The sorted bedroom

• Between the sheets

If there’s no room for the set of new bed linen you were given for your birthday, you’ll need to start thinking creatively. You could always hide the two halves of the set side by side between the mattress and the box springs at the foot of the bed, and they’ll stay well pressed!

• A square metre of extra space

It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough to hold the towels or shoes that won’t fit into your bulging linen cupboard or even the stack of weekly magazines you insist you’ll get around to reading one day. What is it? A suitcase. If you’re going away, just dump the contents in a cardboard box you store in a corner of the bedroom with a sheet thrown over it. Whether you’re home or away, your stuff is still all in one place and out of sight: But don’t store things in a suitcase that smells of mould or mildew, which will do whatever you’ve put in it no favours. And be sure to wrap any glass or ceramic objects in bubble wrap to protect them when the suitcase is moved.

• Two-level clothes rail

If the clothes rail in your bedroom wardrobe is high up, suspend a second rail below it. Cut a second rail to the desired length and then do the same with two vertical lengths of light, but sturdy, chain. Attach steel rings to both ends of the chains and hang the lower rail from the original.

• Under-the-bed dresser drawer

If you have an old dresser in the garage, you probably use it to store things that you don’t need all the time. But you can also bring one of the drawers into your bedroom and keep it out of sight. Just attach casters to the bottom four corners for a rolling storage compartment that you can keep under the bed.

• Homemade sock organizer

You may not be able to keep a sock from losing its mate, but you can bring order to the pairs you keep in a dresser drawer. To avoid rummaging through a big pile of socks to find what you want, cut shoe boxes in half and then position them so the open ends fit snugly against the front of the drawer. (Or, if you’re handy with a saw, cut two or three hardboard dividers to the depth of the drawer.) Sort smart socks, casual socks and sports socks into the appropriate compartments and you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for.

• Make door stops into hangers

When screwed into the back of a wardrobe door, stops with rubber tips make excellent hangers for shoes. Group the stops in pairs, setting them a few centimetres apart. Hanging your shoes will clear some valuable floor space.

• Swinging from the ceiling

A length of brightly coloured plastic chain will keep the stuffed animals in a child’s bedroom off the floor and out of the way. Hang the chain in a corner at the appropriate height, fixing the ends to both walls. To make it possible for your child to hang up the toys, stitch a loop of cotton tape to each one and use S-hooks to suspend the stuffed animals from the chain.

• Storing loose change

Instead of keeping loose change in a dish on your dresser, let resealable plastic kitchen bags be your cash organizers. Sort the change into small separate plastic bags. Then stack the bags in the corner of a drawer until you’re ready to cash in the coins for notes.

• A pared-down ‘wallet’

When leaving for your morning walk or run, you may take a few small notes along in case you decide to stop for a coffee or newspaper on the way home. The easiest and most lightweight alternative to a wallet is a metal bulldog clip, which firmly secures paper money and ID such as a driver’s licence, to the waistband of your running shorts or leggings.

• Jewellery within reach

Draping necklaces and bracelets from the hooks on a coat rack mounted on the wall next to your dressing table is a smart idea. For one thing, your baubles are there when you need them; for another, they add a nice decorative touch to an expanse of bare wall.

• A jewellery hanger

Use a padded coat hanger to store a variety of different kinds of jewellery. Put necklaces and bracelets round the neck of the hanger, then use the padding to hold pierced earrings and pin-on brooches. You could colour-code hangers to hold jewellery to go with a range of outfits.