The Most Creative Storage Ideas
So you have too much stuff and no place to put it. Well, that’s not a very uncommon problem. I am always looking for more storage in my kitchen, closets, garage, and just about everywhere else. Now, I come from a family that is not afraid of saws-alls. If you are not familiar with a saws-all, just imagine a large, very powerful reciprocating saw that can punch its way through a wall and cut through joists with ease. Every family needs one!
When I was in high school, my father realized the lack of closet space that I had. Being over 6 feet tall, my clothes didn’t exactly fit in the 1 ½ foot by 3 foot closet that my bedroom had. Our house had an addition that had been built on the side of our house where my closet was located and the peaked roof of the addition was behind the closet. After a little quick work with the saws-all, we opened up the peak and found that it had decent joists and there was no plumbing or wires in our way. We turned the peak into a room behind my closet after installing flooring and drywall walls. Once we got the room squared away, we install two 6 foot long clothes racks and a ton of storage containers. It was fantastic.
When my brother bought his first home, he also lacked storage area. First, we finished his basement and, using a rented concrete saw, broke into the old coal bin and turned it into a small storage area. Even with a ton of water sealing paint on the walls and floors, we were never completely able to get the room to not feel a little damp, but he stored everything in sealed plastic containers.
His attic had too low of a ceiling to finish into any really usable space, but we did find a few ways to add a little more storage by getting creative. We boxed out a frame over two of his closets and cut the ceiling out over each. We cut through the joists and installed 2 by 8s with a number of large metal “L” brackets to reinforce the ceiling. We installed flooring around the hole and built a small room that measured about 6 feet by 4 feet and was about 4 feet tall. From inside the closet, we installed drywall inside the little rooms and built a small ladder into the walls of the closets. Now, my brother and his wife can store their seasonal clothing and coats up above their closet in a clean storage area.
In my own kitchen, I picked up a ton of space by installing an under-counter microwave. I also installed new cabinets over my fridge, though my wife can’t reach anything in them, it gives her a reason to keep me around!
You don’t have to get as drastic as my family has gotten to find more storage space. By simply looking into better organization systems, you can make better use of the space that you already have.
