Sometimes you just need more visual space and you can achieve that by changing the configuration of your walls or eliminating them altogether. Many homeowners are opening up their kitchens to one/more adjoining rooms with kitchen/family rooms and kitchen/dining room being the most popular. Last and most expensive, you can add more living space (square footage) to your existing home.

Re-Purpose Existing Space

Most homes when they’re built, leave the attic and basement unfinished. We treat our attic as a storage room and the basement serves many purposes from a children’s unfinished playroom to a workshop, gardening shed … the uses are endless. When you need more finished living space, here are some of the best places to look.

• Finish one or more rooms in the basement or attic. This is where you’re most likely to put an extra bedroom with full or half bathroom. Attics are less expensive as they don’t require the same access requirements to meet fire codes.
• Shift space from one room to another, i.e. bathrooms can be added or made larger by incorporating space from an adjoining room or closet. One project done by my handyman business expanded a master bedroom closet by taking space from an adjoining bedroom. We removed one wall and built a new wall, using underutilized space in a guest bedroom.
• Recover dead space lost in the walls, i.e. under stairs. When measuring custom closets for one homeowner, we explained that they could extend their closet another 4 feet with a sloped ceiling and they loved the idea.
• Create niches for special activities like a home office in the kitchen or a library along one wall of a large hallway. There are often unused walls and corners in the living room or family room that can be used to store all our new electronics including DVDs, CDs, etc. My younger son loved to work with his hands so we created an art center in the dining room with an oak file cabinet (matched dining room furniture) to store all his art supplies.
• Find more space in storage constrained areas by getting rid of things you haven’t used in several years. Alternatively you can move things you use only once a year, to less desirable storage areas such as the garage, attic, etc.

Create More Visual Space

If you’ve found places to store what you own and are just feeling a little cramped, you might find your rooms/house are large enough if you remove/reconfigure some walls.

• Open up walls to create a pass through between rooms giving you more visual space with the same floor plan. This is often done between kitchens and adjoining living/family rooms. A sliding window with a counter from the kitchen to an outside deck, makes it much easier to enjoy outdoor meals.
• Eliminate walls to combine small rooms into larger ones, or make open living spaces that integrate former hallways (lost space) with rooms so you can take advantage of the added space.
• Bring the outdoors inside with larger windows or patio doors. Garden windows and skylights add natural light and enable indoor gardening. Patio doors from the kitchen/family room to the backyard bring in light and make it easy to move between the house and outdoor areas.
• Visual space can be gained by raising ceilings. It’s cost effective when reclaiming unused attic space often found in split level homes.

Add More Living Space

When you absolutely need another bedroom or want some separation between the parents space and the children’s rooms, it might be time to consider an addition. While more expensive that re-purposing the space you have, putting an addition on your house is often cheaper than selling your house and buying a new one. You’ll make tradeoffs in cost and stress — chaos remodeling versus the challenges of moving.

• Outdoor living spaces are very popular today as families look for ways to relax and entertain more at home, i.e.  don’t require long trips with hefty gas bills.
• Over the years, Remodeling.com’s annual Cost vs Value survey shows how remodeling projects that add living space compare to replacement type projects. Here are the projects they track:
  • Attic bedrooms
  • Basement remodel in existing, unfinished space.
  • Bathroom addition.
  • Deck addition (wood or composite)
  • Family room addition.
  • Garage addition.
  • Master suite addition.
  • Sunroom addition.
  • Two-story addition

Ready to get started? Here are some remodeling books to help you find the ideal solution for your home. Another great way to get ideas is to go on some of the house tours (sometimes called kitchen tours but you see lots more than the kitchens) in your community.

What’s Hiding in Your Linen Closet?

When you buy in bulk or have a hard time letting go of things, you end up storing items in places that don’t lend themselves to being found. If you store kitchen overflow, laundry supplies or winter clothing in your linen closet, you’re not likely to find them when you need them.

It’s also possible you’re stuffing these extra items into your linen closet quickly because you’re cleaning up for a party, so you’re not really focused on organizing them. The problem is you won’t remember what you stuffed into the linen closet because you don’t go there often enough. In contrast, if you stuff things into your dishwasher, you are sure to clear things out within a day or two. Hopefully you won’t forget and wash your purse or the mail before you do this but I’m sure it’s happened. Most often, home owners use this trick when they’re trying to sell their home and only have a few minutes to get rid of clutter before prospective buyers arrive to see their home.

The goal is to keep your linen closet organized so you can see the kitchen and laundry items each time you open the door. That way you’re more likely to remember the location of those “lost items”. Another approach is to keep a list of items on the door to remind you what’s hidden there.

Lists to Help You Organize

Lists are a great tool to help you stay organized. Keep one in the linen closet and any other storage space where you keep things that don’t naturally belong there. I keep gift wrapping supplies in my bedroom closet along with those picture that aren’t hanging on the wall. Because I see them every day when I get dressed, I know they’re there.

