10 Wall Storage Ideas to Maximize Small Stores on a Budget

After you’ve had the keys to your pop-up store in your pocket for a few days, weeks, or months, you’ll suddenly be looking at an empty space that needs some investment. Objective: combine what’s both practical and pleasing to the eye, using every square inch to display your products to maximum effect, while preserving the flow and experience of future visitors.

Only in this case, your tenant status and budgetary allowance limit your options to build, and you realize that creating a space, whether for housing or retail, requires specialist skills as well. Is hiring an interior designer, scenographer, or decorator beyond your means? Don’t panic, here are 10 of the hottest new storage ideas that will help you maximize wall space in your store without breaking the bank.

1. Perforated Panels

Originally used in workshops to store tools and DIY supplies and now popular in home offices, foyers and kitchens that are tight on space, the perforated panel is a natural choice for retail design. And for good reason: it integrates a number of features! Available in wood, galvanized metal or steel, it is cost-effective and easy to mount, can be cut to measure and, above all, offers storage that is modular. Pegs, hooks and shelves can be endlessly rearranged for a wall that perfectly adapts to your products and retail space at any given moment. Once your pop-up project is over, you simply take down your perforated panel and keep it for reuse in a completely different design!

2. Slatwall Panels

A different arrangement with the same basic principle can be created using the slatwall, a style of panel that is perfect for mounting detachable components such as brackets. It is a smart investment, because it is easy to remove and its impact on the wall of any rented store is minimal. What’s more, this type of panel is especially suited to narrow retail spaces, with vanishing lines that accentuate visual perspective and make the store appear larger.

3. Hanging Shelves

Raw materials contribute to the charm of a retail space, but they can also make the installation process challenging. It is impossible for a tenant to mount their own storage system without drilling into, and thus damaging, a brick or stone wall. An obvious solution is therefore the ceiling, where you can install hooks to hang inexpensive and trendy storage solutions, such as suspended shelves made from recycled wood planks and simple rope. DIY enthusiasts can easily build this storage solution in just a few hours.

Tip: Perfect for using again in your next retail space, this floating storage is customizable, so make sure you plan out the position and spacing of the shelves in advance. Also, remember that asymmetry lets you to create visual emphasis and highlight different types of products.

4. Invisible Shelves

For only a few dollars at Ikea, these wall shelves have the practical benefit of blending into any decor, with a tone-on-tone quality that displays your products in the best possible light. A wall storage classic, they are available in various sizes and can be combined, depending on your products, to accentuate any wall.

Tip: You’ve set up shelves and now want to use the remaining space below? Piece of cake: mount a simple rod to hang your creations on. It’s a discreet and effective combination, as seen in this London boutique. You can also install two rods, one below the other, to hang up shorter pieces.

5. Picture Ledges

Another trend in interior design, this is shelving with an edge: the picture ledge displays book spines or frames with stability, but it also allows you to rearrange items on a whim, creating a totally new visual effect. Picture ledges offer a storage solution that is easily installed, inexpensive and perfectly suited to stores or art galleries, and the possibility to change up the display means the space is constantly renewed.

6. Wooden Crates

Apple crates, wine crates… wooden crates of all types have found new life with the recent upcycling craze and DIY sensibilities of a new generation, coming into our homes, either mounted on walls or reclaimed as bedside tables and extra storage units. Repurpose this concept in your store and make it your own!

Tip: Measure your wall beforehand so you can carefully plan out a “mosaic” that makes your objects stand out. Remember too that every crate you transform into a shelf will provide extra space on top, and you will be able to customize each crate, including its frame and background, with a few brush strokes or even wallpaper.

You can also adapt this type of storage by adding metal rods, as seen here. Mere child’s play for DIY experts: you need only drill a hole in the boxes to fit the diameter of your rod. And again, don’t forget that planning your structure in advance is indispensable.

7. Mini Boxes

Do you sell small objects such as eyeglasses, and find you need an original concept for displaying them? Build an element of surprise by mounting small glass boxes on the wall. In addition to creating a quality and stylish graphic effect, this solution plays with three dimensions and displays each individual piece like they are precious jewels in box.

8. Card Holders

So you have a series of eye-catching business cards to entice visitors and give them a souvenir from your pop-up store? In this case, a retro card holder is the accessory of choice. Practical and compact, a unique card holder makes the kind of impression that is perfectly suited to social media platforms such as Instagram.

9. Ladders

Are you looking for an original solution to display your brochures? Follow the example of Leroy Merlin and set up a simple ladder whose rungs you can use to your advantage. Don’t forget that this trick is also perfect for displaying necklaces, scarves…

10. Suspended Bars

More fashionable and flexible than a traditional display rack, this type of wall storage can be built from different materials at a lower cost and is easily adapted to the DNA, budget and style of your brand. The model itself is versatile, since you can place products on hangers, add hooks or even drape fabrics over them. Just one precaution: make sure you know the weight of your products in advance and check that ceiling hooks are solid.

Tip: Here, the same idea is used, but strips of leather are used instead of wire, copper is replaced by wood and the rod has been fitted with hooks for hanging accessories. Find more inspiration on how to design your retail space.

Find the perfect space for your pop-up event!