Storage closet preliminary. A brief context to set expectations.
Storage closet preliminary: Quick notes
I had hoped to have the studio bathroom wallpaper completely finished by the time I went to bed last night so that I could show you today, but that didn’t happen. I’ve made good progress, but let me just tell you that the wallpaper I’m using in that bathroom is the most difficult wallpaper I’ve ever installed. The difficulty is because of the design, but I’ll share more details on that when I finish the wallpaper and share it with you. So I’ll need another day to finish that up. But in the meantime, while I’m working in the bathroom, my mind is already planning my next project — the storage closet in our bedroom suite.
If you’ve been reading and following along on my projects, you already know that our guest bathroom is in our master bedroom suite. That’s very awkward, and obviously, we can’t keep that layout. So that bathroom is going to be turned into a much-needed storage closet where I can store Matt’s equipment (power wheelchair, shower wheelchair, and Hoyer lift) when he’s not using them. So all of the current bathroom fixtures will have to be taken out to make room for storage.
The bathroom that I’m talking about is behind these double doors in the bedroom suite foyer.
That bathroom used to look like this, and it’s been our main guest bathroom the entire time we’ve lived in this house (since 2013).
It looks a little different now. I had a new countertop installed a couple of years ago. And at one time a while back, I was planning a bathroom makeover, so I took the colorful shower curtain down. But for the most part, it still looks the same today, and it’s still being used as our guest bathroom. For the foreseeable future, my studio bathroom will be our one and only guest bathroom (as soon as it’s finished), and then I’ll be able to remove everything from this bathroom to turn it into a storage room.
I’ve had all kinds of lofty ideas about how I want this room to look and function, but the one thing I’ve never done until now is sit down and make a list of everything I want and need to put into this room and then try to come up with a solid plan of action. I’ve had lofty ideas of having a utility sink, lots of cabinet storage, and of course, our hot water heater needs to go in here. I’d also like for the cats’ litter box, food, and water to be in here.
But when I sat down and actually started planning the room layout, I realized very quickly that just how small this room is. The whole room is only 93″ x 88.5″. That’s 7′ 9″ x 7′ 4.5″. That’s pretty small. And once I put a hot water heater (even if it’s tankless), a Hoyer lift, a shower wheelchair, a power wheelchair, and a utility sink in there, that will leave almost no room for actual storage. So something has to go, and obviously, that thing has to be the utility sink.
I’m a little disappointed, but it’s fine. To be honest, I haven’t really had a need for a utility sink. I just thought it would be handy to have one. But unfortunately, I have no room for things that aren’t necessities.
After taking the measurements and coming to the realization that this room has to be a “necessities only” area, I started thinking about what kind of storage I want in here. I would like one full wall to be a storage area with shelves and drawers, and then the other wall will be for Matt’s equipment with shelves above them going the whole length of the wall. And then I’m hoping that our tankless hot water heater can be installed in the center of the wall opposite the door.
For the one storage wall, my first thought was to try out IKEA Pax wardrobes. That would be so much easier and faster than building from scratch. On one wall, I could fit two of the widest units with about 14 inches between them where I could add more shelves.
While I’d love the ease of just purchasing something that can be put together quickly, I don’t think this will work because of the door placement in the room. Here’s a layout of the room…
The wall where I want to put the storage is the wall to the right of the door in the layout above. On that wall, I only have 21.5″ of space between the wall and the trim on the door. The IKEA Pax wardrobes only come in two depths. One is 22 7/8″ deep, which is too deep for that space. The other is 13 3/4″ deep, which will leave too much wasted space. I want to utilize every inch of space that’s available for storage, especially since I want drawers in there, so I want the drawer storage to be every bit of those 21 inches of available depth.
So it’s looking like I’ll be building from scratch. Again, that’s another disappointment because I wanted this to be as simple as possible. But I don’t want to sacrifice storage space just to make things easy. Since this is our forever home, I want to get this right.
I have a lot more to think through before I’m ready to commit to a definite plan or even a definite layout for the room, but at least now I know for sure that (1) there’s no room for a utility sink, and (2) I need to gear up for a custom build for the room. I also need to think through every single thing I plan to store in here and make sure that there’s a place for everything. That includes things like my vacuum cleaner, carpet cleaner, power mop, cleaning supplies, etc. All of that really needs to go in here, and I want to take my time to plan this out just right so that everything has a place. I’m learning very quickly that designing small spaces is actually way more challenging than I thought it would be when maximum utility and maximum storage is the goal.
I’m really excited about this project, though. If I’m being totally honest, I’m way more excited about this storage room than I am about my studio bathroom. We’ve lived in this house for so long without adequate storage, and I dream of a day when everything has a place and everything can be stored away properly. My walk-in closet was a huge step towards that goal, and this storage closet will be another huge step towards that goal. I want to get it right.
Anyway, I’m really hoping to get the wallpaper in the studio bathroom finished up today so that I can show you the progress tomorrow. I’ll also share the details on why this wallpaper has been the most difficult to install. What I thought would be a two-day process has now become a four-day process. At one point yesterday, I was almost ready to throw in the towel, but rather than rip it all down, I decided to stop, sleep on it, and look at it with fresh eyes and renewed energy this morning. So today, I’m plowing ahead, and I think I can get it finished today. More details on that tomorrow (hopefully).
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
A short mention of Storage closet preliminary helps readers follow the flow.
