Storage for Open Floor Plans

Eliminate Upper Cabinets in Adjoining Spaces

There’s a balancing act in any open floor plan between storage and hewing to the connection between spaces. When a living space flows into a kitchen, it’s best to eliminate any uppers that might block the view -- here, over the peninsula that divides the two areas. Instead, opt for extra cabinets in an island or closed storage that faces the living space.

Make Accents Moveable

Part of any good storage is its flexibility, and that's especially true in open floor plans. Even simple accents like this tray can make it easier to move things from room to room, or to stash odds and ends if needed.

Get Creative with Doorways

In some open floor plans, there are still marked transitions from one space to another. Those offer a good opportunity to include living space storage, especially around and over doorways. This expansive shelf unit isn't overly cluttered with items, making it less likely to overwhelm the room.

Turn a Wall into Storage

Located out of the main traffic flow, walls of storage are a great way to add shelves, drawers, and doors to an open floor plan without impeding the views from living room to other spaces. Consider dividing yours by threes with visual tricks or material shifts -- here, a black trim piece and open shelves -- in order to offer visual variety. If you can, plan space for space-hogging electronics in that wall of storage in order to keep from needing furniture for TVs, DVD players, and the like.

Make Storage Pretty

If you have an open floor plan, you can generally see a lot, no matter where you are in your house. That also means you have to be more thoughtful about how your storage looks -- sturdy wooden shelves in favor of plastic bins, pretty painted cabinet doors instead of temporary carts. Here, a mix-and-match approach to kitchen storage transforms open cabinets into display spots for charming, colorful pieces of oft-used dishware.

Be Thoughtful About Storage Height

When you’re adding storage to open floor plans, it’s important to be cognizant of how quickly doors, drawers, and cabinets can overwhelm a room, especially if they reach from floor to ceiling. Instead, consider stopping your storage short of ceiling height; you’ll gain loads of organizing and stashing spots while still allowing your floor plan to breath.

Try Flexible Furniture

Furniture that does or stores more than one thing is a practical addition to open floor plan storage. That includes side tables with two shelves instead of just one or coffee tables with drawers and multiple shelves that rolls. Try hidden-storage ottomans, which work for extra seating in a pinch, too.

Spice Up Details

Living in an open floor plan doesn’t eliminate the need for practicalities -- storage among them. There are HVAC grates to work around, as well as the more aesthetically minded desires of wall display. The best storage helps to solve multiple problems, much like this wall unit. Bigger-than-normal vertical trim pieces offer slim but creative spots for small-scale pieces, while decorative ceiling details hide air return units.

Integrate Storage with Design

Storage in open floor plans should never be an afterthought, but an integral approach to design decisions. Here, in order to include a family-focused work/homework station, the homeowners carved out a U-shape nook, chock-full of drawers, doors, and open shelves. It's a casual space that contributes to the retro-contemporary feel of the house with a patchworklike wallpaper grounded by white cabinets.

Hide Storage Nooks if You Can

The whole purpose of an open floor plan is to establish uninterrupted sight lines. But sometimes corners and nooks are OK to include and use to hide storage. Here, a short wall offers a good spot for the fridge in the kitchen area, but left a dead corner next to a door. Instead of wasting it, the homeowners created a pretty desk spot outfitted with built-ins that match the rest of the open floor plan’s traditional details.

Turn Awkward Areas to Your Advantage

Open floor plans prevent lots of room divisions -- a disadvantage for messy areas like mudrooms, which often beg to be closed off from the rest of the house. Instead of scrapping this necessary area entirely, look to your open floor plan for unwieldy spots that can serve storage purposes. Here, a corner got a slightly rounded storage unit, with just enough space to serve as an entry way drop for kids and adults.

Establish Continuous Banks of Storage

In open floor plans, it's OK to continue storage from one room to the next. It's a way to establish consistency in details. Here, trim and cabinets flow from kitchen to living area. For visual tricks to denote a change in room, slightly change the details, such as eliminating upper doors and adjusting the height of a countertop.

Ideas to Steal for Your Apartment

Gallery Display

Use floating shelves to show off a collection of decorative objects and mementos. Stagger the shelves for a unique look. Basic shelves serve as a strong basis for rotating displays. They will go with almost anything, which means you can change the look of the vignette, leaving the shelves in place and avoid making any more holes in your apartment walls.

Paint Options

If you can't paint the walls in your apartment, paint your furniture. A new paint job on a bed frame or nightstand can be just as impactful as new color on the walls. 

Embrace Open Storage

Employ an industrial metal shelving unit as extra kitchen storage if your apartment's kitchen storage options are less than generous. The cool finish of this unit recalls metal touches that are standard in pro-kitchens. Use baskets to corral kitchen staples, and incorporate a few decorative touches to keep it fun.

Floor Coverings

Often in a rental situation, you are stuck with whatever finishes are in place when you sign the lease. If your apartment's carpet is not so stylish, camouflage the problem with an extra-large area rug that coordinates with your other decor. If the room is on the small side, you won't need an oversize rug, which can start to get pricey.

Be Entertaining

Turn your TV wall into a focal point. Hang paneled artwork behind the TV to frame it, and surround the TV with plenty of storage. This TV could have been placed on the console beneath it, but to maximize space and functionality in an apartment rental, take your TV to the wall and place a console beneath it that can be used as a serving surface when entertaining. Plus, having a piece of furniture beneath a wall-mount TV grounds it and prevents it from seeming as if there's a random black object floating on the wall.

Cozy, Chic Dining

A cramped dining nook can become worthy of dinner parties with a few smart strategies. Use clear chairs or a glass-top table to visually expand the space and make it feel bigger, hang up some artwork, and adjust the lighting. Install wall-mount sconces that don't need to be hardwired, or place lamps on a narrow console. If your dining area came with a chandelier, see if you can cover the bare bulbs with shades, which will diffuse the light, softening the room's glow.

Simple Storage Projects

Upright Arrangement

The wall next to your desk can hold more than a calendar. Expand storage space with hanging paper organizers, penholders, and mail catchers. Taking these items off the work surface gives you more space to complete tasks and cross items off of that never-ending to-do list.

Creation Station

Transform a wall into a kid's art center by covering an area with chalkboard paint. Add a magnetic strip for detachable marker and crayon tins and an upper shelf for messier crafting supplies. Open frames attached to the wall showcase the child's latest paintings or chalk drawings.

Space-Saving Spices

Effortlessly locate the perfect seasoning to your meal with proper labeling and clear containers. The uniform jars easily fit in square storage boxes inside the drawer to prevent tipping or spilling. Use colored labels to separate spices into further categories, like cooking or baking.

Contained and Classified

Speed up cleaning time by designating labeled buckets to a specific person or activity. These containers easily transport to the messy site and hide the clutter tucked away inside.

Refresh Flea Market Finds

Find a new use for antique shop scores. A plate, cake stand, and small bowl keep makeup, brushes, and jewelry close at hand for busy mornings. Increase the structure's stability by dropping a dollop of glue on the bottom of each item and fastening the piece to the plate.