We love our little, circa-1920 bungalow (or is it a cottage?).
But, folks back in 1920 didn’t understand how much stuff two twenty-something newlyweds can accumulate – even when they strive to simplify. And while we should take a cue from our simple-loving past homeowners, we’ve had to work out storage issues in the meantime. Here’s some details on how we make it happen. (And, in case you are wondering – I didn’t pick up or stage anything before taking photos, so I’m sorry if it’s not as picture perfect as you see other places. I guess I’m just being lazy real. I don’t worry about being a little messy behind closet doors.)
Closets:
are small. Like, all my skirts wouldn’t even fit in our “master bedroom” closet. (And, don’t tell me it’s because I have too many skirts. Ryan tried that.) So, my husband came to the rescue and built another few closets upstairs in unused eaves. Now, there’s plenty of room for clothes – and no arguments about sharing a closet. (It totally eliminates the need to figure out whether each of you get 50% of the closet or space is based on number of clothes.)
Ryan also used a wasted eave to make me a laundry area on the upper level – which is perfect since 99.9 percent of our laundry is on the upper level (from our bedroom and bathroom).
(This is actually an older photo. We swapped out the meager rod for one that would hold the curtain better. But, you get the gist.)
Our one and only “coat closet” also leaves a lot to be desired (as in, it only holds a few coats).
So, I tried to make the most of the space by including a shoe holder on the door. That puppy holds all my shoes and makes them easy to find in a pinch. (PS – I’m really not a shoe person, so I don’t have many to begin with.) Inside the closet, Ryan built some shelves to hold scarves and outdoorswear, along with spare lightbulbs, batteries and more miscellaneous items with no place to live. This closet also houses our vacuum cleaner and most of our coats.
A pantry:
seemed like a pie-in-the-sky dream. Until my husband made it happen. (Isn’t he dreamy?) With a 8×13 kitchen, space is at a premium. This pantry really helps. He used a narrow space going to the basement to build shelves for pantry items.
Craft storage:
is a necessity in this house, where craft paints and scrapbooking supplies need to be available, but organized and out-of-site. Shelves in an awkward closet fit this need (plus, there are double hanging rods behind them for extra storage… for the aforementioned skirts).
A place for everything:
and everything in it’s place – a great concept. We try. We don’t always succeed.
But, a television unit in the Living Room stores blankets, DVDs and board games.
A Dining Room hutch stores vases, extra platters and servers, table linens and napkin rings.
A nifty little “Ryan original” bench stores shoes, lunchboxes and outerwear.
Baskets in the bathroom make use of unused space and hold hair dryers, makeup, towels and more.
A shelf with handy little mug hooks that my dad affixed holds my necklaces nicely. And, a fresh coat of red paint made it fit into the guest bedroom (a’la my closet room) perfectly.
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ashley morgan says
Great post. I too live in a house that predates storage, so I love seeing other people’s solutions!
Freckles Chick says
You’ve given me some ideas! Our place lacks storage too (we had to turn a coat closet into a pantry) so I am so grateful to hear that we’re not alone.
Stephanie says
i LOVE your necklace hanger idea. andrew loves making things, so i think i will ask him to make me one 🙂
also, our bathroom will be much smaller in guam (going from 2 bathrooms/3 sinks to 1 bathroom/1 sink) … i love your storage bins!! most likely a must do for us too.
we’ll have to be creative with space in guam… though we sold/donated a lot before leaving and we’re putting some stuff we want to keep but know a 2/1 wont hold coming from a 3/2… we’ll manage i s’pose!
Mrs. McB says
Great job! I love your storage ideas. However, we rent and can’t do a lot, so we make best the only way we can-to cram stuff. One day I will own and be able to use some of your great ideas. 🙂
Emily says
That should have read, I’d trade our guest room walk-in for charming eaves. Wrote it wrong.
Emily says
Brilliant upstairs laundry room, I love that you made your own! We are in a new house so the clostes are big and plentiful – but we’re missing the charming eaves. I might trade eaves for the walk-in in the guest room.
Stephanie says
I love the basement doorway storage! I might have to think about that one! Thanks for sharing.
Jen M says
I love it all. I dream of an upstairs laundry space! But I feel sad for you that you have so few shoes :o(
;o)
Lindsey says
Wow you are so cute and creative with your storage!
Jami says
I LoVE the storage unit by the door that he built. I’m going to try and come up with one for our new house! Thanks for the idea!!
Mrs. Dirnberger says
YOu are so brave to show all your storage…Yours is in way better shape than mine!