One of the latest trends in home decorating is the use of decorative storage boxes to keep your things organized and handy, but out in plain sight. You can corral all of your magazines, for example, and put them in a lovely floral storage box on the floor beside your TV in the living room. It looks like part of your decor and your magazine are easily accessible when you want them.

Shows like “Mission Organization” on HGTV utilize decorative fabric storage boxes a lot, putting them on open shelves in the homes that they organize, and you can do the same thing in your house. If you don’t have open shelves already, they are incredibly easy to install, and fairly inexpensive.

You can also make your own decorative boxes for storage. You simply buy plain ones, some material to cover them with, and use a hot glue gun to affix the material. This creates a fabric-covered storage box. For decorative paper storage boxes, you can use wrapping paper, which is even easier to work with than fabric.

The fun really begins on decorative storage boxes with lids. Decorating the lids can be a wonderful craft project, using paper flowers and crepe paper, and any other little crafty sorts of things that make your heart sing.

Using decorative office storage boxes is a great way to bring some personality to your office space, whether it’s in your home or in a formal office setting. You can choose colors that compliment your office décor, yet bring a little bit of creative power to the room. And instead of using those boring file boxes to keep paperwork under control, why not use decorative file storage boxes? They only cost a few dollars more than the plain ones, and the boost in energy they give you can actually make a difference in productivity!

Large decorative storage boxes that go under the bed are an interesting alternative to using a bed skirt. If they are sized right, and decorated nicely, they can fulfill the function of a bed skirt plus give you slide-out storage space that otherwise would have been lost to you. This is a great way to reclaim space in your house by thinking outside the box…no pun intended.

Finally, decorative photo storage boxes are the ultimate in creativity. Bring back the 1970′s craft of decoupage and decorate your box with some of your photos. Choose photos that illustrate the subject of the photos inside the box and you won’t even need to label your boxes. Just stack your decorative storage boxes in plain sight, and enjoy!