Once a year collect all your lists (putting dates on each list helps you know when it’s time) and review them to see if there’s a better solution, i.e. to save on the number of times you have to go up and down the stairs. Ideally you want to store items close to where they will be used. While it’s obvious that you need to keep extra rolls of toilet paper in each bathroom, you might keep tissues and paper towels in a single location. With a new puppy in the house, I finally started storing extra rolls of paper towels in the laundry room on the second floor.

When you review your lists together, you will find ways to move hidden items closer to where they’re used. You may also find ways to combine the same type of items that are stored in multiple locations. The most important part of this exercise is to go through everything and discard what you no longer use, i.e. if you haven’t used something for a full year, chances are you never will. Start a give-away pile, and make sure to finish cleaning out all your hidden storage spaces within a few days.

Take the give-away pile to your local thrift shop … and then treat yourself to a new book, coffee with a friend, or some other fun activity to recognize your accomplishment. Many times the clutter and confusion accumulates because it’s hard to find the time to go through everything.

Simple tips to keep your linen closet looking its best

Don’t let the disorder get you down! Here are a few simple tips to help you keep your linen closet organized. If you find the closet gets messed up easily, look at those things that are in disarray and find another way to arrange them. If they’re little items, I love putting these into baskets so my organization focuses on what goes in each basket, and then I don’t have to worry about things inside the basket.

• Use adjustable shelves for better control of organization.
• If your linen closet is in the bathroom, use wired shelving to increase airflow to linens.
• Keeps towels and sheet in the front for easy access since these items are used the most.
• To keep linens smelling fresh, place a box of baking soda on a shelf.
• Use separate storage for seasonal items such as flannel blankets and down comforters.

We’ve given you some great tips. Get started and if you need help taking action, find a professional organizer who can work with you to start these organizing tasks until you’re comfortable working on your own.

Bathrooms are really small. They’re the smallest rooms in the house and we try to stuff an incredible amount of “stuff” into our bathrooms.  The problem with too much stuff … is you can’t find what you want, when you want or need it. If you’ve had this problem, you’ll want to explore with us, how you can find and/or create more storage in your bathroom.

Adding hooks to the back of your door is a perfect solution for storing extra towels. Most of the time, the door is open and noone will even see what’s hanging behind the door unless you’re in the bathroom. Depending on your door style, you can install hooks on the top and bottom of your door which is very helpful with young children. Hooks are available as singles, doubles or there is quite a selection of multiple hook fixtures such as the one shown here (purchased at Lowes).

Bathroom Vanities That Work for You

Vanity heights vary from the traditional 30 to 32 inches which originated when the wash bowl sat on top. Today’s taller vanities can be anywhere from 34 to 36 inches and then you need to add 1.5 to 2 inches for the countertop height. There aren’t firm rules about how long vanities can be, much like kitchen pantries which may be single, double or more cabinets wide. When you have a long wall in your bathroom you can often maximize storage capacity by adding more cabinets. You can also try adding rolling shelves to the base cabinets, especially underneath the sink to make it easier to find what’s stored there.

Extra Shelving to Use Wasted Space

Bathrooms are usually tucked between larger rooms and they often have unusual spaces because they’re next to the hallway or behind a closet. When you’re short on storage space in a bathroom, you can look at any nooks as opportunities to add shelving. You might be able to buy matching cabinets for these spaces if they’re a  standard width like 12, 15, 18 or 24 inches. Alternatively you can build custom unit shelves like the ones shown here to the left of the bathtub. When one of the walls isbehind the shower and/or bath fixtures, the shelving can be designed so it can be removed to provide access to the plumbing when needed.

Combination Seating and Storage

Window seats are another choice for adding storage to a bathroom or bedroom. They provide a place to lay out clothing, dress small children and store lots of bulky items like towels and children’s toys. Larger bathrooms with platforms surrounding a tub are another source of hidden storage, where you can build in drawers or other access to make use of space below.

There are many other ways to create added storage in your bathroom, like a second wall cabinet or storage over your toilet. When considering your options, here are some points to consider:

• Review what you’re storing in the bathroom. Do you need to keep 2 full sets of towels there, or can one set be stored in the linen closet or bedroom closet?
• Identify items you want to store out of sight like cleaning products and toilet paper. With lots of countertop space, you may be able to arrange everyday items in a nice collection of baskets.  Make sure there’s a home for everything and that it’s easy to put things away to avoid clutter.
• When there are multiple bathrooms, don’t keep duplicate things in every bathroom. The first aid kit can be stored in the half bath near the kitchen while an extra medicine cabinet in the master bath can store medications out of children’s reach.

This kitchen window seat was a winner, adding seating and storage for over sized kitchen pots. The homeowner originally wanted to add a matching kitchen cabinet with open shelving on the angled sides.

We looked at the framing required around the cabinet to support the weight of 2 or 3 people sitting there, and explained how much space would be lost to frame and integrate 3 components. Several sketches later and everyone agreed that a custom window seat would provide maximum storage with a white cabinet painted to match the shutters.

