10 Storage Ideas For Small Bedrooms On A Budget

I had a small bedroom all of my life, but my toxic trait is I am NOT a minimalist. Your girl is most certainly a maximalist. If you have kids that share this same dilemma of a small space, but big stuff, never fear. I’m going to share my 10 storage ideas for small bedrooms on a budget.

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Now these aren’t only relegated for a bedroom. These storage ideas can work for any small space on a budget including a pantry, playroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc. I’m going to focus on a bedroom/playroom in this post, but they can apply anywhere.

Table of Contents

Storage Ideas For Small Bedrooms On A Budget

Here are 10 storage ideas for small bedrooms on a budget:

Use the vertical space-think loft bed or storage on the wall
Baskets
Hide things in furniture-an ottoman or old chest
Categorize things in one area-in a bookshelf or closet
Hide things behind a curtain-under a bed
Hang items on Peg Rails
Store everyday items on shelves
Bookshelves
Display things in glass jars
Fabric Bins

Our playroom has been in a constant of reconfiguring and purging which I feel is pretty typical for a playroom. The problem is finding the best layout and how to organize the toys for easy access for my kids.

In my son’s room, he has high ceilings so we have used the vertical space to make more floor space so he can have lots of room to play.

Use The Vertical Space

loft bed gives space under the bed to store toys and belongings

In my son’s room, he has a loft bed from ikea that we store toys and a bookshelf underneath. I hung curtains from the ceiling to hide the area underneath as well as the ugly white bookshelf.

using vertical space to house a bed up off the floor

Put It In A Basket

baskets are a great storage solution in a small space

Baskets are great for EVERYTHING! You hear me, everything! They come in so many different styles and sizes that I’m confident that you can find a basket to store just about anything. One of my favorite hacks for baskets are using them for dirty laundry.

using vertical space to hang more baskets in a small space

When I was redoing my son’s room last summer, I was looking for storage ideas for his small bedroom and I immediately thought of baskets. A lot of my baskets are thrifted for the unique shapes and because big, pretty baskets are so EXPENSIVE! Here is a similar one to this one above.

Hide Things In Furniture

use furniture to store and organize different toys and things

I just mentioned how I thrift most of my baskets. When I’m doing a project, I usually try to thrift or find items secondhand for as just of it as I can. I found this old trunk at Goodwill when we started talking about the design of his room.

organize legos in a trunk for a unique small space storage hack

My son was with me and when I found this trunk for $7, he immediately fell in love with it. I was going to use it in the playroom for dress up clothing, but we ended up using it for lego storage including a lego head we used for his 4th birthday.

Categorize Things In One Area

use an armoire to organize collections of toys and items

I wanted to have a armoire in my son’s room to hide his TV, but he proved too young for that. The TV left, and instead we use it for GIANT LEGO CREATIONS!

shelves are a great way to house and organize so many things

The top part of the armoire stores the larger lego creations that we want to keep safe and away from little sister’s curious hands. I plan to add some shelves in here to maximize the space so that’s another tip, but you get the idea.

clear bins allow items to be stored in a way that you can always see what is inside them for easy access

In the cabinets underneath are more bins of legos. I used all clear storage containers in his small bedroom because then he can see what is in each container. I’ll give you one guess as to where I picked up these clear containers from?

Hang Items On A Peg Rail

peg rails help with vertical storage in a small bedroom and can be found at most thrift stores

Liam’s room is painted in a colonial style with paint from Benjamin Moore. The wall color is Greenhow Blue from the Colonial Williamsburg collection.

I painted the walls and ceilings the same color, so when I added the peg rail, I wanted it to blend in.

Peg rails are great for hanging things vertically and getting them off the floor. This is great for hanging back packs or clothing or whatever you need.

I have a BASKET holding some cute decor, but the possibilities are endless.

Store Essentials On The Shelves

a shelf for a nightstand is a great way to save space in a small bedroom

Since my son’s bed is up off the ground, he needed a shelf for holding some essentials as well as his sweet treasures. I added a shelf and painted it that same Greenhow Blue from Benjamin Moore. I made this one with a 1×8 and these shelf brackets.

shelves do a good job of getting items off of the floor

This is one of my favorite storage ideas on a budget in a small bedroom. You can make them match any style and color palette. Now he has a place for putting things at night such as his water and noise machine.

Bookshelves

This one is pretty self explanatory, but you gotta love a classic. Bookshelves are the OG storage idea when it comes to small bedrooms and shopping on a budget. I use this small Ikea bookshelf under Liam’s bed to hold all of this books.

fabric bins are great ways to organize things on a bookshelf

Use Glass Or Clear Containers

i love the storage idea of using glass or clear containers to store almost anything

I like to use glass containers for organizing things in a small space because they keep things together, but you can see what’s inside!

use glass jars as a storage idea to display every day items in a pretty way

When I found this antique desk on facebook market place, I had visions of a homework, hobby, and art station where Liam could come and create in his own private space. These glass containers were perfect for that.

Hide Things Behind A Curtain Or Under The Bed

having a bed off the floor in a small bedroom allows for storage ideas underneath the bed

I’m showing you some real life here. With Liam’s bed that he sleeps on being higher in the air, we have the space underneath to “store” or really “hide things.” Do you see the creeper behind the curtain?

hide toys and linens under the bed in a small bedroom

This is where I put big items that he can easily get to, doesn’t necessarily still want, but can’t get rid of. Store things under here that you don’t need to access often because kids forget about things that aren’t in plain sight unless they go in that space quite a bit.

Fabric Bins

My last storage idea for small bedrooms on a budget is to use some fabric storage bins! They are so huge and can hold quite a bit of those unsightly toys. I love these for my kids to help clean up. Easy to open and close, also lightweight!

Other Storage Ideas For Small Bedrooms On A Budget

Try storing items in something unique that you already have
Think outside of the box, use something unexpected to store small or big items
Use items that can serve more than one function

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Final Thoughts

When designing a small room or another small space that needs to store many items, there are many different ways to store and organize your things.

Get Creative! Use a dresser to hold legos, store toys in old crates, use a cabinet on the wall for storing little treasures. Anything that gives your small space something different to share.