 Room for Improvement
Storage options – from the laundry room to the garage and beyond.
BY ROBYN BARNES
When we bought our home 17 years ago, utility
rooms and home storage areas were not showplaces.
Washers and dryers were appliances that
topped out right at the waistline; washers were
usually top-loaders. A single storage shelf ran along the wall. A little
6x8-foot utility room seemed to be all a family had to hold all
their household cleaning products, appliances, extra dishes, beach
towels, sleeping bags, holiday ornament bins — and so much more.
Somewhere along the way, things changed. Our 21-year-old
washer and dryer were benched in favor of a behemoth frontloading
pair of appliances that ate up the floor space. The single
shelf now held a towering Pisa of laundry supplies, cleaning supplies,
rags, bicycling gear, pet accoutrements and odds and ends.
Taking something off the shelf was like playing Jenga — I never
knew when something would bring the mess down on my head.
Clearly space was at a premium. I knew I’d reached the end
of my rope when I asked for a laundry-room makeover for
my birthday.
Comfort counts
The average American household spends two to
four hours every week sorting, cleaning, storing and
shuffling dirty laundry. The athletic men in my family
blissfully ignore this statistic, generating six to eight
hours of weekly wash! Therefore, laundry room comfort
was a key issue for me.
Washer and dryer pedestals were requirements; my bad back
meant constantly leaning over was out of the question. While the
pedestals provided some extra storage, the way they were configured
wasn’t exactly convenient. And the Pisa tower had to go.
Expert advice
“I see this kind of situation all the time,” says Tracy Parker, design
consultant with California Closets of the Texas Hill Country. “People
need objective help organizing a space.” She makes an in-home consultation
appointment to discuss a client’s problem before she ever
looks at the space in question. “I want to know what’s not working
and what the client’s needs are. I ask about the impetus for the project
and what needs to be accomplished. The client and I discuss colors
and finishes, and we go through our catalog to look at what’s
available. Every design I do is a custom design, so I take the necessary
time to cover every aspect of the project.” Homeowners wanting utility room, closet and garage
makeovers usually have similar problems: not enough storage and  not enough hanging space. “They want
cabinets with doors to hide supplies and
deeper shelves for storage,” Parker says. In
utility rooms, “They want cabinets or
shelves located higher on the walls for
more storage options. If there’s space,
many homeowners want a folding area
installed, with baskets placed beneath the
table for each family member.”
Others say closets are their main concern.
More Space Place of San Antonio
sees a growing need for closet solutions in
today’s homes — especially those who have
older homes in which builders didn’t know
walk-in closets and built-in storage solutions
would be so important to busy families.
Today’s builders are better about that — some homes have separate butler’s
pantries, huge walk-in closets and lots of
built-in cabinetry off the kitchens, bedrooms,
bathrooms and garages.
“The utility room is becoming a place
where a person can do it all — wash, dry,
fold, hang and store,” says Parker. “People
don’t want their laundry and utility mess to
be seen. The object is for guests to see this
room as another beautifully-designed space
that is both functional and attractive.” Parker
is quick to remind us that storage space
makeovers needn’t be budget-killers.
In a utility room, garage, closet, pantry or
any storage area, there are many basic solutions
to storage woes. “You can start with
open shelves and add drawers at any time,
as your budget permits,” she says. “All the
parts we use are adjustable, and you can
make it as fancy or as simple as you want.”
Simple worked for our house.
We tore out the old shelf the builder
installed and put in two ceiling-height cabinets
over three-quarters of the available
space. Taylor installed a high shelf to hold
my rag basket and placed a hanging rod
beneath it. We use this to store hangers that
are collected from closets before each
washday. A sliding rod pulls out from the
wall to hold clothes as they come out of
the dryer.
It’s a huge improvement.
It’s also a work in progress. I still need to
paint the room a cheerful color and install
the iron/ironing board hanger behind the
door. The Family Communication Center,
also known as a bulletin board, and the key
hanger need to be hung by the back door. I
need to part with some stored items that
haven’t been used in more than a year. But
these tasks are manageable. I no longer feel
out of control.
