At NHBB we think that when you're designing your new home, it's important to think clearly about the different spaces in and around your home. One of the most overlooked things is storage space. This blog post will help you to think about the design of your new home, so that it has plenty of storage and the spaciousness you always wanted! See how it has been done in some of our recent luxury home designs here.

When designing storage for your new home, there are 3 main ideas that guide what you need to do:

Idea 1 Have a place for everything

Before you get started with the design, it's important to think about where everything in your home will live. The first place many people forget is their garage - after all, most of us park our cars there and don't give much thought to what else might be able to be stored there! But, if you're designing a new home from scratch, then it's time to take inventory of all the items that could use some storage space outside your house. (Maybe even your amazing wine collection!)

Idea 2 Store things where you use them

Storing things where you use them is a great way to keep things tidy and easy-to-find.

Ask yourself: what are the areas of your home that need some extra storage? Where do I spend most of my time in my current home? What's occupying too much space in those rooms or hallways, such as piles of clothes or books on shelves?

In which parts of your home would you like more storage for items currently cluttering up other spaces - kitchen cabinets, under sinks, closets etc.?

The answer will be different for every family but it is really worth thinking about before designing your new home.

Idea 3 Stop clutter before it enters your home

Design your entrance to your home so that it stops cutter coming into it. You'll want to have a place for shoes, coats, umbrellas and other items that need to be removed before going inside so make sure there are things like hooks or small benches by the door. You will also want an easy way of getting rid of junk mail so that it never even gets to the rest of the house.

Use these three principles and use them in areas like your entrance hallways, kitchens and garages.

How to organise entries to your home

It can be hard to keep entrances to your home organised. Clutter accumulates, and there is never enough room for all of the things you need to store. Think about how your entrance is now – and ask yourself what you need to create storage for in your new home.

You will need to design your entrance so that clutter will be minimized.  Design so that it is obvious what goes where. Make sure there is a place for everything and that it is easy to use. You need to make things accessible, but not out in plain sight. 

Have you considered a mudroom – a room that links from your garage, and then links to the rest of the house, so that all the junk you and your family bring in can be kept there before it spreads to the rest of the house? This is great for those muddy sports shoes and wet clothes.

Always losing your keys? Cant find the dog’s lead? Need a central place for the kids to hand in their phones to charge overnight? Then a dropzone is an ideal storage space. It usually a good idea to have this near a common space like the kitchen, or off the  entrance from the garage so it is a simple step in getting on with your day.

What about your kitchen?

Kitchens are often the most cluttered and chaotic room in a home. Is your current kitchen like that now?

There are many different things that need to be stored there: pots, pans, dishes, spices...the list goes on. When you add children into the mix - or adults who refuse to put their items away - it's an even bigger nightmare!

The good news is that this problem can be solved through good design. If you know how to properly organize your kitchen storage from day one, then you'll never have a cluttered space again.

Have you considered drawers instead of cupboards, perhaps even a butler’s pantry? There are so many options to consider!

The garage is not a junk room!

Have you thought about using your garage properly for storage and having your car parked in there as well?

Garages are often underutilized spaces that can be transformed by adding shelving units or workbenches. The first step to designing your garage is figuring out what you want to store in it and how much space you want available for this. As you are designing your new home, now is the time to consider what you can store here and adding the storage space needed for what you want to put there – and having your cars parked in there as well!

 Storage is an important and sometimes overlooked design requirement for your new home.

We can help you optimise your home for what you need to store in it while considering all the other design requirements for your new home.

Here’s what Heath Moloney, one of our amazing designers, says….

“Design of storage spaces in your home isn’t just about where to put your linen or your kettle, there are other forms of storage that are often overlooked. Most council’s use a 3 bin system, a dedicated space in the garage makes emptying the kitchen scraps a simple convenience, rather than the leftover space outside. If you are anything like me that usually happens when its raining !

The modern home is also evolving into a more connected, lower environmental impact home than in the past. So it is important to consider storage for datahubs and solar power storage batteries. Especially in a city like Perth where solar power is so abundant.”

Come and speak to us about your luxury home design. Book a discovery meeting today – click here!

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