Small Home Gazette, Spring 2019
Creative Solutions: Between the Studs, Part 2
The space between the studs behind the basement door was too valuable to let it remain a blank wall. The glass towel bar between the upper and lower cabinets has also proven handy. The original handle to the home’s front door was mounted near the basement door as a convenient location for a hand towel.
After 15 years, Kathleen undertook a major kitchen remodel, hiring John Hanson, a former Twin Cities Bungalow Club member, whom she met at a Bungalow Club event. She had admired his work in his own kitchen and in another member’s remodeled kitchen.
The contractor built custom birch cabinets in the bungalow era style for Kathleen’s kitchen. They considered creative solutions to increase storage. Kathleen observed that the wall behind the door leading to the basement steps was unused space that had potential for usable storage.
They excavated inside the wall, opening up a space between studs. Next they stuffed recycled insulation into the pockets.
The door to the paper bag holder includes a removable chain that keeps the door from opening all the way—providing an opening just wide enough to pull out a bag or two at a time. Note the original-to-the-house glass towel bar.
The contractor fashioned two unique units: a spice cabinet positioned above a paper bag holder. He sanded and refinished the two old door fronts in honey-colored shellac to match the existing woodwork.
He built shelves to hold spices and attached one of the refurbished door fronts to the new spice cabinet space using period-appropriate hinges.
The contractor solved how to open the pull-out bag holder by attaching a removable chain on one side to facilitate opening and closing. He hung the other newly refinished door front, attaching hinges at the bottom edge. They added a bin pull handle.
Six shelves hold all of Kathleen’s spices, freeing up space in other cupboards. The bag holder contains all sizes of paper grocery bags in two layers. No more stuffing bags in the wall space next to the refrigerator!
The new spice cabinet freed space elsewhere in the kitchen.
All six of the old drawers found in the basement were used elsewhere in the remodel.
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.
