Finding a way to combine the necessity of creating more storage space while still maintaining a decorative aesthetic has been the bane of many a homeowner. This need not always be the case. A little bit of creative thinking combined with a reasonable outlay of cash and the willingness to commit the time necessary to pull it off can result in the transformation of a room into a place that is both pleasing to the eye and capable of storing more than you ever thought.
Sliding Screens
A highly decorative way to provide an aesthetic quality to a room that hides the utilitarian need for storage space requires little more than introduction of sliding screens. Affix a series of shelves to the wall with the depth that is required for what you need to store. Whether it be those objects on the shelves or the shelving itself that creates the eyesore, the solution remains the same. Invest in some artistically pleasing sliding screens that you have sized accurately enough to camouflage the shelving when pulled in front of them and large enough to cover the area required to camouflage the shelves when pulled in front of them while still giving you enough room to push them far enough to the side to allow full unobstructed access to the shelves.
Storage Lockers
The placement of storage lockers on a wall that span either the full length of the wall or come to a stop with just enough space below the ceiling for placement of items on top of the lockers can actually become a highly decorative way to use wall space for storage. The pleasing aesthetics arrives in the manner in which the exterior of the locker doors are handled. The most artful means of making ugly wall storage lockers come alive as an interior design success story is to match the imagery of the exterior to the contents of the interior. For instance, let’s say the wall lockers are where you keep an extensive media library. Turning utilitarian need for storage space into a decorating triumph can be achieved by a number of means that could include something as simple as adorning the doors with movie posters or CD cover art. If you want to get more extravagant, you could hire an artist to recreate favorite scenes from movies or you could just buy a paintbrush and can of paint and write out lyrics from your favorite songs. If the lockers contain sporting goods, cover the doors with wallpaper that reflects the specific sports. Get the idea? Match the artistic front presented by the doors to the contents hidden behind them.
Fake Wall
Sometimes you just want to hide your storage area completely. The reason for the secrecy doesn’t matter; it may be you don’t want prying eyes or you just may not want the ugliness of open storage areas. Creating a false wall really isn’t that complicated or even all that expensive. As long as you don’t really need to create a false wall that easily evades detection, you can still maintain a level of decorative sensibility while keeping the storage items out of view. Instead of installing sliding screen doors, spend a little more on panels that can be installed as a facing in front of the storage shelves on the wall. If you’ve got more money to spend, indulge in wood panels. If you are handy enough with tools, you could probably install these panels that open outward for access to the storage area yourself. If you aren’t handy, the job is uncomplicated enough to hire someone to do it for a reasonable price. The payoff is the installation of individual panels that can then be decorated to give the effect of a normal wall that, if done with enough imagination, will give no indication to the casual onlooker that secrets are stored behind.
