January 5, 2023

Useful Storage Solutions for Everyday Living

Proud Collaboration with British Bathroom Brassware Manufacturer, Samuel Heath

How to work with an Interior Designer

“
Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful.

William Morris

And so it is with storage solutions. Undoubtedly useful, entirely essential, yet often a challenge to make beautiful. That’s where we come in.

Beautiful homes tend not to be cluttered with so-called shabby chic baskets and boxes or DIY-store storage solutions – but don’t worry, there ARE answers out there to seamlessly organise everyday living with absolutely no compromise on style and elegance.

Here at LK, we can barely stress enough the importance of superior quality, well-built and individually designed bespoke storage solutions. We pride ourselves on working with the best joinery companies in the north west. That’s how we ensure we tailor the smartest solutions to maximise storage and style, perfectly fitting all our clients’ requirements and specifications – including budget.

Here, we’ll share some expert advice and information as to where we’d suggest adding bespoke joinery, which will transform your space – and streamline your life. We also asked Maple and Stone to explain just how they customise their joinery to provide the best storage possible as well as some tips further on.

Light wood desk corner with an open hardcover magazine, a glass reed diffuser with black sticks on the surface, and a black leather office chair with chrome armrests in the foreground

Half of a room interior showing a cream fireplace and framed blue seascape on textured blue wallpaper at left, and dark wooden built‑in shelves at right holding a round white planter with greenery, a candle, stacked books and two decorative bottles.

White built-in shelving displaying decor: a framed sailboat photo and white orchid on the left, a neat stack of books topped with a clear glass paperweight and green candles on the middle-right shelf, and a silver toy car and marble-patterned candle on the lower shelves.

Maple and Stone Joinery

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Maple and Stone for many years now. For our readers, can you briefly explain what you provide to us, and our clients, as a trusted supplier?

“Maple & Stone is a bespoke furniture manufacturer serving clients across North Wales, Cheshire, Shropshire and The Wirral. We specialise in the design, manufacture and installation of custom interiors for both commercial and residential projects.

We’re a small independent company, with our close team of directors, kitchen advisors, designers and most importantly craftsmen having many years of experience between us.

From bespoke handmade kitchens, luxury utility rooms, modern boot rooms, children’s toy chests to custom cabinetry…we create it all!”

Round wooden dining table surrounded by ladder‑back chairs with a leafy plant centerpiece, set in a neutral-toned room with a crystal chandelier overhead, a framed abstract seascape on the wall and a built‑in media cabinet with a TV.

Round wooden dining table surrounded by ladder-back chairs with a potted leafy centrepiece beneath a teardrop glass chandelier, beside built-in cabinetry containing a stocked bar, framed abstract seascape and wall-mounted TV.

There are very few, if any, areas of the home that wouldn’t be improved by the addition of carefully crafted, bespoke joinery. Read on for our favourite custom solutions for different areas of your home, including some expert tips.

Alcoves, Under Stairs and Other Nooks

Most homes feature at least one of the above. Instead of leaving or simply ignoring this as an awkward, unused space – or worse, a dumping ground – can it be transformed into a functional space to house items?

The under-stairs area particularly lends itself to an excellent space for much-needed storage. Often, the stairs are within, or lead from, the central hallway or entrance of our homes. Because of that, it makes sense to include in-built storage for shoes, coats, and all those other outdoor items. Depending on the size and style of your interiors, panelling can be both beautiful and beneficial. We can create concealed cabinets and cupboards as part of this. The advantage of such is twofold: a typically cluttered, and busy area is kept clear, without large, imposing cabinetry filling a hallway.

Often forgotten about, especially in tiny bedrooms and children’s rooms, under-bed storage is essential! After all, this often neglected space seems to attract all manner of clutter and detritus, so it makes sense to make the most of it. Drawers are ideal, if possible, for easy access. Creating a bespoke built-in frame can offer storage for additional bedding, clothes, or toys.

Instead of handles, consider touch-opening drawers or cupboards, facilitating a hidden storage solution only you know about.

Built-in wooden window seat/daybed with a grey mattress and cushions in a recessed alcove beneath a large window, flanked by open shelving with books and toys and fitted with storage drawers and a small stuffed rabbit.

Minimal bright bedroom with a white built-in loft bed above a cushioned lower reading nook framed by shelves of books and toys, light‑wood steps to the top bunk, a skylight overhead, a desk and swivel chair to the right, and a basketball on the floor.

