Military Housing has its perks but one of its pitfalls is that there’s not a whole lot you can do for decorating or organizing, especially when you know you’re only going to be there for a short while. After you PCS, you start the settling down process. As much as you want to make it a home, you have to find the limit into how much you want to invest (and what housing will allow you to do). Here are some military housing hacks to help you along.
Picture Shelf As pretty as gallery walls are, they create a lot of holes. Place your pictures and art on a couple of shelves and you save some patch-up work later.
Garden Pool Grow your garden in a kiddie pool. This works great for military housing or apartment complexes where backyards are either small, have rules against gardening in the yard, or are nonexistent.
Travel Measurement if you want to keep track of your children’s height, get a ruler or poster that can travel with you when you PCS. Curtain Rod Organization Small Kitchens = Getting Creative. Instead of breaking your back trying to reach the pots and pans, see if you can hang them up on an empty wall.
The Backs of Doors Utilize every nook and cranny, and organize your cleaning supplies on the back of a door. This make room inside the cabinet for other things.
Change Light Fixtures It’s a great way to change the whole mood of a space by changing the light fixture. Be sure to check with the property management company as they may assist with the changes and help put back the originals at move out.
Floor to Ceiling Curtains Great way to bring color and texture to a room without having to paint
Temporary wall tape, contact paper, washi tape I have no patience for using this stuff, but if you have the time, go ahead. Although if you have enough time to put this stuff up, you probably have enough time to paint (if housing lets you).
Need a Lift? Bed risers give you more storage space underneath the bed for clothes, shoes or other items.
Mirror, Mirror If you know you’ll be there a short time, start investing in mirrors as home decor. Mirrors always go with any decor, and if they break during PCS, you won’t be as attached to them as you would a piece of art.
Corners Try buying furniture that fit the awkward spaces in the corner such as end tables, china cabinets, and desks. They fill the space and provide storage.
Reuse rugs Hang small decorative rugs on the wall to help deaden sound. This helps when you get a house with shared walls.
Coin Holders You might be tempted to buy a fancy 3D piece to display your spouses coins. It would be wonderful for a retirement gift. But if you guys are going to be active for a while, you may just want to stick with a nice storage box. The damage will be less during PCS moves.
Plastic Bins (with Lids!) Store items that are in your linen closet or regular closet in bins instead of decorative baskets. I know, I know. Not cute. But it’ll be much easier to pack up and PCS with when you can just close up the box and take it with you. Keep the lids on or store the lids under the bins.
Bookshelves Yes, they can be bulky. However, if you want to display all of your spouses awards, plaques, and other knicks-knacks, Shelving comes in handing when you don’t want to punch holes in the wall
Pegboards If you have an unfinished garage, stick pegboards in between the slats for tools. This frees up space if your spouse is an avid tool collector
Weird Space Don’t ignore the weird spaces for extra storage: spaces like over the toilet, underneath the stairs, on top of your kitchen cabinets.
Kids Closet If the kids’ bedrooms have a full size closet for their half-size clothes, place their dresser in there to free up some play space.
Look up! Ceiling Space in the closet, with the help of some wires, is the perfect place to store lightweight items, such as wrapping paper.
Giant Rug! If you can afford a large rug or remnant carpet, place it over your current carpet in housing. The Giant Rug will take the brunt of the messes, spills, and stains.
Corkboard/Pinboard Got teenagers who just looooooove to post every little thing on their wall? Get them a decorative cork board so they can hang up their idols. It’ll be easier to swap out the pictures once they move on to the next obsession.
Check out my etsy shop for the ULTIMATE PCS BINDER PRINTABLE KIT or printable art pieces for your new place.
19 Comments on 21 Military Housing Hacks: Tips for Decorating and Storage
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Command strips are a must have! I have done several photo galleries and have never put a hole in the walls from pictures. Have hung flags, photos, wooden signs, rugs, christmas decor, chandelier lamps etc…all with command hooks and photo strips…and I have only done minor (slight paint damage) twice during removal.
Command Strips! Yes, I forgot about those. Excellent tip!
Otherwise great list! I love the bed risers that are pictured! And the show organizer one is awesome. We have that in the laundry room, kitchen pantry, and bathrooms. Life saver!
Awesome, thanks for stopping by!
Great ideas!
Any tips for keeping my hubby’s gear organized??? Or how to store it?! It’s too bulky for our closets and I wouldn’t want it in the garage incase of bugs and spiders! Any tips would be great!
Thank you!
Ooh, that’s a tough one. My husband’s gear is hanging up in my son’s closet right now, taking up…oh… all of it. Lol. I’m thinking about putting it in a flat wardrobe box and placing it under the bed. We’ll see if that works.
You could get those closet hanging shelves and have your husband teach you how to fold it and put in that hanging closet shelves. You know the ones that have like five square shelves that are right underneath eachother? You can get them at walmart for super cheap!
awesome tip! Need to include those on my next shopping outing!
I do consider all the ideas you have introduced for your
post. They’re really convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are very brief for
starters. Could you please prolong them a bit from next time?
Thank you for the post.
You listed some I never even thought of…..and am strongly considering putting into use! Very useful post. Bedroom makeover time!
Awesome! So glad I could help!! Thanks for reading!
Material that is wet, but not dripping, in *liquid* starch can be applied to walls as temporary wallpaper. When time to move, it should peal off easily. (Remember to wash down the wall to remove starch residue.) Material can then be reused at the next place too. Grocery store paper bags (free) work great with this same technique. We would just tear them into pieces, wet them in the starch, squeeze out excess, and apply to wall (protect the floor-it’s messy work). That, in turn, can be written on, colored on, and PAINTED! Don’t like it? Add more paper bag (makes for extra insulation too)… I used tablecloths as curtains-folding over the edge and stapling a “pocket” for the curtain rod and then used ribbon stapled to the “curtain” to hide staples. No one ever guessed… Thumb tacks hold most smaller pictures with less noticeable holes. A spot of spackling in *just* the hole should hide the evidence… Those beds that have the drawers, desks, etc under them are a blessing for kid’s rooms-a “bedroom” should at least be able to hold a BED-if all needed storage is under it, there will be more actual *room*. That’s all I can think of at the moment. Good luck and thank you to all living the military life! (My hubs retired after 24 in) Blessings!
Oh wow! These are awesome tips! Bless you for sharing them! and thank you for stopping by!
The hanging rugs tip goes for old family quilts as well. You may not want to use them on a bed because they are too fragile, but it is a shame to leave them boxed up.
great tip, thank you!
Great tips! I’ve been a military wife for 20 years and am always amazed at the inventive decor and storage suggestions I come across.
Well done!
awww, thank you for the kind words! they make my day!
We’re about to move into a house that’ll actually have less floor space than our previous apartment (and no basement or attic). I’ll definitely use at least a couple of these tips. 🙂
THat’s awesome! thanks for stopping by!