5 Expert Bedroom Storage Ideas

This bedroom by designer Leta Palatino-Ash features bookcases that surround the bed, providing handy storage for books and knickknacks.

4. Think vertically

Despite its limited square footage, Denise Schipani's first apartment had very high ceilings. So when she and her husband ran out of storage space, they looked skyward. "We installed deep shelves high above our heads," she says. "They were great for stuff you don't need often, like luggage and boxes of off-season clothes."

To avoid extending shelves into the room itself, consider removing some drywall and creating recessed spaces between the studs. You can add doors to enclose them or install shallow shelf inserts.

If you have limited space around the bed, ditch the bedside tables in favor of a headboard with cabinets to hold lamps, books and glasses. Look for tall, narrow dressers, armoires and corner cabinets to stretch your small bedroom's storage space. Opt for a compact entertainment center for your TV, stereo and related media, or free up floor space by wall-mounting towers for DVDs and CDs.

5. Create storage access

If your attic is difficult to access, consider adding another attic door in one of the bedrooms. Installing a hinged door with a drop-down ladder in a large closet will allow you to tap hidden bedroom storage as you need it.

As we all know, discarded clothes pile up fast in the bedroom. Lise found the perfect way to keep her laundry organized and out of sight. Inspired by her in-laws' laundry chute, the Lingos cut and trimmed out a hole in the wall between their bedroom and laundry closets. Now they can throw clothes directly into bins sitting on their washer and dryer. "We call it the laundry lob since it's not really a chute," she says. "It keeps the closet more organized and makes it obvious when laundry must be done. If I can see the clothes above the lip it's time to do a load."