Under-stair built-in storage with white paneled doors opened to reveal natural-wood pull-out drawers holding sports gear — a football, helmet and other items — beneath a staircase with light wood treads and black vertical balusters.

Depending on the size and style of your interiors, panelling can be both beautiful and beneficial. We can create concealed cabinets and cupboards as part of this.

Cosy bedroom with white wood‑panelled walls and a sloped ceiling, a recessed shelf lit by wall lamps holding books and small plants, and a bed dressed in white linens with blue ombré cushions and a blue checked throw.

“
Try painting joinery in-keeping with your wall or skirting colour to keep it seamless. It won’t take over the space and will create a cohesive flow into the rest of your home.

Helen Knox, LK founder and Interior Designer

Desk and Study Areas

Unless you have a dedicated study area, it’s not always easy to create purpose-made joinery for this area. Instead, we design and create multi-purpose room storage, and have a freestanding desk. If space allows and the client wishes, we can design a desk as part of a more substantial unit. If necessary, it can then enjoy a new lease on life as a dressing table or similar later on.

As created in the image below, the stylish multi-functional shelves and cubby holes provide invaluable storage and display space, notably for children’s rooms. In this one, we designed a cool storage solution for toys, which will be adapted in several years’ time, to house a desk. Our client’s son has a system which will grow with him, and when needed, will have a dedicated study area in his room.

Colourful children's bedroom with a teal built-in bed framed like a house and a red upholstered headboard, patterned pillows and quilts, open shelving with toys and books (teddy, toy robot, Minion figure, R2‑D2 model), two framed football photos on textured wallpaper, red-and-yellow pendant lights and a brown leather trunk on the floor.

In the young girl’s room, pictured below, we know that the piece currently used as a desk, in a few years can be adapted to make the perfect dressing table.

Colourful child’s bedroom with a single bed centred against horizontally striped gradient wallpaper, chevron-patterned bedspread and matching pillows, dark built-in shelves and desk with toys and books to the left, framed animal prints on the right wall and a wire pendant light with decorative birds overhead.

Colourful children's bedroom featuring a bed with chevron cushions and a zigzag knit throw on the right, a light-wood wardrobe and dark built-in desk with shelves displaying toys, books and framed art in the centre, a tufted armchair with a teddy by tall sash windows and patterned curtains on the left, plus a birdcage pendant light and horizontal ombré striped wallpaper.

For a flexibly multi-functional storage solution, we designed a substantial unit with a blend of display space and hidden storage. If this room ever needs to change, then it’s still a useful, yet decorative, piece of storage.

Home office with a dark blue built-in shelving unit backlit to showcase decorative objects and a framed galloping white horse, a black wooden desk topped with a metallic armillary sculpture and notebook, a blue velvet chair, and large glass doors to the left.

Light cream built-in desk beneath a window overlooking evergreen trees, with a textured grey upholstered stool tucked under, a decorative tissue box and pale blue vase topped with white coral on the windowsill, and pale grey patterned curtains to the side.

Dressing table beside a window with a hinged mirror, stacked textured grey cushioned stool, a grey tissue box and pale blue jar topped with white coral on the counter, and embroidered grey curtains framing a view of trees outside.

Where we add dressing tables in bedrooms – or where study areas evolve into dressing tables – we can cleverly hide mirrors, thus ensuring that the views outside continue uninterrupted.

Bathrooms

Whether to create a tranquil, spa-like sanctuary space, or to avoid tripping hazards in the family bathroom, ample – and discreet – storage is crucial. Bottles and clutter are never a good look for any bathroom, so we suggest a vanity unit is provided to suit each client’s individual requirements. Our client requested that we design around specific bottle heights for the ensuite pictured below. Therefore, we designed both drawers with this in mind. That’s the huge benefit of bespoke storage. Individually tailored solutions allow every cabinet, every little detail, to be crafted to suit your specific needs.

Polished chrome vintage-style shower controls and a white-handled handheld showerhead mounted on grey-veined marble tiles, with a recessed niche holding a bottle of shower gel.

White double-sink bathroom vanity with a marble countertop, chrome faucets and a brown soap bottle, set beneath two pale-blue framed mirrors reflecting a marble shower, floral wallpaper and a crystal chandelier.

Minimalist white bathroom sink and countertop with a chrome wall-mounted faucet and round controls, a small glass jar of cotton pads, a rectangular mirror and a white wall sconce casting strong diagonal shadows.

