When we moved into this home 3 years ago, I was delighted to discover unexpected storage under the stairs. It was storage I desperately needed. We love to entertain and have a large family so I have a lot of dishes and serving pieces. Our kitchen makeover gave me more storage than the “Builder Basic” originally had. Our walk-in pantry has room for a lot of dishes too, but I still had a ton of plates, glasses, stemware, serving pieces, napkins, table runners, trays, and all kinds of other entertaining pieces I needed to store. Then there are all the candles, decor pieces, and even decor pillows that I needed to find a place for. I love having all these things within easy reach.
The minute I saw that door & discovered all that storage under the stairs, I knew it was going to be my dish room. It is right next to the kitchen so it couldn’t be more perfect.
Hubby had some of those metal shelves you use in the garage, so I asked him to share a couple with me. This was a beginning to hold some of those extras that I needed to be able to get to easily.
A closet hanging cube was perfect to hold all those decor pillow covers and that purple drawer piece was in my craft room in the previous home. Perfect to hold small candles, napkin rings and napkins.
I added one more shelf across the back and now all my cloches and cake stands had a place. There was even room for our grandson’s high chair.
I thought I could make this even more functional if I added some towel bars to hold a few things. I have 4 fur throws that are hard to store and quite a few table runners that I don’t like to have folded up, so maybe they could find a better storage solution too. Bulky large trays found a place in the back on the side shelf too.
This works out perfectly. Towel bars hold those fur throws out of the way and another towel bar allows me to hang all of my table runners so I can see what I have and easily grab the one I want. Bonus is once I iron them they won’t get wrinkled anymore.
I purged a ton of dishes, but I still have plenty to create different tablescapes and to entertain larger groups. With my two tables I can seat 18, so that takes a lot of dishes and serving pieces. The towel bars still leave me a walkway that is ample to allow me to walk to the back and retrieve anything I need. I think this space is living up to it’s maximum potential. Those battery motion lights in the back are a perfect addition too.
If you find some unexpected storage in your home, make it work for you. Turn it into the kind of storage you need and then enjoy your new space.
Very nice and creative storage!
Marty you created great storage! You able to get many pieces in there too. Love the towel bar fir your throws.
Cindy
I too have a under the stairs storage that I have claimed as mine. I would not have thought to add towel bars for linen and throw storage. Thanks so much for the blog and ideas. I look forward to your posts.
Marty you are probably one of the most organized people I know. I love that you made this space under your stairs a storage area for your pillow covers and dishes. It is amazing how organized and how easy it is for you to find things.
Towels bars -genius bc it’s simple, functional
Well you sure made good use of that closet!!!! One can never have too much storage space for all of the THINGS:) I would have never thought off the hanging closet cube…smart!
So organized. Such a perfect spot to keep everything nice and neat. I have such a storage problem, I thin purging, is on my list.
Well done, Marty! What a perfect closet for that added storage you sorely needed! Excellent!
You know how I store my runners? I have a big bar in the basement and use pant hanger clusters – the old fashioned kind that old like 6 on one hanger, if you know what I mean.
I also have a few I keep upstairs (hating stairs more and more ever since I broke my foot a few years ago) and I roll them up and put them in the big drawers in my china cabinet. I got that idea from Maria Condo on how to organize clothing – so I do it with my dish towels and some runners – never get wrinkled if they aren’t folded in half!!!!
Big hugs.
Great suggestions too. I am so sorry about your foot, that does seem to make stairs more of a problem.
I have under stair storage and towel bars are a GENIUS solution! Thank you for sharing.