Organized Spaces: How We Maximize Storage Space in Our 2000 Square Foot Home
This week, I am teaming up with 5 other bloggers to bring you practical storage solutions for a variety of spaces. Be sure to read through to the end of this article for links to all of their projects.
When we first started planning our house build, one thing was clear: we needed to make the most of the 2000 square feet by devising innovative storage solutions in every room.
Aside from downsizing and practicing more minimalist buying habits, I set out to design built-ins that would allow us to store all of our belongings more efficiently. For instances where built-ins were too costly or just not possible at this time, I sought different furniture solutions to hold essentials and necessities.
The Mudroom/Laundry/Pantry Space
The back door of our home leads to the garage, and opens up into the mudroom and laundry space. This space is essentially a long hallway that separates our living spaces from our bedrooms and gets the most heavy traffic on a day-to-day basis.
At one end, the mudroom and laundry room, and at the other end, the pantry.
Ikea bookcases were modified and hacked to create built-ins to hold all of our shoes, hats, gloves, and scarves.
Next to the cabinets, is a folding desk that allows us to fold and sort laundry as needed. Above the desk are IKEA shelves that we use as drying racks.
On the opposite wall of these cabinets, a set of hooks holds our coats, snow gear, and bags. It makes for easy access, and the lower hooks make it easy for our little one to put away her own things.
The laundry area uses old kitchen cabinets, that I painted and installed above the washer and dryer.
An old ceramic Haeger dish sits on the short ledge that I created last year. The dish helps hold all the odds and ends from our pockets before we throw items in the wash.
On the other end of the mudroom/laundry space sits an old set of high school lockers that we use as a pantry.
My plan is to one day create built-in shelving around these lockers, and maximize the storage all the way up to the ceiling.
I used a label maker to label the cubbies for our different pantry items, and we do a pretty good job of not hoarding too many things on a day-to-day basis.
The pantry is very close to the kitchen, and serves us quite well.
The Kitchen
Directly off of the mudroom/laundry/pantry area, there is a doorway that leads into our kitchen (which is open concept to our dining room and living areas).
I opted for the following in the kitchen area:
Cabinets that go all the way up to the vaulted ceilings. This helps cut down on the accumulation of dust in the hard-to-reach spaces between the cabinets and ceilings, and also give us ample storage for items we don’t need to access as often.
Large open shelving along one wall with closed cabinets underneath.
A 10-foot-long kitchen island with 23 drawers
A pantry cabinet in the kitchen with electrical outlets and pullout drawers for small appliances.
The Dining Room
Our dining area is probably the most minimalist space of all. Even still, we installed floating IKEA Besta cabinets that matched our custom-built shaker cabinets in the kitchen.
These four cabinets hold all of our wedding china, napkins, placemats, and my glassware collection.
The ledge they create is perfect for our Persian New Year spread and for adding other seasonal decorative elements to the otherwise bare room.
These custom-built cabinets on the back wall of our kitchen were made by an Illinois Amish carpenter and painted with a coat of Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace.
I think the Ikea Besta cabinets in our dining room in white match quite well with these custom cabinets.
Living Room
The plan for our living room is to eventually build a built-in fireplace and surround where the current TV console sits.
At the moment, all of our toddler’s puzzles and toys are housed in the cabinets of the console table, so losing that storage space to a fireplace is not an immediate priority.
Bathrooms
Our bathrooms are very functional and not large. For this reason, I chose to go with wall mounted medicine cabinet for the ample storage space.
I repurposed large, mid-century modern dressers as vanities for both of our main floor bathrooms. This gives us a lot more storage space than conventional vanities sold in home improvement stores.
When we moved to this home, I switched to The Loomia’s 100% cotton Turkish towels. They take up 50% less room than our old fluffy towels and free up more space in our closets.
Turkish towels take some time to get used to, but they are now the only type of towel we like to buy.
I used two Crate and Barrel Hexagon Shelves to hold the large number of toilet paper rolls that I usually buy from Costco. This helps me keep inventory of how many we have left and also eliminates the need for a separate storage area.
Closets
Because I need to take some better images for you, I'll have to write a separate post for our bedroom closets (and because we have some pretty cool closet solutions in our home that I think you will enjoy reading about.)
My Suggestion
When it comes to storage, I always start by getting rid of anything I don't need. If it's not a need, I generally get rid of it and make a promise to myself that I'll never buy something on impulse again.
Consider how each room is used and lived in before choosing furniture. Get creative about the types of space-saving solutions that can accommodate all of your necessities.
What Others Are Doing
Here are the spaces, tips, and tricks from five other lovely bloggers, as promised.
Their ideas will help you think outside of the organizational box.
If you came over to my page from one of theirs...
Welcome!
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