I thought small cubby holes made for really awkward storage – then I saw how Shea McGee styled them in her office for the most chic and practical organization

It's finally happened – I've reached a point in my life where I get unreasonably excited about storage. Perhaps it's because I live in a small home, or maybe it's because I simply own way too much stuff. Regardless, any clever storage idea has my full attention, and probably a spot on my Pinterest board.

That said, I'm sure you could imagine my delight when I came across Shea McGee's recent Instagram post featuring her studio office. Behind the massive countertop overflowing with fabric samples and paint swatches stands a wall of shelves filled with the most picture-perfect storage baskets. Shea has turned small, narrow cubby holes into a practical addition that hides all kinds of clutter, looking chic and simple while doing so.

I'll admit, until I saw how cubby holes can work in Shea's home office storage, I would have said I'd rather have the flexibility of open shelving or better yet a closed system so everything is out of sight. Small shelves can be awkward, look fussy, and not store all that much. But thanks to the addition of the perfectly-shaped basket, Shea's storage is minimalist, textured, and the ideal setup for creating some really effective storage systems.

Our Head of Solved Punteha van Terheyden, agrees that Shea's storage solution is both aesthetic and works from a practical point of view too. 'I love this simple but very handy wall of basket bins. It's a simple way to keep uniformity and avoid adding visual clutter to an abundance of storage shelves, whilst also delivering an organizing system that works,' she tells me.

'From what I can tell, the bottom four levels don't have lids, meaning it's easy to pull one out and grab what you need without having to flap around with a big, awkward lid. The top shelves have lidded round bins, which also happen to draw the eye up. It's the perfect marrying of style and home storage ideas that really work for the space.'

You could even get out the label maker so you can clearly see what's in each basket and organize them by category. It's a flexible setup that would work in any room that needs storage that looks good and works hard – an office, a closet, a kid's bedroom. And you could create a similar symmetrical look to Shea's on open shelving, too, by positioning your baskets evenly across each shelf.

The key is choosing baskets that will slide onto a shelf, so they don't have too much height, but have plenty of depth so you can still store enough in each one. And obviously you want them to look good too, so I got to digging, and found plenty of options that look just as good as the storage baskets in Shea's studio.

Shea's stylish storage idea is simple – all you need is a set of woven baskets to turn open shelving into a far more useful system that provides plenty of closed storage for hiding away clutter while still looking sleek.

Looking for more storage solutions? We asked designers how to maximize storage in every room of the home. Aside from handy storage baskets, they have lots of ideas to help you make the most of your space.