Storage Spaces

When looking at floor plans, I thought a lot about storage. I wasn't thinking about how to add more storage spaces and closets, I was thinking about how I could maximize our useable space and have fewer storage spaces and closets. Our draftsman and builder thought I was a little crazy that I eliminated a coat closet, linen closet, and any other extra storage spaces on our main floor, but those were important decisions for our family. We were very purposeful in designing a home that had a place for everything we needed and helped us avoid accumulation of things we didn't need.

I often imagined our family getting ready for work and school, getting kids out the door, coming home with groceries, and how we moved around our home as a family doing every day tasks. I wanted a floor plan that not only was efficient in terms of space, but also our time, so we weren't backtracking all over the house to gather things we need. Making sure everything had a designated place and a function meant less time cleaning, organizing, and more time enjoying our home and each other.

According to Home Advisor, the average cost of new construction ranges from $150 to $200 per square foot. In the area we live, it was even a little higher for a custom build with upgraded finishes. With that statistic in mind, it was easy to plan from the very beginning what things were worth having and where all our things would go. I would often ask myself if something was worth the $200/sf to store it. Was my broom, mop, and vacuum worth it- YES, they got a designated space. Was it worth $2000 to build a linen closet to hold 10 extra towels and 2 extra bedding sets for every bed- heck no (do you know how many gorgeous windows you can buy for $2000, or maybe the tile upgrade you want in the powder room). So we made the decision that we would reduce the number of towels we had, one per person, hung on a hook in the bathroom. I went from 3 loads of towels to one (less laundry = more time). Everyone had one extra set of sheets, folded neatly, stored in their bedroom closet.

This assessment of enjoyment and usefulness our things provide, saved us a ton of money in the long run and was the first step in a more purposeful way of life, uncomplicated by clutter. Of course I wouldn't recommend everyone eliminate those spaces, because we all have different goals and lifestyles, but at least give some real thought to the price paid to store things we rarely use. We are not minimalists, not even close and we have plenty of things that need to be stored around the house! Our family still has a long way to go, and we are a work in progress, but it's a big goal to teach our kids about being purposeful about the things we spend money on and the value of saving to reach long term goals vs. spending to get short term pleasure.

Here is a round up of some of our storage solutions.

Kitchen

My goal for the kitchen was to keep it as clean and uncluttered as possible, and that meant fewer cabinets on the main kitchen wall and more pantry space and drawers on the lower level. Drawers are the best! I will never have lower cabinets or a lazy susan ever again (these are storage black holes). The far left cabinets held the coffee/ smoothie station, with the coffee maker, blender, and all the mugs, coffee, tea, and protein powders, blender bottles, etc. The upper cabinets on either side of the range were for glassware (left), cook books (right), baking sheets (above the ovens). The glass front uppers had a few of my glass pitchers, white cake stands, and serving bowls. Taking the cabinetry all the way to the ceiling not only provided additional storage, but it also helped draw the eye up and make the room overall seem much larger. Above the fridge, I kept my roasting pan, candle holders, and holiday dishes (Christmas and Easter).

Pantry

I had big plans for this space including a walk through to the dining room creating a butler pantry, tons of shelving, a butcher block counter for the microwave and other small appliances to be out and accessible, but as the build was wrapping up and we needed our certificate of occupancy (CO), that project was delayed. We put some temporary shelves up and while it wasn't the prettiest, it was a pretty functional space. I like to be able to see everything so our large pantry held all the dry goods, and most of small appliances (toaster, crock pot, mixer attachments, microwave, spiralizer). There was a small space created behind the fridge (we stole space so that it would look counter depth, but have a flush built in look) that was perfect for the vacuum, mop & bucket, broom. All our other cleaning supplies fit nicely under the sink.

Master Bedroom

We don't love having dressers in our bedroom, so our master closet incorporated drawers for socks, underwear, pajamas, and work out clothes (real life alert: even though they live on the floor most of the time). We installed a system ourselves from a local home improvement store and ended up with a pretty functional space for only $250.

Mudroom

This space was designed as a drop zone off the garage entrance. we had a space to hang our keys, masks, etc. as well as a small basket for sunglasses, bug spray, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and anything else that needed to be handy on your way out the door. While we never got around to building it, this space was intended to have a series of lockers run the length of the wall with a dedicated space for each kid to hang coats, book bags, shelves for shoes and a charging station for school tablets, phones, and whatever other electronics they would end up with some day. For now, hooks got the job done, it just wasn't as pretty.

Master Bath

We worked with our cabinet maker to do a tower between the two sinks and inside we had four outlets. this allowed us to plug in things like the Sonicare toothbrushes, beard trimmer, etc. out of sight and keep the countertops clear. the top shelves kept medicine out of reach from the kids. Five drawers housed all out other bathroom items (makeup, skin care, nail polish, toothpaste, combs, brushes, neat). The two cabinets under the sinks stored cleaning supplies, extra TP, extra hand towels, and any other bulky item (the hair curlers and extensions I maybe use once a year).

Basement

The boys each had a nice size walk in closet, so we didn't have dressers in their rooms. They had bins for socks, undies, and pajamas, low handing space they would reach, and a shelf for folded pants. They each stored their sports gear and uniforms in their closets too (I love those little charcoal bags that keep all the boys's closets smelling great no matter).

Storage room

As I said, we aren't minimalists (no matter how hard we try) and we still had holiday decor, kid stuff and baby stuff that we saved (just in case), decor I didn't know what to do with because honestly I'm terrible at decorating, and extra building materials. We used the space under the stairs combined with some square footage from the hallway to create a storage space. It was a small room, but we used every inch! The farthest corner under the staircase held extra carpet and padding, extra trim and flooring, left over tile and grout, paint, and light fixtures. Then in the middle, we stored the baby bins (about 6 totes), the pack and play, swing, crib, mobile, jumper, and bouncy seat. Around the corner was holiday bins (4 Christmas, 1 easter, 2 halloween), wreath storage bags, Christmas trees. Finally near the door on the shelves we built, all the swimming toys, life jackets, pictures frames, vases, and other decor, and on the floor was our safe for important documents and passports.

Workshop

We did have a whole extra detached garage dedicated to tools, tires, more tools, the lawn mower, tractor, trailer, more tools, garden tools. We knew we had all the tools (our garage looks like it was sponsored by Dewalt, its not, but if you're interested, call me Dewalt) and we knew they needed an organized space, and we used them frequently enough that it was worth investing in a place to put them.

I know, I said we didn't have a lot of storage, and in reality we clearly had enough for me to write nearly 10,000 words on the topic. But the point wasn't really no storage, its dedicated storage. If you watch HGTV or scroll through house plans long enough, you know that "closet space" and "storage" are on everyone's must have lists, but building giant empty storage rooms is a lot like building the field of dreams, if you build it, the stuff will come to fill it.