Steps to Build a Window Seat

Bay windows are wonderful for bringing more sunlight into a room. There also more challenging to furnish so you get use of the space, so this window seat was a perfect way to add seating and storage. Here the steps taken to build this custom window seat (following photos below):

• Framed the base to avoid having to move heating vent below the window. Note the center rectangle which is is the new heat vent.
• Added the floor of the storage cabinet, placing it on top of the base framing.
• Framed the cabinet, attaching it to the surrounding walls for strength. This design allows the entire opening to be used for storage by sliding pots and pans to either side.
• Built the window seat top with a door that rests on the horizontal support framing.
• Painted the new window seat with semi-gloss white to match the surrounding trim and shutters. Note trim on front that ties into the Shaker cabinet design.
• Finished except for a coordinating cushion. Homeowner demonstrating how the door lifts to gain access to their new storage space.

Other Places to Build a Window Seat

If you’re looking for more storage in your home, you’ve probably got a great spot but haven’t yet discovered it. Here are some places where we’ve seen window seats:

• Any type of bay window is a candidate for a window seat like the one shown here.
• Attic space with dormers that provide sides and all you need to do is build the seat to fit the space below the window.
• Often there is unused space around a staircase or in an upstairs hallway next to the linen closet. If you’ve got a wide hall, maybe you can add 12 to 18 inch deep shelving/cabinets with a window seat tucked in?
• Bedrooms with extra space offer an opportunity to build a window seat with bookshelves on either end.

Tell us your ideas for a great window seat or send photos to share here.

Guess what? Rarely does anyone remember to go back and sort out the clutter, so the piles keep growing. Even worse is when it’s too difficult to find something, you go out and buy another … you can fill in the blank! Let’s look at some simple shelving you can put in any basement or garage, so you can find what you need next time.

Basic Shelving You or Your Handyman Can Build

We’re going to follow the story of a handyman customer who purchased a condo. The day after the closing, he and I walked through the condo and put together a list of projects he wanted done. While we were picking out new wood flooring, tile and bathroom fixtures, we started building shelving in the basement. It was perfect as we could store all the extra materials there as we completed other projects.

Our customer wanted his shelves custom built as he wanted shelves to be at least 2 feet deep and most shelving you can buy and assemble is only 18 inches deep. We used pressure treated wood on the bottom in case there were water issues and left the top shelves open to make this space easier to access, and for over sized items. My handyman technician also maximized the shelving on the condo’s back wall while leaving enough space to maintain the hot water heater.

From an Empty Space to Walls of Shelving

So let’s look at the steps to build these shelves, assuming you’ve got the tools and basic materials like nails (what you would expect a handyman to carry in their truck).

• Plan shelving on site and take measurements for shopping trip
• Pick up materials at a box store or local building supply store. For this particular trip, my technician went to Home Depot as he knew he could rip the plywood (come in 4 x 8 ft sheets) for the shelves to the sizes he needed, a big time saver and a lot less saw dust to clean up when done.
• Remembered to get pressure treated wood for the bottom layer of framing, just in case there is a water problem in the future.
• Bring materials back to the basement and set up tools
• Measure, cut and assemble shelving in place
• … Leaving top shelves open for easier access by homeowner.

For other ideas on getting organized, read Inspiration to Get Organized or to make sure you address any moisture problems first, read Bob Vila’s article on Basement Storage

Our customer bought a 3 bedroom condo and working with our interior decorator, Jennifer Myers, we came up with numerous ideas for adding storage. It turned out this client was much more interested in places to display collections than functional things like hanging coats. Here are ideas we shared …

Checklist for Additional Storage

Wondering what solutions you would pick? Here is a quick list of the storage needs we and our customer came up with … and which ones we implemented. The tie breaker here was the fact that the condo was ultimately rented, so the question of storage solutions in most cases was left up to the person living there.

• Customer wanted ability to store belongings safely in the basement … see Great Basement or Garage Storage
• We recommended custom shelving for the kitchen to double storage space … deferred to future kitchen remodel
• We recommended wall hooks by the front door (ideas below) … and our client left this solution to his renters
• Bathrooms got vanities with drawers plus hardware for towels and shelves for display
• Recommended a window seat in the master bedroom, to make good use of the dormer space … decided to wait and see how the room was furnished/used.

It was much easier handling these decisions when partnering with Jennifer Myers, Jennifer Myers Interiors. Owning a handyman business means I’m more familiar with how to install, assemble and/or build the solutions my customers pick. We build lots of rough shelving in basements and garages and some finished shelving in living and family rooms. We’re comfortable working on ladders and in stairwells, i.e. we’re always changing the light bulbs 20 ft up and the kitchen window seat below center was a great winter project.

When the front door doesn’t have a closet to put coats away, you need to find another solution …
Add hooks to a nearby wall Use furniture with hooks Place a coat rack near the door
With more pictures than wall space, use your stairways and shelves let you rotate photos …
Family portraits great on stairs Shelves provide flexibility Combine photos & shelves
Window seats provide seating and storage in any room of the house …
Window seats with storage below Add shelves above a window seat