WEEK 4
Storage Solutions
Planning and Designing storage areas
Hardware and fittings
Decluttering workshop
In week 4 we learnt all about storage - where we keep things now and where we could improve on and store things where we use them to make our lives easier.
What I liked about this session was that we were giving solutions to the problems and not trying to change peoples behaviour. A good example of this is a husband was throwing his clothes on the floor instead of into the laundry basket, he was asked why he doesn't put it into the basket and it turns out he throws them and misses and so they stay on the floor - the solution was to buy a bigger basket, now he doesn't miss and his clothes go into the basket not on the floor. Everyone's happy!
A big problem area in our homes nowadays is a communication zone for charging phones and ipads and using the laptop and such. This is a good thing to build into the design of new homes, preferably into the kitchen area which is the hub of the home for everyone to use.
We looked at styles of storage - when to use glass doors in kitchens, when to use baskets, when to use solid doors and when to use open shelves.
I've been pretty clever with storage in my home so far:
We did a decluttering workshop where everyone picked a room we wanted to work on at home and then split into small groups to discuss our problems and come up with solutions. My problem areas are the kitchen and laundry which need to be renovated with a lot of thought to the storage needs.
I ended up picking the laundry workshop as this is the smallest room in our house but has many purposes - it's a thoroughfare from the kitchen out into the backyard through one door or into the new garage through another door. It also has the toilet which people then use the laundry trough to wash their hands. The room has a 2 mtr wall for washer and trough and on the other side toilet and built in cupboard. I need to make this room look good as it is a thoroughfare but also practical to hold storage of spill over items from the kitchen and the usual laundry cleaning items.
There were 3 in my group including me, one was building and the other was renovating but unlike me had heaps of space. We brain stormed storage ideas, making use of the space on the back of doors for brooms etc, hanging airers onto walls. My mention of not putting in a large laundry trough but a small built in basin was met with concern that this might not suit say people who like to wash their pets in there or do hand washing.
The homework is a bit of spring cleaning - to make a list of all the items you store in each room of your home with a view to where you use it and where it is stored. Also list what you use everyday, only sometimes and hardly never and then start to prioritise where the every days are stored so they are easy to get to compared to the hardly nevers.
I haven't done my homework yet I need a bit of time to go through each room but I will get there ... promise!
Week 1 you can read about here
Week 2 here
Week 3 here
Week 5 is all about Colour
[All renovation images my own. Other images via My Pinterest Laundry sinks 1, 2, 3, 4]
Pin It Now!
What I liked about this session was that we were giving solutions to the problems and not trying to change peoples behaviour. A good example of this is a husband was throwing his clothes on the floor instead of into the laundry basket, he was asked why he doesn't put it into the basket and it turns out he throws them and misses and so they stay on the floor - the solution was to buy a bigger basket, now he doesn't miss and his clothes go into the basket not on the floor. Everyone's happy!
A big problem area in our homes nowadays is a communication zone for charging phones and ipads and using the laptop and such. This is a good thing to build into the design of new homes, preferably into the kitchen area which is the hub of the home for everyone to use.
We looked at styles of storage - when to use glass doors in kitchens, when to use baskets, when to use solid doors and when to use open shelves.
I've been pretty clever with storage in my home so far:
- My clothes are organised in a custom built wardrobe in my master bedroom
- I'm using the wardrobe in my guest bedroom for winter coats and my scarfs
- I've converting the never used hallway coat cupboard into a shoe cupboard
- The newly renovated bathroom has the biggest vanity cabinet it could fit to hold all my essentials
- My Ikea expedit bookcase in the study is perfect for my books and displaying items it is my favourite piece of furniture
- The coffee table in the living room has large drawers to hide magazines and books which was a fantastic storage purchase.
My old wardrobe
Installed a new wardrobe
My old coat cupboard
Turned into a shoe cupboard
My old bathroom vanity had no storage - the wall unit was the only storage
This is the new bathroom vanity (still renovating this one!)
My bookcase in my study/craft room
My coffee table in my living room
I ended up picking the laundry workshop as this is the smallest room in our house but has many purposes - it's a thoroughfare from the kitchen out into the backyard through one door or into the new garage through another door. It also has the toilet which people then use the laundry trough to wash their hands. The room has a 2 mtr wall for washer and trough and on the other side toilet and built in cupboard. I need to make this room look good as it is a thoroughfare but also practical to hold storage of spill over items from the kitchen and the usual laundry cleaning items.
There were 3 in my group including me, one was building and the other was renovating but unlike me had heaps of space. We brain stormed storage ideas, making use of the space on the back of doors for brooms etc, hanging airers onto walls. My mention of not putting in a large laundry trough but a small built in basin was met with concern that this might not suit say people who like to wash their pets in there or do hand washing.
Sink built into bench
Large laundry troughs
The homework is a bit of spring cleaning - to make a list of all the items you store in each room of your home with a view to where you use it and where it is stored. Also list what you use everyday, only sometimes and hardly never and then start to prioritise where the every days are stored so they are easy to get to compared to the hardly nevers.
I haven't done my homework yet I need a bit of time to go through each room but I will get there ... promise!
Week 1 you can read about here
Week 2 here
Week 3 here
Week 5 is all about Colour
[All renovation images my own. Other images via My Pinterest Laundry sinks 1, 2, 3, 4]
Great round up of what your learning. Love your shoe cupboard.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh I'm in love with all your renovation work! Especially the bathroom & shoe closet!
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely a big trough person....not sure why haha
The course sure does cover a lot of ground. Sounds like you are getting a lot out of it.
ReplyDeleteShoe cupboard is awesome! Bet you just go and look at it and smile!
I'm in the middle of spring cleaning my laundry right now actually - have freed up two shelves in our cupboard in fact! When we moved in, our laundry had zero storage apart from the teeny cupboard under the laundry trough. We got some Ikea cabinets put in to hide cleaning stuff, ironing boards etc. I would love something with a sink built into the bench one day though like in your examples above. As I've been cleaning, I've been making a list of what still needs to be done in our laundry and changes I'd like to make. For me, I want to make better use of 'hidden spots' like on the backs of cupboard doors and so on. I'd love a drying rack mounted to the wall or at least some way of hanging ours on the wall so it doesn't tip over every time it's knocked :)
ReplyDeleteMichelle, you are definitely putting what you are learning into practice with some amazing stuff! We want to see more!
ReplyDelete