You are not looking! A large portion of storage solutions are small to medium.
The closetmaid cubeicals are fairly cheap..there are multiple lines out, but you can get say a 3 cube shelf and and stand it on its end. Edit* The 3 shelf one on it's end looks to be 12 inches, so you could even do a 2x3 at a foot, or you could stack a couple of 2 cube units on top of each other, most of the lines are designed to create a desk space or closet storage and thus stackable.
Go to goodwill or the thrift shop.
Craigslist. Not sure where you are, but if it's fairly near a larger town in the U.S. then your for sale/free should be pretty littered with storage solutions.
A plastic drawer cart with the deep drawers.
Get a couple of 2 x 6s and some nails from home depot and build a book shelf. They'll cut the wood for you.
Go to a grocery store in the a.m. and ask for some banana boxes...they are pretty sturdy and stack fairly well, this would be better for more long term storage, since it's cardboard I wouldn't recommend using them for something where they will be worn down fairly fast....or I guess you could, and just replace them.
Look around your place, your boyfriends place, parents, side of the road...I'm sure there are things you could repurpose for the fact. Think outside the box. Can things be re-arranged to provide different storage? Are areas like on top of cupboards, under beds, under furniture, being utilized well?
And the best answer for how to prevent clutter is to eliminate it at the source. Be sure that what fills that area is actually necessary to the home, and if it is, why doesn't it have a permanent home in the house? If it does, why isn't it there? The 2nd best way to prevent clutter is to make sure that everything gets put in its place, every time.