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George Clarke’s home storage secrets

George Clarke shares his latest tips and ideas about home storage secrets.

By Julian Cornish-Trestrail | 12 January 2017

George Clarke, architect and presenter of Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces and The Restoration Man, shares his latest tips and ideas about home storage secrets.

George Clarkes home storage secrets

Storage is the word I hear most often when designing homes – people can’t seem to get enough of it. For me, however, it’s not the quantity of storage that matters, but how well considered it is.

I have a few house rules when it comes to filing away belongings. First, have a massive clear-out of stuff you genuinely don’t need – you must be ruthless. Then divide things into four distinct storage groups – permanent, semi-permanent, everyday and display.

George Clarke, architect and presenter of Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces and The Restoration Man, shares his latest tips and ideas about home storage secrets.

George Clarkes home storage secrets

Storage is the word I hear most often when designing homes – people can’t seem to get enough of it. For me, however, it’s not the quantity of storage that matters, but how well considered it is.

I have a few house rules when it comes to filing away belongings. First, have a massive clear-out of stuff you genuinely don’t need – you must be ruthless. Then divide things into four distinct storage groups – permanent, semi-permanent, everyday and display.

Permanent-storage items can range from family documents to objects with sentimental value. These should be hidden away in labelled boxes, so they won’t compromise your usable space. I count semi-permanent belongings as things you might use once or twice every few months; these can be placed on high-level shelves.

Keep your everyday items in a hot spot – an area of the house you have easy access to. The best example is by your front door (so get ideas for maximising corridor space from the hallway storage shopping feature on p129). One of my favourite tricks is to create drawers for shoes in staircase risers – genius! Display items are obviously the beautiful pieces that you have collected, such as photos and ceramics. Present these in clear boxes or bell jars, so they are on show and will add true personality to a home.

In all cases, it’s important that units and cupboards are designed-in as much as possible.

Credit: Julian Cornish-Trestrail

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