 Beyond the utility room
Laundry rooms aren’t the only areas in
the house where storage options are scarce.
In the garage, in built-in cabinets, in attics and
throughout the house there are clutter cradles
that need conquering. From craft corners
to closets full of winter coats and sports
equipment — sometimes it seems our stuff is
overtaking our lives. Some families have
even resorted to paying for a monthly storage
unit where they can keep their winter
clothes in summer, their old baby cribs and
toys, excess furniture, boxes of keepsakes
and the like. But usually a weekend spent
cleaning and organizing those spaces can
mean boxes of donations to charities and
resale shops or perfect eBay products to sell
to free some much-needed space. But if you
still can’t seem to make room for everything
you want to keep, turning to area professionals
is sure to help, and there are plenty of
resources available in the San Antonio area.
Some even offer free consultations to help
you decide how to better navigate your storage
space design options.
Whether you’re storing bicycles or bottles
of wine, built-ins can provide the help
you need to keep clutter to a minimum
and easy access at the max. And if you
can’t afford to install shelves and cabinetry,
there are inexpensive options available
with bins and containers at WalMart and
The Container Store, or even baskets and
decorative boxes and trunks at stores like
Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and
even the new west elm store coming to
the new Quarry Village.
One recent innovation available
through California Closets is a pod-like
storage structure they call an “accessible
attic” that can be hung from the ceiling of
your garage; it’s like having a little brandnew
extra attic to keep your things clean
and off the floor.
Go with the Gurus
Even if you can’t hire an expert to renovate
your storage space, you can use these tips to make the most of the space you have:
• Start by decluttering the space. Throw
away the trash that seems to accumulate.
If an item hasn’t been used in a year, get
rid of it. Check for expiration dates on
cleaning and gardening products and
pet supplies.
• While you’re at it, really look at those
cleaning and gardening supplies. For
example, in the laundry room, streamline
your space by using one detergent in
place of a pre-treater, bleach alternative,
and fabric softener. In many cases, one
solvent or spray will now do the job that
it formerly took several to accomplish.
Use up what you have and then purchase
only dual-duty cleaners.
• Keep laundry supplies near the washer, on
a shelf at eye level. If you don’t have a
laundry room, try a rolling caddie that
slides between the washer and dryer or
use pedestals. In the garage, keep gardening
supplies and tools at eye level, too.
• Arrange products from left to right in the
order you use them. For example, in the
laundry room, start with stain removers,
and then line up the bleach and detergent,
the fabric softener, and dryer
sheets. Decant detergents from large boxes and jugs into smaller containers or
soap boxes; refill as needed.
• In the laundry room, make sure your folding
surface is high enough to avoid to
bending and straining your back. Ditto in
the garage — it’s better to hang things on
the walls at a level you can easily reach
than to strain yourself by bending over to
pick up heavy items or by reaching for
things on shelves that are just too high.
• Bring empty hangers to the laundry room.
This makes the job of hanging clothes right
out of the dryer much more convenient.
When you’ve accumulated too many wire
hangers, return them to the dry cleaners.
• In your laundry room, install a bulletin
board. Tack up care labels, buttons that
have fallen off in the wash, stain charts,
and product samples. You can also tack
up socks that have lost their mates.
• In the laundry room, keep a small trash
can for lint and the wrappers that are
always left behind in pockets. Trash cans
and recycle bins are good to have near any
storage space — think about throwing
things out instead of accumulating more “junk” that will cause even more clutter.
• Provide good light in this space! Match
fixture styles and wattages with the task,
whether it’s stain elimination or overall
maintenance. Fluorescents and track
lighting systems are both good options
for any storage space.
• A pressure bar inserted in a doorway can
serve as a temporary place to hang long
clothes for drying. It can be taken up and
down or left in place.
|
