Start with single components, multiply them, and factor in a sense of fun to equal fresh ideas.

Readymade pine shelves
Painted a crisp, brilliant white they make a storage headboard.

You will need:
- Pine shelf units, unvarnished
- White gloss enamel
- Paintbrushes
- Cleaning equipment

Here's how:
Paint the shelf units with two coats of gloss enamel, allowing sufficient drying time between coats.

Depending on the space available, arrange the shelves at either side of your bed; mount directly onto the wall.

Top off with a matching shelf that spans the full width of the bed and mounted shelf units.

For added effect, paint the area behind the bed, and between the shelves with white gloss enamel.



A cubed arrangement
These cubes let you hide clutter in plain sight.

Plastic milk crates often serve as flexible storage units for penny-pinching college students. The same idea goes uptown with modular cubes that can be stacked and arranged in any number of configurations. Here, we've used them to create wraparound storage for a free-floating sofa.

You will need:
Stackable storage boxes


Here's how:
Purchase your boxes, available at furniture, hardware supply, or home stores. They come with open shelves, doors, or drawers. For a wrap that fits just right, the storage pieces you select should stack up to about the same height as the back of the sofa.

The ideal sofa for this kind of storage has clean, straight lines, and a back and arms of uniform height; so the units look like natural extensions of the sofa. Armless sofas would work well, too - or you might line just the back of the sofa with storage components.