I need some ideas

Dh and I have a very small house. I own my own business and between my inventory and supplies- it's now outgrown my basement shelves.
We live on the water so I can't put anything of real value in the basement for fear that it could flood when the water's too high as well as the fact that things can get musty/mildew if they're in there too long.
That being said- our house is getting ridiculous. I feel like we have no storage. I've spent pretty much all day coming up w/ ideas, pieces of furniture, etc... to try to organize. Our house started out being my grandparent's summer house- so it's not meant for year round use. there are very few cabinets in the kitchen, the bathroom is small and there are 4 closets in the house (1 in each bedroom and 1 in the living room plus a small linen closet). Any ideas how to make the most of little space? I didn't think this belonged on the home board since that looks like mostly renting/selling posts. TIA!!!

Re: I need some ideas

Actually, you'll probably get a lot of good ideas from the Home forum crowd. I'm in there a lot, too. Anything related to homes is discussed there. Renovations, appliances, storage, mailboxes, colors, etc.

Free-standing closets? We have a few of those around our house, since we don't have a lot of closet space, either. Target has a lot of options.

Re: I need some ideas

Can I ask what you're trying to store? It will help me to think of ideas.

Re: I need some ideas

I am kind of in the same position as you...my stuff is all over in boxes and on tables....so if you find soemthing good...please share!~!

Re: I need some ideas

do you have outdoor space to but some kind of shed?

or is it possible to utilize more wall space in certain areas with higher shelving?

Re: I need some ideas

It sounds like you need a lot of storage space. Do you have a garage? Ours was converted before we bought it but it has a workout room, small area for tools, bikes, lawnmower and the roof section was made into an attic where we store all our seasonal stuff. I bought a large closet/entertainment center which I have in the workout room area for extra storage.

We have a 107 year old house and don't even have closets in all the bedrooms, but we did add on a walk-in closet - is that a possibility? We are also close to the water and can't use our cellar, so I love anything I can use as storage - Pottery Barn has nice fabric boxes that I keep stacked in a corner of the dining room and they blend in well. I also got a hutch/buffet for the kitchen which holds a lot of stuff.

I do store stuff under all the beds and behind any couches or cabinets where there is room.

Re: I need some ideas

Re: I need some ideas

Posted by Lisa

I am kind of in the same position as you...my stuff is all over in boxes and on tables....so if you find soemthing good...please share!~!

Re: I need some ideas

do you change out your clothes for each season?? If not, try and do that and that might free up some closet space for clothes. then you can put your clothes in Rubbmaid bins...which are waterproof for the off season

Re: I need some ideas

Re: I need some ideas

Do you use your guest bedroom for guests often? If not I would get rid of the bed and end tables and turn it into an office with lots of shelves and some standing closets.

You could also get a daybed to replace the bed in the guest room if you wanted to still have the option of having guests stay over

HTH

Re: I need some ideas

We have a small house also, 4 rooms with no basement. We do have an attic that I store a lot of things in. I've also learned to keep up on going through things and donating stuff.

We have a stoage shed in the yard that also holds a lot. Can you get something like this for your business stuff?

ETA: Just saw your post about the shed. Scratch that idea.

Message edited 1/3/2008 3:00:31 PM.

Re: I need some ideas

this might be ground you've covered already...but here are a few ideas:

-use bed lifters to raise the heights of the beds and use the space underneath for storage.

-put shelves up above the clothing rod in your closets if they aren't already there (or buy a closet organizer) and use them for out of season clothes, shoes you don't wear often.

-store mittens, gloves, hats in an old tote bag or pocketbook hanging on a hanger in the closet or on the coat rack-this frees up space, and they're all right there when you need them.

-for the kitchen and bathrooms-bed bath and beyond makes an "under the sink" shelving system. it's designed to fit around the pipes...then put together boxes/bins with the names written on the front (example "first aid"-and in the box put all your cotton balls, peroxide, neosporin,etc. or "cleaning"-and put in rags, and cleansers, etc.) that way it's all organized and takes up less space.

Also, BB&B sells things almost like mini-shelves, you put in your cabinets to maximize space....like a wire shelf designed to fit over the plates so that you can put bowls there too.

As for the basement...since you're worried about possible flooding-buy wire shelves and don't put anything lower then 2 feet off the floor...space bags (they sell them at BB&B) are water tight and air tight, so you can put in things like winter sweaters, heavy comforters, extra pillows, important paperwork-and you don't have to worry about it getting damaged, or smelling like mildew.

good luck!

Re: I need some ideas

Re: I need some ideas

Posted by SHOPAHOLIC

Do you use your guest bedroom for guests often? If not I would get rid of the bed and end tables and turn it into an office with lots of shelves and some standing closets.

You could also get a daybed to replace the bed in the guest room if you wanted to still have the option of having guests stay over

HTH

Re: I need some ideas

Re: I need some ideas

https://www.spacebag.com/spacebag

(Careful, there's a video with sound that plays as soon as you load the site!)

This may help a little with storage. Waterproof, air-tight, and it keeps stuff much smaller than normal. Good for mid to long range storage.

Re: I need some ideas

Re: I need some ideas

bumping for the night crew.... TIA!

Re: I need some ideas

i would also say to check the Ikea website for ideas. They really offer alot of creative storage ideas. Not to necessarily buy from them, but it could get the ideas flowing.

Re: I need some ideas

You could also check out HGTV's Mission Organization page - they have a lot of useful articles.

Also purging - see if there's anything you can live without. I have been taking small steps with this over the past few months and it's liberating to let go.

Re: I need some ideas

I get all my ideas from IKEA. I may not get their furniture but they have great organization ideas/planning for small spaces.

Re: I need some ideas

thanks- i never thought to check either one of those websites- ikea is having their winter sale right now--- maybe its worth me taking a trip there to get some bins/baskets... its over an hour away from my house though...

Re: I need some ideas

update: DH and i went to home depot today and bought 2 bookcases, 2 packs of those bags that you vacuum the air out of that saves space and a white plastic 4 drawer cabinet on wheels. We put all of the extra tolietries from around the bathroom into the plastic bin and i figured when we actually have company we can just wheel it either in to our linen closet or our bedroom to get it out of the way.
i haven't figured out what were doing w/ the bookcases yet but i have a few ideas..
then we went to kmart and bought some of those wire shelf dividers and came home and put them to use in my kitchen cabinets to give us some extra room. i'm drained and still have tons to do!!!