My house is a mismatched mess of furniture picked up over ten years, and the one range that has managed to tie half of it together without me trying very hard is Hauga. A Hauga storage combination works because the same handful of pieces, in the same grey and white finish, look equally at home in a bedroom, a hallway, or propped up as a dining room sideboard.
Sliding doors, glass fronts, open shelves — the range mixes and matches enough that building a coordinated look room by room does not mean buying everything from a single catalogue photo. Here is how I have used it, room by room, without any of it feeling like a themed showroom.
Why This Range Keeps Showing Up Room After Room
- Sliding doors, glass doors and open shelving all come in the same finish, so hidden and display storage can sit side by side without clashing.
- A Hauga storage combination can start with one unit and grow later without ever looking pieced together.
- Grey and white finishes are neutral enough to sit next to furniture that has nothing to do with the range.
- Closed storage suits quieter rooms like a bedroom or office; open shelving suits rooms meant to be looked at, like a living or dining room.
Living Room Storage That Doubles As Display
Photo Credit: lesbricolesdaude / Instagram
My living room was the first room I tackled, mostly because I was tired of hiding chargers under the sofa every time someone came over. Pairing open shelving with a closed cabinet let me keep books and a few plants on show while the messier stuff, chargers, remotes, a stack of unopened post, disappeared behind a door.
Open Shelves Earn Their Keep With Odd Numbered Groups
The open shelves work best for things I want people to notice, framed photos, a small plant, a stack of paperbacks I have not finished. Grouping them in odds and leaving a bit of space between each group is what stops the shelf from looking like a junk display.
Glass Doors Suit Anything Worth Looking At Twice
The glass-front cabinet is where the good crockery lives, plus a couple of things with more sentimental value than practical use. I made the mistake early on of packing every shelf edge to edge, which turned what should have been a display cabinet into an overflow shelf. Leaving gaps around each piece is what makes it look like a display.
Bedroom Storage Built Around A Wardrobe And Chest
Photo Credit: @Ikea
Mornings got easier the day everything in my bedroom had an actual place to go, and that came down to standing the Hauga wardrobe next to a matching chest of drawers rather than treating them as separate purchases. One continuous run of storage along a wall does more for a small bedroom than two mismatched pieces ever would.
A Slim Bedside Unit Keeps The Essentials Close
A narrow bedside unit from the same range holds books, chargers and reading glasses without breaking from the rest of the room’s finish. Sticking to one finish throughout, rather than mixing wood tones with the grey, is the small decision that makes the whole bedroom look planned instead of assembled over several separate trips to the shop.
Slim Cabinets Solve The Hallway Storage Problem
Photo Credit: @Ikea
Our hallway is barely wide enough for two people to pass, so a full-depth cabinet was never going to work there. A slimmer Hauga unit against one wall still absorbs the coats and shoes that used to pile up by the door, without eating into the walkway.
A Closed Cabinet Handles The Front Door Chaos
Closed doors keep shoes and umbrellas out of sight the second anyone walks in, and a small tray on top gives keys and post somewhere to land instead of the kitchen counter. It is a small thing, but it has stopped more arguments about missing keys than I expected.
One Long Unit Beats Several Small Ones
Where a deep cabinet will not fit, running one slim piece along the whole wall tends to look tidier than a few smaller units dotted around. It reads as one storage decision rather than a collection of stopgaps.
Dining Rooms Ready For Everyday Entertaining
Photo Credit: @Ikea
A dining room needs storage you can reach without getting up mid-meal, which is exactly what a sideboard-led combination is for. Sliding doors matter more here than anywhere else in the house, since a hinged door swinging into a chair or a passing guest is a genuine hazard at a full table.
An Open Shelf Section Keeps Tableware Within Reach
Leaving one section of the same combination open, rather than closed, gives everyday glassware or a favourite set of plates somewhere visible to sit. Keeping that shelf half full rather than fully stacked makes it easier to grab a glass without the whole stack shifting.
Closed Cabinet Changes A Home Office Instantly
Photo Credit: @Ikea
Paperwork spreads across my desk faster than anywhere else in the house, and the one thing that has kept it under control is a cabinet with doors rather than open shelving. Whatever is half-finished when a call starts can disappear behind a closed door in about ten seconds, which matters more than any filing system I have tried.
Positioning It Beside The Desk Frees Up The Desktop
Keeping the cabinet right next to the desk means folders and stationery stay within reach without living on the desk itself, which makes even a small office feel noticeably less cramped.
Closed Doors Photograph Better On Video Calls Too
Placed in camera view, a closed Hauga combination works as a backdrop that hides clutter rather than showing it off, which matters more than it sounds like it should once video calls become a daily thing.
Hauga Adapts To A Kids Room In Two Stages
Photo Credit: redrow_oxford_no3 / Instagram
Children’s storage needs shift faster than almost anything else in a house, which is where starting small with Hauga pays off. Low, open shelving to begin with keeps toys and books within reach of a young child, which makes tidying up something they can genuinely do themselves rather than a job that lands on a parent.
Taller Pieces Get Added Without Starting Over
As kids get older, a taller cabinet or a wardrobe slots in beside the original shelving without replacing anything already there. Every piece shares the same finish, so a combination bought in stages a year or two apart still looks like it was planned that way from the start.
Guest Rooms Earn Their Keep With A Sofa Bed
Our guest room spends most of the year pretending to be a study, so it needed storage that was not dedicated entirely to guests who show up twice a year. The Hauga sofa bed’s built-in storage handles spare bedding on its own, which takes the pressure off the linen cupboard everywhere else in the house.
Pairing the sofa bed with a slim cabinet from the same combination, rather than mismatched furniture, keeps a room that is doing double duty from feeling like an afterthought.
One Finish Is Doing Most Of The Work
If there is one thing that has made every Hauga Storage combination in this house look planned rather than pieced together, it is sticking to the same finish throughout, room after room, rather than switching things up for variety’s sake. Everything else, the door style, the open shelving, the size, changes to suit the room; the finish is the one constant that ties it all back together.
Start with whichever room feels most chaotic right now, add a piece or two in that same finish, and let the rest of the house catch up from there.
Recommended: Ikea Pax Hacks Turning a Basic Wardrobe Into a Built-In Dream.
FAQs About Hauga Storage Combination
Can Hauga pieces from different rooms be mixed in the same combination?
Yes, and that is really the point of the range. Because every piece shares the same grey and white finish and hardware, units bought for a bedroom and a living room still sit together without looking mismatched.
Is it better to start with one large piece or several small ones?
Starting with one or two units and adding more later tends to work out better than buying everything at once, since it spreads the cost and lets the combination grow as storage needs actually change.
Do sliding doors or hinged doors work better?
It depends on the room. Sliding doors make more sense in tight or high-traffic spaces like a dining room or hallway, where a swinging door could get in the way, while hinged or glass doors give better access in a quieter room like a bedroom.
Does open shelving in a combination look cluttered over time?
Only if it gets treated as extra storage rather than display. Keeping the open sections half full and grouped in odd numbers, rather than fully stacked, is what keeps them looking intentional.
