The beauty of building a new home is you get to decide on all the little details. From the size of your house to the fixtures in every bathroom, there’s nothing left untouched by your own personal preferences. This comes in handy when your determining the amount of storage you’ll need throughout your home. Every person’s needs are different and by asking yourself a few questions regarding your new home storage design, you’ll be able to create the most efficient plan for you and your family.
Designing closet storage to work for you instead of against you is essential for an organized home. Your first step is to determine how many closets you’ll need throughout your home. While it’s obvious each bedroom will include its own, in most homes there are more opportunities throughout the house to build an extra closet. This is especially if you are building your house brand new.
Start by determining if there is any extra space in your house for a closet. Could you add a coat closet in your entryway for coats, shoes, or other outdoor wear to be stored? Maybe you might want an extra linen closet on your second floor for extra blankets, pillows, and sheets. Knowing how many closets you need to maximize storage efficiency is essential when you’re designing storage in your new home.
The garage is an essential part of home storage. Not only do you store your vehicles there, but if you don’t have an outdoor shed then you might keep your lawnmower, weedeater, or other tools in it, as well. When building your new home, asking yourself if there will be room for extra garage storage is key.
There are several ways to create efficient garage storage without taking up too much space. Use your wall space to free up floor space for items that could easily be hung up. You could also consider adding built-in cabinetry to your garage. Both options use convenient vertical space to ensure everything has its place and the floors are kept clutter free. Cabinets are also great for keeping some of the more dangerous commonplace items in a garage out of reach to little hands, such as weed or bug killers, saws, or electrical wire.
Your mudroom or entryway is another area of your home providing a lot of opportunities to create effective storage. The mudroom is often a catch-all space, which can turn messy and cluttered all to quick. The best way to prevent this from happening is to create a storage plan while you’re in the building stage of your new home. Determine what you want and need the space to be used for, such as a place to keep coats, shoes, or bags. This will help you decide on the best design.
Consider adding built-in lockers or a bench with hidden storage underneath. This will provide a place for you to store shoes or even hats and gloves during the winter months. Designate a locker to each family member. This way they will always have a place to leave their jacket and place their outside shoes, helping to avoid the panic of not being able to find your shoes when you’re in a rush.
Another thing to consider is whether or not you’ll need the space for sports or extracurricular activities equipment, such as band instruments or ballet slippers. Having a specific area in the mudroom serving as a place to store these things will help control clutter in your kids’ bedroom closets or throughout the house in general.
The key to a properly functioning kitchen ultimately lies in your pantry design. Many homes don’t even have a designated pantry, but if you’re building your home new then you have the opportunity to design the ultimate high-functioning pantry. In modern homes, pantries can be the size of a walk-in closet. This can be an excellent way to transfer all of those small kitchen appliances out of your cabinets.
Pantry shelving is something often overlooked, but can make or break the efficiency of it. While laminate shelving is aesthetically pleasing and gives a more elegant look, wire shelving is low-maintenance and allows for better ventilation, helping to improve the shelf life of some dry goods. Function should outweigh fashion when it comes to pantry shelving if your goal is optimal storage.
When it comes to an efficient storage design throughout your house, you need expert help. For over 50 years, Harkraft has been the go-to for high-quality home storage solutions. Whether you’re designing the ultimate pantry or trying to optimize closet storage, we can help! If you’re ready to create more efficient storage solutions, contact us today for a design consult!
