Kat’s Clever Storage Solutions

Kat does nothing by halves. Her research into becoming a professional organiser took her down many paths, most of them online. She looked up decluttering tips and resources and of course, storage solutions. The hours she spent on Google and Pinterest paid off.

Kat had been telling Bill for years that all she needed was more storage. Now it was confirmed. “See Bill”, she said. “It’s not about how much stuff you have. It’s about how clever you are in storing it.”

In the name of product research, and to help transform her hoard, Kat tracked down all the clever storage solutions she could find. There were shoe holder space savers and Wonder Magic clothes hangers for the wardrobe. She found undersink organisers and pot lid organisers for the kitchen. There were overdoor hooks and hangers for every room in the house. Now her handbags, shoes, laundry products and garbage bags could all be stored vertically. She’d read that tip and it made sense.

That’s not all. Bill could build some shelves over the doorways to use the space between the door and the ceiling more efficiently. And she’d seen a nifty over-the-toilet stand that made good use of space. That would be a good spot to store more books, or maybe the extra toilet rolls she bought when they were on special. She was always looking for somewhere to put them.

These items were so cheap too! Unfortunately, sometimes the postage charges were so high. But she found that if she ordered more, the postages costs didn’t hurt so much. And some online stores even waived the postage if you bought enough.

Soon the parcels were arriving every day. Kat had more storage solutions to try out than she had time for. Bill was concerned. He could see that not only did the storage solutions take up more space in their cramped home, but there were empty boxes crowding the space as well. But Kat insisted they would be useful. After all, she knew all they needed was to use the space more efficiently. “Don’t worry, Bill. This is all good research. Plus I’m investing in more space.”

One clever storage solution Kat invested heavily in was the space-saving Space Bag. These worked like magic. The air inside bulky items was sucked out, allowing you to use the additional free space in your home. The bags came in all shapes and sizes, and Kat got them all. She started with her linen cupboard. The extra pillows, blankets and doonas at the top of the wardrobe were stuffed into space bags. The air was sucked out and now the space bags were returned to the top shelf. Yes, the shapes of the bags made it a little hard to stack them but the extra space gained made it all worth it. Next to get “space bagged” were the balls of wool she’d bought for that afghan rug project, and the string for the macramé project, and the old curtains that used to be in the dining room. She was hanging onto those just in case she changed her mind about the new curtains. Yes, it was six years since she’d put the new ones up, but there was nothing wrong with the fabric of the old ones.

Those Space Bags gave her a great idea. She needed more space in her wardrobe for her clothes. If she could bag up Bill’s winter woollies, she could bring some more of her things in from the guest bedroom wardrobe. And that would free up the guest bedroom for more of the things in the hallway.

So Bill’s woollen jumpers, scarves and jackets were stuffed into a Space Bag and the excess air was sucked out. She stowed the bag on the top shelf of the wardrobe, and gave herself a pat on the back for more creative storage achieved.

The following week, the weather surprised everyone, turning cold. Bill hunted high and low for his favourite jumper but couldn’t find it. In fact, he couldn’t find anything warm to wear at all. But he did find an odd, stiff, plastic container in the top of the wardrobe. He pulled it down and laid it on the bed to examine further. Lo and behold, he recognised his favourite green jumper trapped inside the misshapen parcel. With a yank, he had the bag of woollens on the bed. With a tug, he opened the bag and retrieved his old familiar friend. With relief he got dressed. But what was he supposed to do now? All the rest of his winter wardrobe lay on the bed. There was clearly no space left for him in the wardrobe and the bag now wouldn’t fit back where he’d found it. So he left it there and went to find Kat for a difficult negotiation.

Just as he walked down the hall past the linen cupboard, the door opened unexpectedly. The pillows and doonas had burst out of their containers like popcorn and landed on Bill’s head. He took a deep breath and resolved to win that difficult negotiation.