Ideas on practical, yet beautiful family storage!

There are constants in life I have come to accept; that the slugs will eat my vegetables, however inventive I am with copper and lager, that there will always be some unidentified rice cracker/bread stuck to the bottom of my foot, however fastidious I am with the housework and that I will never find my eyeliner pencil sharpener and I will keep using it's blunt end, however interesting the results! One constant that I refuse to give in to is the mountain of life's detritus that we are accumulating on our dining table. Placed in the middle of the table supposedly away from little hands that exuberantly brandish their latest spoils, we are currently hoarding tape measures, a jug, various computer leads, and our post from the last month. So I am tackling the question  of storage head-on. We recently launched on Duck Egg our vintage crates for storage and I love these for the garden, or for magazines or even vegetables in the home.

Vintage Apple crates from Duck Egg

So on a quest to sort out our home (and trying to forget the forlorn packing boxes that are still in the attic!) here are  some other vintage inspired solutions for Spring Cleans...


For those bits and bobs that are essential yet small and hard to pigeon hole, why not do exactly that! This wall unit from Cox and Cox is perfect for USB sticks, keys, pens and all delightfully out of harm's way (or reach!)

http://www.coxandcox.co.uk/products/wooden-wall-unit

For busy families, we love this combined blackboard and post holder...

http://www.meggymoos.co.uk/?p=really.rural.inspirations

My little one is now able to say, "shoe", the  gloriously exaggerated vowels are often accompanied by the presentation of the articles involved, so for shoe storage, that seems to have exploded out of the under stairs cupboard and the most frequently worn shoes, we definitely need one of the below!

http://www.gardentrading.co.uk/store/product_details.vc?productId=1628&categoryId=196

So the shoes are away, the letters are sorted, but the inevitable to do list remains in a place where it can be studiously ignored by all parties so we are on the hunt for a huge chalkboard! One so large it can't be ignored but can also be a feature. For a country feel keep the colour scheme creamy and neutral and use a chalkboard with a white, ornate frame, or, for vintage style , we like a plain frameless board, surrounding it with enamel signs and old posters to complement the chalkboard; here are some of the best ideas for big chalkboards that we have found.

http://dreamywhites.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/mantle-free-for-now-and-my-moms-famous.html

 We were very taken with the image above from mysweetsavannah.blogspot.co.uk for their ideas on chalk paint. Use it on doors on walls for a bespoke look or maybe even a whole study wall to create an intimate working space... Whatever you choose I think chalkboards are invaluable and the organised family's secret weapon especially since my second Blackberry has fallen victim to the hands of doom, they seem to be great for emails, social media and teething toddlers. So I am embracing 'vintage' communication - a 1990s Nokia and handwritten notes, which of course need appropriate storage!