Bespoke joinery can create useful storage even in those areas where we’ve built out walls to accommodate plumbing.

Living Areas and Under-Seat Storage

It’s important to keep living areas relaxing and welcoming, so clever storage is a must. Consider adding window seats, especially in bay windows. These can provide useful drawer space or lift-up cabinets. As ever, that’s down to you and what you want to store.

“
Drawers tend to maximise storage space as you can get right to the back. However, due to the cost of the mechanisms, they are more expensive.

Simon, LK Co-founder and Interior Architect

Many lounge areas, family snugs, and sitting rooms have central media units or a fireplace. These can afford opportunities for further invaluable storage space, tailored perfectly to the home, whether that’s a period country house or a contemporary new build property.

Clothes Storage

A space in which we’re ALL aware of the benefits, nay, the necessity of bespoke cabinetry; the dressing room or wardrobe space within a bedroom, storage needs to be unobtrusive yet sizeable and multifunctional. Storage within the bedroom or dressing room needs to house a variety of items, not just clothes. There must be space for hanging and folded items, shoes, bags, accessories, right down to cufflinks, jewellery and watches.

It’s absolutely imperative that the internal arrangements of storage here must be very cleverly designed, so we asked Russ from Maple and Stone for his top tips in this area.

The clothes you wear the most should be the most accessible and organised by season.
Customise the amount of shelving or hanging space depending on your needs. If you tend to be a more casual dresser you may not need as much floor length dress rails for example, and more shelves.
To avoid standing on your tiptoes to reach the shelving higher up, perhaps invest in a bespoke step stool in a complimentary finish. It’s a small investment that will make higher shelves easier to access whilst looking stylish.
The key to a well lit wardrobe is to introduce multiple layers that integrate both ambient, decorative and task lighting seamlessly. Never underestimate the quality of good lighting in your wardrobe, it is just as important to the preservation of eyesight as it is to aesthetics!
Lastly, don’t forget your choice of hangers. Space-saving felt hangers come in an array of colours and look stylish. Keeping them all one colour and style adds to the uniform, streamline look of your new wardrobe.

Three architectural wardrobe elevations side-by-side: left shows an open dark‑wood interior labeled 'Elevation 1 - Open' with six fabric storage boxes on the top shelf, two hanging rails filled with clothes and a bank of drawers at the bottom; centre shows the same unit closed with six framed panel doors and dashed lines indicating door swing; right shows matching panelling with a concealed hidden door indicated by dashed swing lines.

Boot Rooms

Utility areas are virtually a must, but a separate boot room can be a game changer. If your home is large enough to accommodate that additional boot room, too, then we love creating purpose-made, dedicated storage for this invaluable and hard-working space. A place to deal with wet dogs, mucky wellies and muddy clothes without creating havoc, or encroaching (and splattering) on the rest of the house.

“
These practical rooms are the perfect place for panelling, as a durable wall treatment which can be wiped down regularly.

Mike, Architectural Designer

Wine

A dedicated wine storage facility is a regular request. Handy for those who love entertaining as well as those connoisseurs or collectors, who have vast collections of wine spirits. In the absence of an actual wine cellar, it makes sense to utilise space within the kitchen or dining area. We don’t necessarily require a dedicated room – a fireplace alcove within your den can avoid trips back-and-forth to the kitchen, or a handy concealed bar unit within your open-plan kitchen is perfectly placed next to the dining area.

Partial interior view showing a white fireplace mantel topped with a bronze vase of green foliage, a tufted green armchair, and a wooden glass-front cabinet displaying bottles and wine glasses, with a round wooden table in the foreground.

A glass-fronted black-framed wine cabinet with its door ajar revealing wooden racks stocked with wine bottles and illuminated shelving, set beside glass-panel doors on a herringbone oak floor.

Glass-fronted wooden wine cabinet with illuminated cubbies holding rows of horizontally stored wine bottles, hanging wine glasses and a few decorative objects.

Storage, Storage, Storage

In much the same way as the three most important considerations when buying a new home are location, location, and location, so storage is key once you’ve made a house your home. Whether minimalism, maximalism or somewhere down the middle is your thing, keeping your space clear of clutter and mess is everything.

You may wonder why we’ve apparently neglected kitchens and utilities. Fear not and watch this space. Those hubs of the home warrant a separate journal post of their own, as each room is designed for practical purposes yet must boast stylish material and layout ideas. We will share our expert advice and help you plan your perfect kitchen and utility spaces.