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8 best storage solutions

Follow in Marie Kondo's (tidy) footsteps and declutter your home. Then Invest in some clever ways to display your prized possessions

Friday 15 January 2016 18:44 GMT

January is a good month for Japanese decluttering guru Marie Kondo. She’s cleaning up right now with a new illustrated version of her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, and reams of clogged, post-Christmas consumers looking for a house detox along with their kale smoothie. Capitalism has so many ways to get material goods into our homes, and Kondo has built an empire on getting them out. In her world, objects have souls, and we should be mindful of the life of our possessions and be grateful for what they can do for us, keeping only those things that ‘‘spark joy’’, while losing the rest. (She also feels sorry for socks that are rolled into balls and once sent a gratitude text message to her outgoing mobile phone, which she believes prompted its peaceful and spontaneous ‘‘death’’. But don’t let that worry you).

And before you start to attack one cupboard at a time, stop right there. It won’t work. According to the KondoMari method, the only way to stay tidy is to annihilate your goods by category, preferably starting with clothes. The theory is that once you’ve amassed all the garments hiding throughout the house in one pile you’ll be shocked by the volume. And after holding each piece to intercept its magic ‘‘spark’’, you’ll be left with a treasured edit that you can mindfully fold and place in a satisfying logical system in drawers or on hangers. Suddenly you identify with the calm, effective, clear-thinking individual you always wanted to be, and the buzz is enough to propel you through books, papers and trinkets in the same fashion. Result: tidy house, clear head, happy life.

Come February, you may be living among cleared tabletops while the ordered jumpers that survived the apocalypse await your perusal, or perhaps the knotted tights / Lego / beer cans will have crept in again. Either way, something has to be done about those cupboards at some point. And once you’ve whittled down your goods to just the best ones, you may actually be able to see and enjoy what you’ve got.

We’ve rounded up some of the best simple storage pieces that display your treasured goods or force you to organise, with nowhere for mess and clutter to hide

1. Acrylic Storage: £1.95 - £24.95, Muji

These clear boxes show off your best trinkets and their transparency discourages a build up of clutter. Make your own combinations from a series of modules.

2. Brickan Mirror Cabinet: £80, Ikea

This clever bathroom mirror slides along to give you five shelves of storage 11cm deep – just enough for your best pots and potions.

3. Kartell Componibili 3-tier unit: £97, John Lewis

A design classic from the 1969, this super-versatile piece is at home all over the house. The clever sliding shelf fronts hide all the bits and bobs inside.

4. Rose Glass Low Bookshelf: £750.95, Anthropologie

These pale oak shelves by Tracy Boyd are lined with rose-coloured glass on either side, lending an optimistic glow to your treasures.

5. Muuto the Dots Coat Hooks: £79, Nest

Arrange your pieces like an installation on these round wooden hooks. They’re kind to clothes and come in delicious colours like tangerine and rose. Or save cash by borrowing the concept and heading to B&Q.

6. Polygon Storage Unit: £299, Made

Get busy like the bees with this honeycomb storage unit in ash, walnut, white and grey. You’ll need to carefully curate your best books, plants or ceramics to land on the final edit. Designed by Luka Stepan, it can also be used as a room divider.

7. Grey Metal Storage Trunk: £40, Habitat

This distinguished trunk with copper clasp is a generous size, and makes ideal bedroom storage for spare bedding. Or it could become the repository for the favourite letters and keepsakes that you just can’t let go of.

8. Kallax modular shelving unit: £75, Ikea

A tried and tested favourite, your records, books, plants and ornaments take centre stage in the open cubes of the Kallax shelving unit. In a range of finished from high glass white to black-brown.