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.
“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this. Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”
