Time on My Hands

I have had so many thoughts about what I could do with my town home to make it a better livable space and I have acted on some of them. Townhouses are notorious for their lack of storage. Since mine is built on a cement pad there is no basement. My biggest challenge has been the one main closet downstairs.

To be truthful, it is not by any standards an adequate closet. One might go so far as to call it a hole under the stairs. It was fitted with a folding door, a rod for hanging things and a small shelf above the rod which was practically useless due to the angle of the steps.

Along with the inadequacies of the closet was the problem that the kitchen was sorely lacking in storage space. I have always liked the idea of a pantry but there really wasn't anyplace to put one so instead I re-purposed the sad excuse of a closet. I took out the hanging rod and installed adjustable wire shelves. To make up for the loss of coat hanging space I attached hooks to the opposite side. This made the closet more useable and allowed for the use of space further back in the closet. There is still a large triangle of space that is unused or basically just junk space for which I have additional plans.

Now, to make up for my lack of a good closet I decided that the garage needed a make over. I had a two foot shelf installed from the supporting beam to the kitchen door and had a 5 foot closet built to the left of the kitchen door.

Along with a hanging rod in the closet, there is a shelf above which is perfect for baskets for mittens, gloves, umbrellas and space for shoes in a basket on the floor. I also had a shelving unit installed to the other side of the kitchen door and I am currently using it for my larger kitchen appliances.

There is a bin for plastic bags to recycle and space below for a garbage can and paper bags. I keep my re-useable grocery bags in the basket on the side of the case. On the 2 foot shelf I store my holiday decorations (those not affected by cold), clothes that my daughter is not yet big enough for, spare blankets, camping equipment, coolers, and a tv/dvd that I use when working out on the elliptical machine. I just recently completed the work area in the garage by installing peg board and shelving and some new hanging pieces.  Having a lot of storage in a garage in a town home is key to making the house work for you.

This is the finished workspace.

 My little girl has shelves at just her height for all her outside toys!

 The old shovel, broom holder has been replaced and additional hangers added.

 The closet is complete and there are shelves above the hose area for pots and potting soil.

 I even included a sign that had belonged to my grandfather when he had a Surge business!

 I am now preparing to finish stripping an old dresser... this is the perfect place to work!