Expanding Your Storeroom

Like money and time, space is something we always want more of. We need space not only for our day-to-day items, we need it for those things we use on occasion or mementoes too precious to toss. For these lesser-used, less-often-seen possessions, the store room is often where we either keep them with care or stash them away unceremoniously.

Beyond better organisation and learning not to horde, how can we make our store houses hold more? Inside offers four easy tips.

1. Enhancing Your Store Room

Many homes now come with store rooms. In most cases, though, they are slightly larger than a cubicle. Shelves are the natural space-maximising option. Instead of buying ready-made shelves, customise yours. This allows you to incorporate some space-saving ideas.

“Most ready-made shelves have standard heights that are too small for large items. So, people resort to storing their bigger items on top of the shelves. These items tend to be heavy. Putting them up and taking them down from such heights can be a chore. When you design your own shelves, you can make the lowest shelves taller. Use these to store heavy, bulk items like your luggage,” said Soh Cher Hwa, Senior Designer, Décor Werkz.

Another way to maximise space is to use corners. You can do this by designing L-shaped shelves. Place your stuff on Lazy Susans. This will make it easier for you to access things stored in those hard-to-reach corners.

Do not be afraid to use every last bit of space.

“Store rooms are for storage. So, there is no need to include too much standing space,” said Soh.

2. Creating a Store Room

If you do not have a ready store room, create one. Find a niche in your home that is often neglected or overlooked. Staircase landings, the space beneath the stairs, corners, and even walls can be turned into storage spaces.

“Storage compartments with doors can help to store your items out of sight and achieve a clean look,” said Irene Ho, Lead Design Consultant, Edgeline Planners.

For a seamless look, Soh advised, “Materials [used to create the store room] should blend in with the overall look of the whole theme of the apartment. You can also add materials like tinted mirrors, wallpaper, and glass motifs to the outer panels of the store room to enhance the look.”

There is no reason why your storage space should be confined to your home. The area outside your home is great for creating shelves or cabinets to store items such as shoes, sporting equipment, and your barbeque paraphernalia.

3. Designing More Storage

Why does your storage space have to be an entire room? Storage walls can be a wonderful way to keep things out of sight while displaying the things you are proud to show off. “Storage cabinets can be turned into divider walls [that separate a room into different spaces],” said Ho. “You can also camouflage the entrance of the storage area with designs to create a feature wall that enhances the look of your home.”

“You don’t have to use only shelves. You can also use wooden cabinets for the feature wall used to store your items,” agreed Soh. Storage walls can form dividers that can separate a large room into different areas for use.

Storage walls can double-up as headboards, too. These can be used to store bedding, and extra pillows.

“You don’t have to use only shelves. You can also use wooden cabinets to create a feature wall to store your items,” said Soh.

4. Double Duty Furniture

Furniture can double up as storage spaces as well. Picket and Rail has ottomans that you can use to store things.

Sofas and beds with drawers beneath; coffee tables with shelves below for your remote controls, and DVD and CD collections; dining tables with shelves for your cook books and dinner ware; storage benches and storage chests that double up as side tables are all double-duty furniture that maximise storage space.

The store room can be a treasure trove of space to store your treasures if you make use of all the helpful hints. Then, you can always expand your storage area to stow away your year books, baby clothes, and countless other keepsake too precious to throw away.

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