The Insider: How to stow your cycle in style

Grubby walls, bad feng shui or chaos in communal hallways: cycles and chic interiors are not naturally compatible. But wheels indoors don't have to hamper your home's style credentials...

No scrubs

If you're committed to a streamlined interior, be prepared to pay. A tenner spent at Amazon on a storage rack might get your wheels off the carpet, but such functionality over aesthetics works best in a warehouse flat or garage.

Hanging around

Having said that, wall mounting can be beautiful: the minimalist Cycloc (£59.95, cycloc.com) is a design classic. Sexier still is the wooden Bike Perch, (£85, bikedocksolutions.com). But the sculptural Branchline (from £1,399 for two bikes, quarterre.com) is the crème.

Hue and fly

Ceiling hanging systems such as a Silverline pulley (£8.92, amazon.co.uk) or the slick, minimal Gladiator Claw (about £25 including shipping, amazon.com) are quite a statement indoors. So make one a feature – with a strong-colour feature wall behind (ideally dark, to hide tyre bashings, or tiled – so they wipe off).

Poles apart

Lewin Chalkley, of the hip London café-cum-bar-cum-bike- emporium Look Mum No Hands! (lookmumnohands.com), suggests following the storage thread on the London Fixed-gear and Single-speed website (lfgss.com) forums for innovative ideas. One brilliant tip comes via ikeahackers.net (ideas to "hack and modify" basic Ikea pieces): a Stolmen clothes rail is pimped into a handsome, two-bike-holding floor-to-ceiling pole.

Hot wheels

Or just get a good-looking bike to match your interior – and at made. com, where pretty Hollander bikes are just £169 (rather than the recommended retail price of £500-plus), it could be the most affordable option.

Find Kate's blog on affordable interiors at yourhomeislovely.com