Decorative storage in bedrooms and bathrooms

• The essential guide to decorative storage
• Decorative storage in a kitchen-diner
• Decorative storage in living spaces
• Decorative storage in bedrooms and bathrooms
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Bespoke storage comes into its own in bedrooms and bathrooms, where space is often limited, yet there are dozens of items that need to be stashed away. Add interest to built-in cupboards by leaving some shelves open, and paint or illuminate the insides to highlight pretty bottles and jars. Glam up doors with a coloured lacquer finish, revamp them with wallpaper or, as Maria Speake suggests, wrap them in beautiful fabric for a chic alternative to a feature wall.

‘For a really personal touch, get a printing company to transfer your own image onto MDF, then lacquer it,’ says interior designer and design consultant Shaun Clarkson. You can get this done at Concorde Graphics.

Vintage finds are also ideally suited to these spaces. Sidestep the expected by choosing interesting pieces and using them in unusual places. A stack of battered suitcases or school-style trunks are roomy enough for piles of spare linen, and if you’re neater than a Benetton shop assistant when it comes to folding up your jumpers, glass-fronted vintage shop fittings are a great way of storing clothes.

A second-hand filing cabinet is ideal for stashing bathroom necessities, or line the drawers with pretty paper and use it to keep lingerie in order. You can also get old furniture sprayed at a car body shop. ‘Spray-painting a cabinet or Louis-style piece with a high-gloss finish will immediately update it,’ says Karen Murray, head of merchandising at Selfridges. ‘Changing handles is an easy way to make a piece individual.’

And why not reincarnate reclaimed luggage racks as towel rails? Mount high above a bathroom door and stack bath sheets in the otherwise redundant space, or fix lower and hang hand towels on it.

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