Dixon said it was a bed when he designed his Delaktig sofa for Ikea. I wonder if that is actually trumped by the storage. After all, how well are you going to sleep in a room that is full of clutter. Whereas I would suggest you would sleep ok on the floor if the room was clean and tidy. Anyway, that’s a debate for another day/blog.

Today we are here to talk about storage. One of the best ways of adding extra storage in kids’ and spare rooms and halls is the Shaker Peg. You can buy them in all different sizes for all different prices. I have them in my pantry for tea towels and feather dusters, dustpans and brushes, sellotape and re-usable bags. And bags is the key. Because hanging a couple of bags on these hooks doubles the available storage at a stroke.

Both my sons have shaker pegs in their bedrooms (and the 17yo has requested that his move from his old room to the new). It started off as a place to hang five white shirts so they could see at a glance how far away the weekend was. Five white shirts and a dressing gown. Then the 17yo added his towel. And his ever-growing collect of jackets.

I have suggested to clients that they line the room with them Not only can you hang clothes but also hangers  of clothes, pictures, kit bags, bags of kit, football boots. Hell, you can even make like a Shaker and hang a chair and free up the floor space. Works also for pants and socks. I don’t know about your children but mine have an aversion to chest of drawers and the putting things into thereof. Open baskets is less of an issue.

Plus they look nice. And that is one decorative feature that they won’t grow out of. In a spare room you can store a pair of guest pyjamas, slippers, a towel and some sample size toiletries. In the hall you can fill with with hats and gloves in the winter and sun hats and cream in the summer. Or in the bathroom with loo rolls in the basket and towels on the pegs.

So useful things part II. Shaker peg rails and baskets. Or course you can use any baskets but these ones have a single handle and have been designed not to fall off when overfilled. Because you know that’s going to happen too and a classic two handled basket may not stay on the hook.

I said yesterday that I was no Marie Kondo because I didn’t get rid of everything. I think instead I might be Marie Kondo’s nemesis. I’m saying hang on to it all as long as you can find a cool and workable way to store it. These baskets and rails are from Cox and Cox. The baskets are £40 for two and the peg rails are £45 for the six version and £30 for the tree.

Come back tomorrow for useful things Part III. No less useful slightly more frivolous.  Because it’s Thursday not yet Friday and because we need to have fun too.