One of the things WE love about our home is our main living area with it’s vaulted ceilings and odd shaped walls.  Something we didn’t like about this house was the limited storage as we have no basement.

One of the things I love in our home, is my talented husband!  I can just tell him about an idea I have and draw a little sketch.  He does a little measuring, draws a real plan . . . and makes it for me.

Now, everyone knows how I love to collect pottery, glass and BIG décor items and all kinds of other stuff; lots of pieces that are difficult to store, especially in a small home like ours.  I got really tired of shoving everything in bins under the beds.  In the first place, we only have two beds (and one is a twin), and secondly, there are things under there already.

I did design & Hubs built, a special size storage area attached to the bottom of the twin bed frame.  It’s just a simple attached drawer with a little hook to close it.

Unlatch the hook, the door drops down and items are slid in.  This holds my large paper, matting and artwork.  The bed cover hides it, so we just left it raw.

Another easy little idea provided extra coat storage.  In the laundry room, a simple strip of molding was attached to the wall and hooks were added.  The laundry room is a pass through to the garage and back door entrance, so is a perfect spot for hanging casual jackets, sweaters and the occasional dog leash.

TIP:  Be sure to anchor the molding strip to a stud or two on your wall.  That will accommodate the weight of your hanging items, so the molding doesn’t pull away from the wall over time.  Our Projects List includes eventual cabinets for the laundry room as well.  For a temporary fix I added shelves, featured HERE.

We’ve made sure most of our occasional tables and furniture pieces have drawers and shelves, so that helps oodles.
TIP:  DOUBLE DUTY furniture pieces provide extra storage for any size space.  A dresser could be used as a TV stand, with the drawers storage for equipment.  End tables with shelves and/or drawers can be used in many rooms.  Coffee tables with a shelf or open legs can house baskets for extra storage.

Your next question “Do we have enough storage space now?”

My question . . . “Does anyone EVER have enough storage space?”

This is our entry way.  At the top of the shot you can see some of our angled, fun colored walls.  I say “way” because it is simply a space between the front door and a closet; both which are an actual part of the living room.  There’s no separate foyer.

We’re accustomed to this feature.  Our previous rambler was also designed with a little closet directly by the front room door.    That is the only commonality in the two homes.  Today’s market standards categorize this home as small at 1550 sq. ft., but our other rambler was only a 960 sq. ft. plan.  Now THAT was small, but that house had a basement.  Don’t worry though, it was fine.  And YES, we did a lot of changing, rearranging and customizing in that.  Had to with 5 kids between us.

We really enjoy this entry closet because of it’s angles and the fun walls around it, on the outside.  But, recently I was cleaning the closet, and getting frustrated with that jagged corner space inside, where all the less-important, rarely used junk  stuff gets shoved.  When the hanging rod is full, you can’t even get back in there.

Plus, we store leftover paints in there, so they don’t freeze in the winter.  I hate seeing those every time I opened the door.

Soooooo,  I went to find Hubs.  I talked, he measured, he drew and then . . . began building.  From this . . .

To this. Here a second upper full length shelf was also added.

And finally, this.

Nice, right?  Was I satisfied?

Well, no.  You could now see even more “stuff” when the doors were open.

Solution:  We had a fabric shower curtain in the donation bin.  So I had him adapt for a rod.

And voila’, see no more evil!

Was that enough . . . uhhm . . . almost.

For that higher area, I took a simple tension rod and put up the valance to the old shower curtain.  Now . . . done!

So Cheryl now has even more storage AND it’s pretty, well sort of.  At least stuff is stored and hidden!

TIP:  Don’t overlook small corners and odd spaces in your home that could be utilized for storage.  IMAGINE and EXPERIMENT with spaces, pieces and places.  Have fun!

Lots more going on around here, even other storage projects, so, we’ll talk again soon!

Until then, stay positive to stay productive 🙂

Later – Cheryl