Small Home Gazette, Fall 2017
Creative Solutions: Give Me Some Space!
This homeowner eked out extra storage space in a corner of a bathroom by building narrow cabinets between wall studs. Attention to detail in the paneled doors and vintage-style hardware might convince a visitor that they are original to the house.
Conventional wisdom is that living in a bungalow means limiting the possessions you hold dear. But like the adage that surviving winter is all about having the right clothes, bungalow owners are proving that having the right space allows them to keep more of their “stuff” close at hand.
The key is to make good use of space. An obvious strategy is to think in three dimensions. Don’t just spread out across the floor; think vertically with strategic use of tall cabinets and shelves. And use spaces that might be hiding in plain sight—like behind a door or under the stairs. Here are some ideas collected over the years on our annual Twin Cities Bungalow Club home tours.
There were the homeowners who hung their storm windows—screens during the winter—from the basement ceiling in tightly-spaced rows. They mounted extra hooks in the ceiling—just like those on each window frame. Getting the windows up off the floor left space underneath for a cabinet of drawers.
I was intrigued by other bungalow owners who built extensions on the back of open basement stair treads to create small cubbies for the family’s shoes. The best feature was that it kept the extra shoes out of sight until you walked down and turned around to look back at the stairs.
This upper shelf at the foot of the stairs to the second floor expansion space lies just above the door (on the right) to the main floor.
You might need a step stool, but these ceiling-hugging cubbies at either end of a short bungalow hallway are perfect for extra linens. One extends into the hallway; the other is the overhead space over a closet.
While we’re thinking about stairs and shoes, consider putting up a removable shelf above your head in the stairwell for a few items. The simplicity of this idea is that it could be easily taken out if you’re moving a large piece of furniture up or down the stairs.
Another overhead space we sometimes ignore lies in those small main floor hallways found in so many bungalows. We know of at least one homeowner who installed built-in cabinets between the ceiling and the top of the door trim to gain needed linen storage.
Our next example of using space wisely came from this spring’s tour. The homeowners designed shallow shelving that wrapped around a window and radiator. It holds CDs and books as well as display space for their treasured decorative items. The shelving lies behind their front door where there was just enough depth.
This bungalow’s front door opens against shallow shelves, which were added by the homeowner.
We hope these examples have inspired you to find solutions to your need to creatively use the space within your bungalow.
Other Examples?
If you know of other creative solutions to make bungalows more livable, send them to us at mail@bungalowclub.net. Whether they save space; provide modern convenience with an historically-appropriate appearance; or simply make the best of a difficult situation, we would love to share them in the Small Home Gazette.
