I have to admit that is one aspect I hadn't considered. It's a pity that they don't make things to lift your beds higher off the floor to increase storage space under them, small refrigerators or freezers that you can replace an end table with, flat pack free standing storage cabinets, or plastic bags that can be used to suck the air out of season clothing and bedding so they take up less space.
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure it's worth making a huge effort, for most people at least.
Again, it's all about considering the different possibilities and then planning on how to deal with them in a way that's specific to
you.
The current situation
is likely to be long-term but it
isn't a complete breakdown of society.
Sure, you
could plan to lock yourself inside your house for 6 months but you're going to need a warehouse full of stuff if you want to avoid
any impact on your lifestyle.
If you live in a suburban area, chances are that "survival" is just going to be about
trying to carry on acting fairly normally but having enough stuff that you won't be inconvenienced if you can't immediately find the things you need.
In that case, a single cupboard filled with a pack of bog rolls, some extra light bulbs, some tinned food, pasta and rice, coffee and tea and some toiletries is probably going to be enough.
Most people should be able to afford, and have space for, that kind of stuff if purchased over a period of time.
Course, there'll be people who live in different circumstances and they'll have different requirements but, like I said, it's all about figuring out what YOU need.
If you're thinking about this stuff more seriously, the "rule of thumb" is that, in a western democracy, you're only ever likely to need to "survive" for 4 days, in the event of a major emergency such as a flood or storm that causes a temporary breakdown of society.
That being the case, you've probably already got enough clothing to be comfortable and all you're going to really
need is to add, perhaps, a pack of candles, a camp stove, a torch, a USB battery-bank and (ideally) a couple of collapsible 5 gallon water containers to your cupboard and you've got enough stuff that'll allow you to survive a
proper short-term emergency as well as to remain comfortable in a less severe but longer-term situation.
Not suggesting that everybody should do this stuff, or that it's
all that everybody needs to do but if you're currently having problems and you decide to do something about it, it doesn't have to be terribly expensive or take up a heap of space.