The Ultimate Guide to Beautifully Styled Storage
From well-placed shelves and double-duty ottomans to vintage finds used in creative ways, DIY Network Ultimate Retreat 2018 is full of clever storage solutions that make the impressive updated home efficient and user-friendly.
Double-Duty Ottomans
Three large round ottomans in different patterns not only offer extra seating and a spot for playing games in the home’s fun bunk room, they also provide handy storage for extra blankets and assorted toys.
Clever Kitchen Storage
Utilizing every inch of space in the kitchen, designer Elizabeth Demos included little nooks or dish boxes that hang under the upper cabinets, to offer easy-access open storage for everyday bowls, cups and dishes.
Everything Within Reach
The well-designed craft area in the laundry room includes a desk with open upper shelves and lower drawers for easy access of office and crafts supplies.
Well-Placed Open Shelves
Shelves added above the laundry room countertop offer space for cannisters that hold detergent and other laundry essentials. The convenient shelves also offer a way to display cheery decorative items like succulents in pretty planters and framed prints. “I do think people shy away from open shelves because they think they would be messy, so in this home we used lots of baskets and other items to keep things grouped together,” says designer Elizabeth Demos.
Easy-Reach Hanging Storage
Hooks placed below the upper shelves in the laundry room offer hanging storage for easy-reach items like extra hangers and vintage hand brooms that help keep the space tidy.
Vintage Flair
DIY Ultimate Retreat 2018 includes lots of attractive and functional vintage items, like this vintage wood crate on the kitchen countertop that holds bottles of cooking oils and spices.
Baskets and Crates
Suspended shelves on the endcaps of the kitchen island offer space for cookbooks and include vintage wood crates and woven baskets for storing items together. The open shelves provide a way to showcase vintage items like crates that add character to the home, but also control clutter by keeping items off the counters.
Nostalgic Feel
The pantry closet in the kitchen has a nostalgic feel that represents the mountain vibe of this home, with rustic wood crates, woven baskets and cannisters in different sizes offering storage for dry goods and kitchen essentials.
Decorative and Functional
A decorative and functional wood hutch with classic style offers storage with a nostalgic feel that fits this North Carolina property. Rustic open shelves inside offer display storage for decorative accessories and entertaining items.
Charming Chests
A pair of wood chests offer an easy and stylish way to keep visual clutter from making the home feel cramped and messy. The top of chests can be used to display decorative accessories or fresh flowers. A gallery wall with framed botanical prints behind the chests reinforces the nature theme found throughout this home.
Bathroom Bookcase
With no formal built-in linen closet, a tall metal and wood bookcase added to the home’s spa-like master bathroom offers open storage for folded towels, decorative accessories, extra rolls of toilet tissue stored away in a basket, and more.
Double-Duty Cabinets
Double depth wall cabinets in master bath’s floating vanity were originally intended for use in the kitchen, but cleverly utilized for this luxe retreat. Open shelves in between the cabinets offer storage space for rolled fresh towels.
Colorful Storage
A vintage dresser was painted to match the master bedroom’s color palette and infuse a pop of happy color against the earthy gray walls. While drawers and a center cabinet offer closed storage, the top of the dresser holds decorative pieces and two table lamps that help illuminate the space.
Stylish Shelves
Two layers of plywood were laminated together to create the shelves used for the home’s study that offer display space for decorative items and vintage books. This process was a creative way of taking a standard building product and bringing it to the next level. White brackets that were painted gold hold up the shelves.
Library Cabinet
The study includes a cubby bookcase with cedar boxes that designer Elizabeth Demos had made, to give the bookcase the look of an old library cabinet. The top of the bookcase includes a vintage hourglass and vintage dictionary that fit with the space’s old-world feel.
Efficient Garage
The home’s updated two-car garage includes solid pine shelving units in a natural finish that make the space efficient and organized. A designated shelf with space above in one of the shelving units offers a spot for working on garden projects.
Hanging Hooks
In addition to the shelving units, the garage also has handy hooks on the wall for storing tools that help keep the garage floor clean from clutter.
Organized Entry
Barnwood and welded steel were used to create this custom coat bench in a mudroom area off the front entry of the home. The multi-functional space offers a place to remove boots or shoes and hang hats, scarves or jackets. A lower shelf on the bench provides space for shoes and a basket for holding grab-and-go items as people head out the door.

Photo By: Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography