There has been a definitive drive in recent years toward making your home a fuller expression of your own personality, as opposed to the picture perfect image from the pages of a home magazine. Don’t get me wrong, we are still all pushing for a spot in a home décor mag, but what I mean is, instead of everyone trying to create pristine, photocopies of the show rooms on those hallowed pages, folk are starting to get a little creative on their own, starting to say “hang on, I don’t want or have the space for that huge oak sideboard, beside which my home is more rustic, I’ll go with old stacked tea chests instead!”, which is wonderful because homes are more interesting for it!

Storage is also becoming a more interesting affair! No more is it cupboards or else! And now, it’s cool or funky to display some of the stuff you store, or even turn your storage ideas into household features, conversation pieces or just plain fun stuff to look at!

Here are some of the more funky storage Ideas I have seen lately. There are some excellent examples of how to maximise space and work storage into your design and décor!

So this is a very funky storage idea for those of you who have a fireplace and love to indulge in snugly evenings with blankets in front of it! Admittedly, this design might take a little time, and I would recommend that you get your best puzzle solving or tetris playing family member to construct5 it, but basically this is a very funky way of converting your wood pile into a storage unit using a very visually pleasing décor idea! Using boxes of different sizes, you can pack them into the wood pile and store your blankets, knee rugs and throws in them. This way they are visually pleasing and easily accessible on cold nights! Sticking on the topic of fireplaces here is a very funky storage idea to consider if you have one of those gorgeous older houses with mantles and fireplaces in every room! Obviously if you actually use all the fireplaces then this is a bad idea, but if you live in a city, like Durban for example, where fire places go unused, but still take up a fairly large space on the wall, then why not use it as a visual storage space? Here, the homeowner has used a few sets of those stackable and decorative storage baskets and packed them into the fireplace to create a very attractive and funky storage space. I really like this décor idea for areas of unused or obsolete space! This is also a very funky storage idea for the interior décor of your bathroom, or any room really! Box frames are fairly easy to come by or have made relatively inexpensively. Using simple open backed box frames of varying sizes, you could create a very attractive storage unit on the wall. In this image these boxes have been arranged above the dado rail of this bathroom, but really you could do this anywhere in the house. Another great design idea is to paint the boxes the same colour as the fittings etc of the room, it makes a very funky contrast in your design and décor! This funky storage idea can be created with other box like products too. I love this upcycled concept. Here the designer has used old deep desk or cabinet drawers to create a funky storage unit on the lounge wall. You can still see the handles and label holders on the sides of some of the drawers and the original paint colour of the desk. This looks stunning for the interior décor of an eclectic home!