Interior design blogger Niki’s organised attic storage

Niki Brantmark, who runs the interior design blog “MyScandinavianHome”, no longer has to “crawl over heaps of things” to find what she’s looking for in her attic after installing a first-class storage system from Elfa to keep everything in its place!

By Charlotta Flinkenberg Photo Niki Brantmark

This is where we live

In addition to Niki (45), the Brantmark family comprises her husband Per, daughters Allie (12) and Liv (14) and Per’s son Albin (21). Their house by the sea in Malmö has a living area of 150 sq.m. Follow Niki at: @myscandinavianhome www.myscandinavianhome.com

I’d often tread on the heaps and crush things when trying to get something out of the attic

Niki

In common with many other homeowners, the attic was a source of frustration for Niki Brantmark, interior design stylist and author.

– It was just a huge mess. There were things lying all over the place and when I wanted to find anything I had to more or less crawl around on top of it all. I’d often tread on the heaps and crush things when trying to get something out.

It is difficult to imagine the chaos that Niki describes when you look at her inspiring posts on Instagram and her popular blog “My Scandinavian Home” (with hundreds of thousands of followers) from her perfectly organised and styled home.

Smart storage under sloped ceilings

What did you feel were the main challenges?

– Attics and cellars are usually tricky spaces. Most houses have awkward sloped ceilings, very little headroom, poor natural lighting and sometimes no windows at all. They tend to get filled with all kinds of things in a totally disorganised fashion.

Storage for out-of-season interior items

Elfa’s storage expert Christine Dahlman helped design a possible solution for the attic. The space needed to accommodate everything from out-of-season interior items for Christmas and Easter to creative and decorative elements that Niki uses for both professional and private purposes. – Simple things like wrapping paper, tape, string and scissors are items I always have to hunt for in my home! Gift wrap takes up more space than you might think.

See gift wrap rack

Scissors, string and rulers hang neatly on hooks on the large storing board along with baskets for pens and other small items.

Dividers make it easy to keep office items organised.

The transparent boxes simply click into place on a storage track.

Mesh drawers of various sizes

– I like that the mesh drawers are transparent as that makes it easier to see what’s inside. Mesh drawers of various sizes with neat dividers were installed, along with a number of side hook strips. There is a mixture of shelves for cushions, throws and tablecloths, wire shelves and a storage board with boxes for odds and ends.

See mesh drawers

Arranged by colour

Niki is especially pleased that her Christmas decorations and baubles are at last stored nice and neatly. They are easily accessible in gliding mesh drawers. – It was incredibly satisfying to group the Christmas baubles by colour! Having one drawer exclusively for silver baubles and another for folded paper stars is the height of luxury.

See mesh drawer dividers

Smart storage solutions in confined spaces

During this makeover, did you learn anything new about attic storage that you hadn’t thought about before? – I love the way that you’re able to build storage into the storage system itself. How Elfa lets you add that extra layer of storage and create smart solutions on a shelf. For example, you can place hooks under the wire shelves for hanging up umbrellas and other bulky items. It is so nice to keep the floor free of stuff that might otherwise get trampled on or damaged if piled up on top of each other at odd angles.

See valet rods

Maximise storage potential

Elfa’s storage expert helped Niki make maximum use of all the storage space available, for example, the narrow strip of wall below the ceiling and above the radiator. The wire shelf that was mounted on this bit of wall has room for a rolled-up mat and a duvet. The flexible system’s hang standards can be adjusted to different heights to fit neatly under a sloped ceiling.

Go to planning tool

Niki’s top tips for the attic

Install a wall-mounted storage system to make maximum use of all available space
Place shelves fairly close together to prevent things getting piled high and toppling over
The transparency of the mesh drawers lets you see the contents at a glance
Use hooks to hang up umbrellas
Arrange Christmas decorations in gliding drawers with dividers

– The store room and attic of one of my neighbours are almost annoyingly well-organised. He knows exactly where everything is. If you ask to borrow a special sort of ink pad or something like that, he’ll find it straight away. Actually I’m going to invite him over and show him that I’ve become like him... I know where everything is now – wonderful!

Niki’s harmonious laundry room

Niki’s dream of having a monochromatic scheme in the laundry room came true. Be inspired by how she transformed her laundry room into a practical and harmonious utility space.

See the transformation

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