By: Terry Sheridan
Published: January 21, 2011
Your small home has more storage space than you think. For relatively little money but a lot of common sense and ingenuity, there´s space to be found.
Here are six tips to maximize storage that won´t empty your savings account:
1. De-clutter. It´s the first thing architect Sarah Susanka of “Not So Big House” tells clients who talk of expanding their homes. Haven´t used something for a couple of years? Pitch it, she says. You´ll be amazed at how much space opens up when you do.
Cost: $0.
2. Platform/bunkbeds. Add space and eliminate a dresser in a small bedroom with a three-drawer or six-drawer platform bed. Find one at a furniture or big department store, and online.
Cost: $400 to $600, queen size.
Bunkbeds won´t have drawers, but save space by stacking beds. And kids love ´em. They come in a variety of styles and configurations. Some will convert to two twin beds.
Cost: $300 to $550.
3. Shoe organizers. They´re for so much more than just shoes. Hang one in a kitchen closet or pantry, and use it as your small home catch-all for remotes, keys, notepads, cell phones, and chargers, and other household essentials. It´ll free up a kitchen drawer or two for other uses.
Cost: Less than $20.
4. Toe-kick storage. The space under your kitchen cabinets is a treasure trove of storage possibilities. Put placemats, napkins, cookie sheets, and how-to manuals there. Hire a cabinet-maker to install them, or request them as a custom feature in a new-cabinet order.
Cost: About $300 per drawer.
5. Floor-to-ceiling storage. Furniture-style 6-foot-tall bookcases don´t use all available wall space. But extend shelving that extra two feet to the ceiling, and you´ve got room for a lot more books, knickknacks, or art objects. Home improvement stores have brackets and shelves in a variety of colors and sizes to match your décor.
Cost: Under $200, depending on the space size.
1. De-clutter. It´s the first thing architect Sarah Susanka of “Not So Big House” tells clients who talk of expanding their homes. Haven´t used something for a couple of years? Pitch it, she says. You´ll be amazed at how much space opens up when you do.
Cost: $0.
2. Platform/bunkbeds. Add space and eliminate a dresser in a small bedroom with a three-drawer or six-drawer platform bed. Find one at a furniture or big department store, and online.
Cost: $400 to $600, queen size.
Bunkbeds won´t have drawers, but save space by stacking beds. And kids love ´em. They come in a variety of styles and configurations. Some will convert to two twin beds.
Cost: $300 to $550.
3. Shoe organizers. They´re for so much more than just shoes. Hang one in a kitchen closet or pantry, and use it as your small home catch-all for remotes, keys, notepads, cell phones, and chargers, and other household essentials. It´ll free up a kitchen drawer or two for other uses.
Cost: Less than $20.
4. Toe-kick storage. The space under your kitchen cabinets is a treasure trove of storage possibilities. Put placemats, napkins, cookie sheets, and how-to manuals there. Hire a cabinet-maker to install them, or request them as a custom feature in a new-cabinet order.
Cost: About $300 per drawer.
5. Floor-to-ceiling storage. Furniture-style 6-foot-tall bookcases don´t use all available wall space. But extend shelving that extra two feet to the ceiling, and you´ve got room for a lot more books, knickknacks, or art objects. Home improvement stores have brackets and shelves in a variety of colors and sizes to match your décor.
Cost: Under $200, depending on the space size.
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