Jennifer Sheahan: I'm a tiny house owner. Here's how I store bulky items, from suitcases to skis

Every now and then, we acquire seasonal, oversized items that we don’t need often but that we do need to keep somewhere

Bench seating with hinged lids is great for storing large or long items, writes Jennifer Sheahan. Here she's done exactly that in her living area. Pictures: Moya Nolan

As a homeowner, there are few better feelings than having everything put away. Your clothes are folded or hanging, the kitchen presses aren’t overflowing, and your bookshelf is neatly styled. 

As a tiny home owner, this feeling brings an extra special satisfaction. And then one day, you’re out shopping and you decide it’s a great idea to buy a new fancy tent for All Together Now next year…until you get home and realise you’ve nowhere to put it.

Every now and then, we acquire bulky, seasonal, oversized items that we don’t need often but that we do need to keep somewhere. Suitcases. The Christmas tree. Guest bedding. A tent. Tools. The lawnmower. Sports equipment. They take up space, they’re irregular shapes, and they don’t fold down neatly into an ottoman or any of the other clever storage solutions you’ve designed into your home.

We often forget that we need this type of storage, and it can be a big challenge for small-space living. Most organisation advice focuses on decluttering, sorting, or containerising. All useful, but how do I “declutter” my touring skis when they definitely do spark joy? 

Even if you don’t have many such items now, it’s a good idea to design some storage space for future rogue purchases that can be stashed away tidily rather than hulking in the corner of your bedroom for months on end. 

The trick is to look for spaces that technically exist in the house but aren’t yet serving any useful function. Almost every home has these, but you have to know where to look.

Find those hidden large storage spots

One of the most valuable storage areas in my house didn’t exist in any meaningful way until my builder pointed it out to me. My bedroom is a dormer extension, and there are eaves on either side. 

One contains a wardrobe and the other my boiler and water pump. But at the end of each, towards the low edge of the eave, there was a cavity that was essentially empty air. 

My builder cut a small access door into the wall, and suddenly I had an enormous, invisible storage space. It’s an awkward area that requires crawling and bending to access, but it’s ideal for suitcases, seasonal decor, and one random piano stool that I’ve never used but can’t seem to throw away.

Use all available storage under eaves, says Jennifer.

Many homes have similar forgotten zones — the voids behind knee walls, the space above the hot press, empty corners under attic conversions, the area behind built-in wardrobes, or the vertical gap above older kitchen cabinetry. It’s always worth doing a walk around and considering where gaps might exist. Getting a large new storage area could be as easy as cutting a small door into the plasterboard.

Lurking under the bed

If you have a small home and/or you’re short on storage, there is absolutely no excuse for you not having storage under your bed. 

My preference by a country mile is for an ottoman bed that lifts on a gas hinge. This gives you full access to the entire area underneath, and even if you only have a single bed, this is a hell of a lot of storage space that is easy to access when needed. 

Drawers are ok, but less useful for large, bulky items. If you already have a bed but no storage, measure the available space underneath and buy storage boxes that will slide easily underneath — clear boxes are best so that you can find things easily.

Ottoman beds that lift on hinges provide lots of storage for bulky items, as Jennifer has discovered in her bedroom.

To give you a sense of the scale of storage available here, under my (king size) bed, I keep a large camping tent, guest bedding including a duvet and spare pillows, off-season clothing including winter coats, all of my bulky ski clothes, two pairs of skis, a pair of ski boots, an inflatable stand-up paddle board, and a pair of curtains that I really need to give away — plus I have plenty of space left over in case I ever decide to take up surfing.

Bench seating

Another highly functional storage area for bulky items in my home is under the banquette seating in my dining area. Underneath I store my vacuum cleaner, tools, and various household supplies such as spare paint cans and artwork that I haven’t hung up yet. 

It looks like a dining bench. It behaves like seating. But it’s also quietly housing half my utility cupboard.

This is one of my favourite small-space design moves: If a piece of furniture takes up floor space, it should earn its keep. Window seats, hallway benches, ottomans, and breakfast nooks all have the potential to be hollow. 

The more clever move is to ensure that the seats lift up on hinges, rather than installing drawers, which will allow you to more easily store bulky items.

Under the stairs

If you have stairs, the space beneath is one of the most valuable spots you can transform for bulky item storage. Keep it simple with tall press doors and deep pull-out drawers that can easily hold large or long items such as suitcases, sports equipment, hoovers, and backpacks. 

Create storage access by cutting a door into plasterboard, as Jennifer has done in her bathroom. 

A common blocker to this is if you, like me, have a staircase that wraps around a downstairs bathroom, and so you can’t access the side to install doors or drawers. I still use some of this space — I cut a square into the wall above my toilet and that opens into a large cavity that gives me plenty of storage for cleaning supplies.

Take it outside

If you have even the tiniest outdoor space, consider whether part of it could support a compact outdoor storage unit. A narrow, upright shed that sits flush against a wall can hold garden tools, sports gear, or even outdoor furniture that’s not in use. 

Outdoor benches with storage seats are another option and can function as both seating and bulk storage for items that don’t need to be indoors. Installing hooks on the wall can be an easy way to bring organisation to items that are cluttering up your valuable garden space.

Cases storing cases

Nesting doesn’t work for all bulky items, but items such as suitcases are empty most of the time, so fill them. I put my smaller suitcase inside my larger one, and inside that I store seasonal clothing or decorations I don’t need immediate access to. 

The suitcase effectively becomes a storage container that is already taking up space anyway. This is a trick that sounds almost too simple to include, but it may be a helpful reminder.