How to Incorporate More Storage into Your Custom Home Design
September 20, 2018When clutter starts to build up around your home, getting enough storage space can feel like an uphill battle. Clutter can pile up even in the most organized homes, but it tends to be much easier to stay organized when everything has a place. When you get the chance to build your own custom home, you have the opportunity to ensure from the start that there is plenty of storage space available. Here’s how to incorporate more storage into your custom home design:
1. Full Basement
One of the ways to add a lot of storage space to your custom home design is to add a full basement. A full basement stretches the full length and width of your home. This provides a lot more opportunities for storage than a smaller basement. In addition to the added square footage, you have plenty of room to separate your full basement into specific rooms and storage areas.
You can use part of the basement as a workout room, hangout area, or something else while another section is dedicated to storage, or you can dedicate the whole space to storage. You can also add storage racks and shelving to help organize and better manage the storage capacity of your basement. Following a few useful basement design tips can help you get the space you need and the look you want.
2. Room or Attic Truss Above the Garage
The space above the garage is often overlooked, but it is a great place to add more storage space. An attic or room truss is a type of roof truss that is built specifically with an open space in the center in order to make a living space. This space can easily be turned into a residential room, like a loft, or used as an extra storage space.
Planning for this type of space during the custom home design process ensures the room truss flooring/garage ceiling is reinforced and built to handle the weight of whatever you plan to store in the space. It also allows you to meet any building codes required upfront in order for this space to be considered a bedroom should you ever want to use it that way.
3. Expanding the Garage
Another option for incorporating more storage into your custom home design is to expand the garage. When you build a custom home, you get the chance to design a layout that works for you. So, if you know you want to have a place to park two cars along with space for a workshop and some extra storage, you can expand the garage to ensure you have enough space for what you want.
Some custom homeowners will even opt for an attached garage and a detached garage to ensure they have a space for their cars, a dedicated space for a workshop, and more storage. You can even opt for two attached garages that are on separate ends of the home – one for vehicles and one for storage or other uses. Once you have the garage space you need, putting some helpful garage organization ideas in place can help you maximize storage.
4. Large Mudroom
Another tip for how to incorporate more storage into your custom home design is to add a large mudroom. A mudroom can be a great room addition to your custom home design. Not only does it create a logical drop zone and help keep clutter contained, but you can also opt to include a larger mudroom with plenty of room for extra storage to create the perfect mudroom for your home.
Benches with built-in cabinets, hooks, storage cubes or lockers, and more can all help you outfit a large mudroom with plenty of storage opportunities. A built-in storage system here can help you keep clutter contained while also providing plenty of storage space for what you need. These and other mudroom organization tips can help you keep your mudroom clutter-free.
5. Dedicated Laundry Room
Some homeowners opt to have their washer and dryer in a laundry closet or a small room. This may work out well for them when it comes to washing clothes, but it also cuts down on a lot of potential storage opportunities.
A dedicated laundry room ensures you have enough space for your appliances and also provides a little extra space for you to incorporate more storage. Depending on how much space you want, you can easily incorporate a row of storage cabinets as well as some shelving to add more storage into your custom home design. This is just one of many laundry room ideas that can help you create a useful laundry room in your custom home.
6. Large Closets
Closets are the quintessential storage areas. They also tend to be storage catch-alls and are a great addition when it comes to how to incorporate more storage into your custom home design. When you’re planning out your custom home design, you can add some extra space to the closets.
Expanding to large closets will help you add more storage space to areas that you were already planning to use for storage. Plus, doing so gives you more space to implement more closet organization tips and tricks to make the most of the storage space you included in your home design.
Depending on what you need to store, large closets can help you prevent storage overflow and ensure that everything has a dedicated space. In fact, thinking about what you need to store is one of the biggest steps in how to design a closet.
Things are a lot easier to find if you know they’re stored in a certain closet than if they are stored somewhere larger like in the attic or the basement. This can be a great solution for things you need to store, but also still need to access more than a few times a year.
7. Interior Storage Details
In addition to adding to the layout of your home with room additions and expansions, you can also add interior storage details to help you make the most of the space in your custom home. Built-in shelving can provide more storage opportunities in specific rooms without taking up too much additional floor space. This can be a great option for maximizing space in a small bathroom.
Built-in shelves are a great fit for rooms where you know you’ll need a lot of shelving and can help you make the most of a wall, especially one that is built around something like a nook or a fireplace. Built-in shelves are perfect for a home office or library. They can also be a great option for an attic and are one of the ideas for shared kids’ rooms as well.
When it comes to storage options, planning for more storage than you think you need is almost always a good idea. Not only does it help you keep your home clutter-free no matter your interior design theme, but it can also help you create a kid-friendly minimalist home. If your current home is feeling cramped and you’re thinking about building a custom home, contact Custom Home Group at 717-284-4090 to make your dream home a reality!