Space: The Final Frontier : Intrepid Explorers Discover Some Alternate Routes to Smart Storage Solutions
Most of us have felt frustrated with our living quarters’ lack of room for all of our furniture, paperwork, toys, appliances and stuff.
Take heart.
And take a critical look at your present arrangements. Chances are you have space you can’t see because you’re so busy living in it.
“Wasted space is in the eye of the beholder,” says Ron Yeo, whose Corona del Mar architectural firm specializes in building beach homes where space is at a minimum. “When you have a 30-foot lot in which to build a house, you have to make the most of the space.”
He and other experts suggest these places to look for added space:
* Rooftops: The most expansive wasted space is the roof. Yeo grows fruit and veggies on top of his Corona del Mar home. In a home with a view, that’s where the deck is.
* Hallways, stairways and stairwells: These eat up space unless you can find double use for them. “A corridor can be used as a gallery, and floor-to-ceiling cabinets can be built into the wall,” Yeo says.
You can create a child’s play area beneath the stairway. Pam Stovall, a Fountain Valley interior designer, says: “I’ve seen more home offices beneath stairwells, complete with computer and desk.”
Michael Warstadt, owner of Allstar Landscapes of Costa Mesa, suggests waterproofing the stairwell floor and installing a waterfall beneath the stairs. “Or take the stairs out and put in a spiral stairway” to minimize the space needed, he says. “Stick a tall tree in the center and you’ve got more room and an interesting staircase.”
* Storage: You can never have too much storage space. Cabinets, closets and other storage areas are often wasted because we don’t organize them.
“An unorganized storage area is wasted space,” Yeo says.
The first step in maximizing storage space is to throw out unneeded items. Clear off the shelves and floors, then look up. The space above your head often goes unused. Attach a narrow shelf at picture-rail height and display decorative items or collections.
Fit shelves in awkward corners and in the space above doors and windows. Use the lower shelves in large pantries to store toys, and use the tops of cabinets and bookshelves to display large objects, collections or plants.
“Stacked hatboxes or other interesting containers look great and are at the same time functional,” Stovall says. “Place them on furniture tops.”
Stores such as Hold Everything, Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn offer a variety of stylish storage containers.
* Kitchen: A well-planned kitchen maximizes space by positioning food preparation areas, the stove, refrigerator and storage zones in close proximity.
“The usual problem,” says Yeo, “is we have more appliances than we have room for. [Store them out of the way in] appliance closets, or install slider shelves for easy access.”
Mount the microwave on a pivoting television wall bracket. Hang pots and pans over the stove and attach electrical gadgets, such as hand blenders, on the wall. Nail shelves and rails into the walls, and screw hooks into the edges to hold cups, jugs, sieves, egg whisks.
Put shelves around the often-unused areas surrounding entryways and display cookbooks, recipe files, jars and decorative items.
Don’t overlook the backs of cabinet doors. Fit them with narrow shelves to accommodate small jars, spices, flavorings and condiments.
* Living room: “Many people have a formal living room they never use,” says Stovall, who adds that some builders have eliminated the living room from floor plans to create “great rooms”--a large family-kitchen-media room. “You can transform your living room into a room you’ll use daily, or use screens and make it into a few rooms.”
* Fireplace: Do you have a fireplace you never use? Clean it out, paint the interior walls and set your TV or stereo system in it.
Warstadt offers two other suggestions: Hang lights in it, install tiers of potted plants and set a sheet of plexiglass in front to create a terrarium. Or fill it with candlesticks, votives and jar candles. When you blow out the candles, you won’t have to worry about embers.
* Ceilings: With vaulted or high ceilings, you can add a reading loft “or use the ceiling space for storage,” Yeo says. “We have an open high beam around our living room that we’ve lined with books.”
Hanging artwork or tapestries emphasizes the height, Stovall says.
* Tabletops: Fit the tops of your coffee and dining tables with a sheet of glass and display photographs beneath it.
* Bedrooms: If you have a closet you don’t use in a second bedroom or guest room, Stovall suggests taking the runners off, finishing off the framework, building bookshelves and putting in a small desk. The end result extends the room by 2 1/2 feet and adds a functional alcove.
To make the room look larger, Warstadt recommends removing sliding closet doors, hanging clothes on bright hangers and installing colorful organizers. Stacked baby wipes containers filled with small toys can be attractive, she says. Paint the inner closet wall a darker color than the bedroom walls, and trim the inside of the windows in the same color.
If there are two entrances to a bedroom, neither of which are to the bathroom, block off one door with bookcases, plants or a desk.
* Bathrooms: It’s hard to find wasted space in an already small room. But consider the windows, especially those made of frosted glass. Warstadt suggests creating a “living” curtain. Run fishing string from the ledge to the ceiling and plant vines. They’ll thrive from the humidity from the shower, and you can still reach through to open the window. This even works for the short window above the shower.
If your ceiling is 8 to 9 feet high, Yeo recommends building a steam-proof storage area over the bathtub to store towels.
* Garage: Clear out the clutter and use the space as an art studio or a home gym.
“I like maximizing space,” Yeo says. It’s “sculpting the space in a home so that it’s a work of art that’s functional.”
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Step 1: Determine Home Storage Needs
Taking a careful inventory of your home is the first step toward meeting your storage needs in an efficient, easy-to-manage fashion. Here are some simple steps:
* To start, take a walking tour of your home, room by room, with note pad and pen in hand.
Begin at the front entrance of your home. There and in each room of your house, jot down the situations that make you uncomfortable. Do ball caps, briefcases and handbags have a tidy spot? Is the extra roll of toilet tissue never where you need it when you need it? Run through an imaginary day, envisioning all activities typically pursued in each room.
* Be honest with yourself. Nobody can tell you how to use your home, nor can anyone tell you what’s important to have stored close at hand. Your needs are a legitimate concern for one reason only: They’re yours.
* Walk through your home and imagine you were granted a wish list. How would you use your rooms in new ways? Planning dream rooms is a sure way to start realizing them more quickly. Perhaps you’ve always wanted a guest bedroom to be a sewing room--or a home theater.
* Give yourself time to get organized. Go back over your list of storage problems and highlight those that bother you the most. Tackle these first.
* After setting priorities, pick the room that offers the greatest storage challenge and concentrate your energies there.
* Break down the problem areas into manageable units. Get specific. Maybe nothing in the living room is handy, for example. Break that down to determine what isn’t handy. Maybe the television remote-control device is never where you can find it. Maybe favorite magazines are scattered, when you’d really like them in one central place.
Make a note of these problems on your list. Then move on to the next situation in the room and make a note about that too. Don’t despair if your list starts to get long. The more information you gather, the easier it will be to work out the solutions.
* Instead of trying to find storage solutions, don’t be afraid to clear up clutter by discarding items. Have you used the items over the past one or two years? Unless they’re essential (such as income tax records) or have possible vintage value or personal significance to you or your children, remove them.
A word of caution: If some of these are hand-me-downs, have an expert or friend versed in antiques take a look. Hanging on to trash is a crime, but throwing away heirlooms is even worse.
* Store items with a similar function together.
* Group items of similar shape and size. Belts, ties and scarves all have a long, narrow shape. That may influence storage options and conserve space.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Squeeze In Time for Some Reading
Here’s a sampling of books on maximizing space in the home:
“Making the Most of Small Spaces,” by Anoop Parikh (Rizzoli International, $18.95).
“Mary Gilliatt’s Shortcuts to Great Decorating,” by Mary Gilliatt (Conran Octupus Ltd., $19.95).
“Material World: A Global Family Portrait,” by Peter Menzel (Sierra Club Books, $20).
