Storage ideas always rank very highly on my asked-for list. And I do get a fair share of DMs and emails asking about where I store my shoes, bags, paper bags, hair accessories, cleaning products…you name it!

This blog post is a lot different to the norm. I asked you all what you’d like to know where and how I store last month on Instagram – and here are the top and most-asked-for items.

Handbags

We opted for a bed with deep drawers on both sides – this is where I store the majority. I also keep a couple of less-used ones in a plastic container on the top shelf of my wardrobe. My beloved LV gets a VIP space at the bottom of my wardrobe, as I do not want to squash it.

Paper & plastic bags

We’ve got MUCH less now as I’ve been very mindful about using fabric ones or popping stuff into my handbag. However, we do have a space specifically for these. We made use off ALL our tiny space, and these live in little vertical spaces in the doorframe of the wardrobe in Nina’s room, sort of like a border around the wardrobe. It could have been wasted space, but we custom built the wardrobe and asked the carpenter not to close the edges off. Of all the storage ideas I am sharing, this is my absolute fave! Works a charm!

Cleaning products

One shelf above headspace inside our utility room (which doubles, triples, quadruples?) as a shoe room, freezer room, cleaning supplies & tools room; is dedicated to cleaning products. We always make full use of space, be it bottom, top, side – anywhere and everywhere serves us.

Toys

Most of Nina’s toys are stored in her toy storage chests in her bedroom. She’s got a few others in one drawer in her chest of drawers, and at the bottom of her wardrobe.

Old kid’s clothes

We don’t hold on to these any longer because we do not plan to have any more children. But when I did hold on to them, I used to store them in vacuum bags, label them, and store them at the topmost shelf in the wardrobes, or in underbed storage.

Luggages

These go in the topmost shelf inside one of the wardrobes. Again, these were custom built, floor to ceiling. We have 2 larger luggages, and the smaller ones fit inside them. I use up all of the space, and store our travel bits and pieces in the innermost luggage.

Clothes

We have 1 wardrobe in each bedroom (3). The kid’s ones are larger, and they have less stuff then us, so we use 1/3 of each of the kids’ too. Out of season always goes on the highest shelves.

Kitchen appliances (namely air fryer, food processor)

My airfryer lives out on the counter (cringe). I don’t like a cluttered countertop, but the appliances I need most handy are outside. At least my slow cooker looks pretty stylish 😂I keep my food processor inside one of the lower cupboards. The cupboard has a swivel installed, and I keep it in the handiest part – so it’s really easy to access. If you want to get a good look at how I store stuff in my kitchen, you can watch my kitchen tour on YouTube.

That pretty much sums up the ones you asked about the most, and I hope you’ve got a few new storage ideas up your sleeve! If there’s something you’d like to know about which hasn’t been covered here, leave a comment below, or connect with me & let me know!

Want to SEE where I store the above?

Let me know by taking a screenshot of this blog post, uploading it to your Instagram stories, and tagging me @themamamanual. If there’s enough interest, I’ll gladly record all of these storage spaces for a YouTube video so you can have a closer look!