Planning a remodel, major repair or new home construction? Looking
for some terrific features to include that won't be budget busters? We
can help! We started collecting over 1,000 uncommon, affordable
convenience built-ins in 1998, when we first began writing books and
consulting to help people have truly extraordinary -- but affordable --
homes. Here are some of our favorite storage ideas as well as our 10
essential storage principles. Add any of these to your next project, and
you'll be on your way toward creating a home that's truly beyond the
ordinary!
1. First of all, the purpose of good storage is to help you keep organized.
(Contrary to what your spouse or teenagers might say, it's not merely to
hide monster messes where they'll get forgotten or require tons of time
to sort through whenever someone's looking for something!)
Rollaway storage -- with lockable wheels -- can tuck into a stall built
into a lower cabinet, island, closet or under a sink. Or roll into place for
being used under a table, desk or countertop. Ideal for laundry hampers
and garbage cans; a cart for tableware (from walk-in pantry to the table
and from the dishwasher back to the pantry); file cabinets; a stack of
drawers; containers for toys, equipment, gift wrapping or craft supplies;
an entire island; a wagon or cart to wheel around the house while
putting various items it contains wherever they belong; and so much
more.
2. There must be adequate storage space for all your current
belongings, plus space for your future acquisitions. And if you're likely to
start a family while living in this house, that may mean you need as
much space to grow into as you'll fill when you move in.
Pullout shelves, bins, baskets and racks in lower cabinets allow easy
access to their contents. Don't forget to add these under sinks, with
cutouts that fit around the plumbing. No more getting down on your
hands and knees to see and find things! And with these, you can get to
-- and therefore use -- the space that's even at the very back of your
cabinets.
3. Next, I'd be sure each storage area is appropriate for whatever you
plan to store, and that each has compartments appropriate for its
contents. That means your sports equipment needs space that's different
from the space for your music and video collections.
For hanging table linens, dowels bolted onto the back walls or mounted
on a frame bolted to the sides or bottom of pantries, closets or cabinets
make linens easily accessible while minimizing creases and fold lines.
No more digging to the bottom of a drawer of folded linens to find a
favorite tablecloth, or having to empty the entire drawer to get it out! And
no more linens that are too wrinkled to use "as is!" This is also a great
way to use a narrow area of otherwise wasted space.
4. Plan storage scattered throughout the whole house. Ideally,
everything will be stored near where you'll be using it. No point in
hauling stuff through half the house!
You'll love having closets and cabinets -- the pantry, too -- whose
lights go on automatically as their doors open, the way a refrigerator's
does. (One of the many benefits of built-in cabinets is the inside lighting
that's possible.) No more groping to find manual light switches,
especially when your hands are often too full to reach for a switch -- or
they're wet! This is also wonderful for kids -- and adults in wheelchairs
-- who can't easily reach a closet's traditional light switch. A plunger
switch is inside most refrigerators, but magnetic contact switches --
similar to those used in home security alarm systems -- can also do the
job throughout your house.
5. I'd also plan for your most frequently used items to be easiest and
quickest to reach, and to store your less frequently used things in the
remaining space only after all the popular things are stored.
Electrical outlets inside drawers, cabinets or in appliance barns on
countertops allow small appliances to be stored out of sight and used
without frequent plugging and unplugging. (Ideally, everything you store
in these spaces will be used nearby so you won't need any extension
cords.) You avoid countertop clutter, the items never get dusty and are
always ready to use, and no one needs to fiddle with the plugs --
especially when their hands are wet or arthritic. Just be sure to measure
the sizes of the appliances you plan to store before you finalize these
spaces' dimensions, so you avoid any surprises about something not
fitting inside.
6. Your largest and heaviest possessions also need to be the easiest
and quickest to get to, and not be put up high or in a corner that's tricky
to navigate. Fill the remaining storage spaces with your lightweight
items.
Separate activity areas in the kitchen will make everything efficiently at
hand exactly where you need it: baking and mixing, food preparation,
cooking, cleanup, entertaining, beverage service, etc.
7. Be sure storage minimizes wasted space.
Hang a detachable hamper inside a pullout or tiltout lower cabinet door
or storage bench, or inside a closet door. A cloth hamper hanging on a
frame makes transporting clothes or linens to the washing machine
especially easy, but wire or plastic hampers also work. No more
dropping items on the way to the laundry room that you might trip over!
Choose materials that allow ventilation in the hamper, to prevent mold
from forming on any damp or wet items that remain inside for more than
a few days.
8. Make your storage spaces accessible, so none of them are wasted
because they can't easily be reached.
Full-extension drawers, pullout shelves and file cabinets -- all on easy-
gliding metal tracks -- allow you to reach and see all their contents, so
you can use all their space.
9. I'd also look at traffic flows in the house. If your most frequently used
items are stored in the major traffic paths, no one will have to go out of
their way to get what they need, and you'll have a very efficient house.
On the other hand, you can also affect where the traffic detours through
the house via where you store popular items. So if you want to stop
frequent bottlenecks where people tend to collide with each other, you
can move the popular items into different locations in order to force
some of the traffic to flow along new paths.
Adequate clearance around every open drawer, hinged cabinet or door,
and appliance door will keep traffic flowing and save you some steps.
Be sure you have room to open and move around all the drawers and
cabinets you need to open at once when you're emptying the
dishwasher, putting groceries away, working on a project, etc.
10. My final point is to make as much of the storage adjustable as
possible, so as your needs change, the storage that worked for you
initially can be modified to remain as effective as ever.
Open shelving -- or you can remove some cabinet doors -- gives you
instant identification of and access to your stored goods. Stored items
get more light around them and are easier to see, the motion of opening
cabinets is not required, and this saves some trial and error if you don't
recall precisely what's stored where.
Like this article? Then you'll love our books that all have uncommon,
affordable storage ideas that increase your quality of life and your
home's resale value! We also offer a free e-book at
www.extraordinaryhomes.com: The 34 ExtraOrdinary Home Principles:
Over 70 Fabulous, Affordable, Innovative Ideas That'll Improve Your Life
and WOW You!
© Copyright 2005 by Carol Abrahamson/ExtraOrdinary Homes. All rights
reserved.
Carol Abrahamson consults, writes and makes presentations about more than 1,000 of these fabulous features that can improve your life, add value to your home and make you the talk of the town. She spent years researching them via thousands of sources just so you can quickly and easily use them to create your affordable, extraordinary Home of Your Dreams?. Learn more about her work via http:// http://www.extraordinaryhomes.com or carol@extraordinaryhomes.com.
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