Friday, October 1, 2010

Home Design: Under the Stairs Storage… half DIY =)


Otherwise known as, “We Need All The Storage We Can Get!”  You would think going from a two bedroom apartment to a three bedroom house, all our stuff would fit easily!  But it’s not that simple.  We had a wide linen closet that we used entirely for games, and the one in this house just doesn’t fit the games as well.  Whenever my Dad gets into a house, he looks for unused space, and under the stairs is one of the first places to check.  Ours was completely wasted space, so we decided to fill it up with shelves!  We built the shelves ourselves, measuring to fit in between the studs already in place.  We could have moved studs, or removed them entirely, but I didn’t want to make things too complicated, and this worked great!  We basically built and painted boxes, and then installed them in the holes.  Serenity thought all this activity was awesome.  She grabbed her tools and said, “it’s broken, I gotta fix it!”  You’ve got to love that DIY attitude =)  She loves to help Papa work.  I’ll put up a play by play on the shelves when I convince my Dad to help me redraw the plans we did =) 
One of five cabinets!

My Dad is always willing and excited to do construction projects!

Notice Serenity's screwdrivers in the wall, she's been working =)



No more piling the books on the windowsill!




Once the shelves themselves were installed, we decided to get some professionals to build the doors for us.  These shelves are very visible right as you come in our house, and so we wanted them to look very nice.  I got to choose the design, with the bead board centers (I love white beadboard, I just can’t explain it, it’s a fixation of mine, and now that I have a house I can indulge!)  They built the doors and installed them, and then we painted them!  And now they are finally finished and we can load them up!  (And now I get to do another of my favorite activities, organize!!!!  I just love having a place for everything)

What do you think?  Anybody inspired to use up their wasted space?      

1 comment:

  1. Love the custom shelving! My wood floors were my redesign for the year. I think my project for next year will be wainscoting in the dining room.

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