In-system shelving with architectural credentials run up the wall with the popular 606 range by Vitsoe by Dieter Rams, vitsoe.com (now based in the UK), moving onto String, designed by Nisse Strinning since 1949. String pocket shelving starts at just €149, 

Decluttering and tidying this season is an empty, dopamine-sapping exercise if you don't figure out effective storage solutions. 

But you have to be judicious about any new pieces you bring into your house. 

Because to really divide and conquer, storage solutions must earn their keep. 

Tease through your pieces and micromanage to make the very best use of already divided storage elements like drawers. Boxes and baskets add vertical support to what otherwise would be a maddening stuff soup. 

The Godmorgen range of boxes from Ikea comes in a two-drawer mini-chest, €13, a single unit with several divisions for €10, or five individual boxes for €10 that can be set into drawers or stacked neatly on shelving. Transparency is extremely useful to grab goods quickly.

In-system shelving with architectural credentials run up the wall with the popular 606 range by Vitsoe by Dieter Rams,vitsoe.com (now based in the UK), moving onto String, designed by Nisse Strinning since 1949. String pocket shelving starts at just €149, and you can build up elements including cabinets, ladders and shelves into a larger structure from €50 a piece, ambientedirect.com. 

As a stand-alone, multifunction piece, Morten Georgsen designs modern furniture with multiple functions for Bo Concept, and we love the Como wall system from €89 for a single shelf to €830 for a large wall grid-gorgeous dresser, boconcept.com.

Simplehuman offers some superb kitchen/bathroom solutions in pull-out cabinet inserts in heavy gauge steel from €69.95, versatile tension (pole) caddies from €129.95 and durable glass and die-cast T-bar lever pump dispensers for just the right amount of soap, shampoo or conditioner. Prices from €49.95, simplehuman.ie.

Dual-function and zoning has become increasingly challenging with many of us dealing with the intrusion of a home office on the domestic leisure realm. A sideboard can take some of the pressure off. 

Using a storage piece with a high-board profile, that’s taller than it’s wider, takes up less footprint from the floor. Blind storage pieces like this can take an ornament or two on the top side, and be angled to form a partition if finished on the back. 

The Kesia shelf from Kave Home at €1,130 is a pricey example with its graphic, timber front, and is matched to a shelving unit, €1,007 (but you get the idea). Whatever you do, think about going up the walls with legged, cantilevered or solidly wall-mounted pieces.

Is your garage an ankle-bruising wasteland? Take the load not only to those rough or plastered walls with system-shelving like Elfa and its close competitors. 

Roof mount some handy bracket storage too using 2in/5cm PVC pipes and connectors (guides online). Over at RackZone (fantastic for musclebound, stand-alone galvanized shelving solutions), Slatwall panelling attaches to your block or plaster, and then takes a range of hangers and dedicated shelving units for anything from the hammer drill to your mountain bike. 

1840mm x 900mm (17.5sq ft) from €57, with hangers, hooks, racks and baskets from €5.99, rackzone.ie. Gearhooks (UK) also offer ingenious hang-it-all solutions, ideal for cyclists,

Outbuildings don’t have to be intrusive or ugly. Set up a horticultural “wardrobe” on a driveway, patio or pathway with minimal disruption. Choose timber and you can use a stain or paint to really make this clever concealer of garden detritus your own. 

To get in snugly against a wall choose a pent roof in pressure-treated timber. Look for treated bearers, galvanised hardware together with rebate ship-lap, T&G, rebate weatherboard, or 8mm rough sawn feather edged overlap cladding. 

Read MoreJennifer Sheahan: How to fit a wardrobe into the most awkward of spaces

Smooth-planed, pressure-treated 12mm T&G offers least movement, longevity and paints up easily with a spray gun. Apex sheds from €354 with 14mm floor, diy.ie.

Bed brilliant: If you’re living in a pinched apartment and longing for more storage for bulky linens, think ottoman-divan to hide sheets, duvets, blankets and winter clothes neatly out of sight.  Bed brilliant: If you’re living in a pinched apartment and longing for more storage for bulky linens, think ottoman-divan to hide sheets, duvets, blankets and winter clothes neatly out of sight. The sprung mechanism lifts the bed from the end or the side, depending on your preference with models from €357 at bedworld.ie. 

Bed brilliant: If you’re living in a pinched apartment and longing for more storage for bulky linens, think ottoman-divan to hide sheets, duvets, blankets and winter clothes neatly out of sight. 

M&S does a lush velvet version that lifts in two sections in grey, charcoal or duck-egg blue, €1146-€1281, marksandspencer.com. EZ Living’s ottomans offer subtle diamond stitched in lush peacock and charcoal velvets from €999 in a double, ezliving-interiors.ie. Ikea’s Songesand bed storage boxes start at €58. 95cm x 61cm they bump neatly under the divan as if they were built-ins (set of 2). Richly upholstered Haufa under-bed boxes on wheels, €100 for two, ikea.ie.

If you are in-like with the Like-it shoe holders then stack a pair, saving 50% of the storage area for your brogues, check out Amazon for similar (and cheaper) generics from Museday and Geeric (from €15 for 12) Amazon. 

Stackable clear shoe drawers? €12.95-€38.95 at the wonderful Organised Store, organisedstore.ie. If you have a space in your walk-in wardrobe or an area of the room to hang your outfit for the next day, The Toj rack from Normann Copenhagen is a simple timber tepee style with a firm shelf for your shoes. Bank in a hall for a free-standing solution for coats and more. €372-€490, amara.com.

Get snagged on the genius of hidden hooks and rather Wabi-Sabi shelf solutions with the Pelican collection from Woodendot, all timber pieces in chic, simple angles crafted in the Tierra de Pinares (Land of Pines) area of Valladolid, Spain. Pelican shelves from €85, Bauhaus-style Alba hanging modular bedside tables with hidden storage from €279, with free shipping, woodendot.com.

Adore a door by using that back face or interior surface with extra shelving possibilities. Joseph-Joseph have dedicated an entire division of design to the possibilities presented inside those kitchen cabinets with spoon hangers, caddies, chopping board holsters and my favourite: A four-piece knife set. 

When choosing cabinets and peripherals like waste containers, make use of the levering action of the door with an articulated product. The Elevate knives slide out of their own slim storage case, and would be great lying in wait under your primary prep counter; €49.99, josephjoseph.com. Uniformity really does calm a space.

Capital style in the first product from recycling champions, the Swedish brand Maze. Designer Kent Johansson created the F-shelf originally as a bedside table with a slender book nook that’s really to the letter. It would suit as a hallway shelf for keys and mail too. Available in two forms from €185, finnishdesignshop.com.

Small, cheap pieces can really rock your storage and can be bought for pennies at Penneys. Their fold-flat plastic crates (rather like small fruit boxes) in a variety of colours from just €2 — a gift for make-up and other toiletries small enough to roll away. So, coral bits and bobs on playroom shelves. Grab the wall-mounted weekly planner, a super place to dump your keys; €4.

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