Planning for Enough Storage Space in Your New Home

May 13, 2020

One thing we are all learning in 2020 is the value of storage space. It’s important to have enough extra space to be able to house enough non-perishable food and supplies for several weeks or even months, not to mention all the usual things we need to store.

If you feel like you are running out of space in your current home, it may be time to think about designing a new custom home with storage space that can better meet your family’s needs.

As you think about designing your dream home, don’t forget to include more storage than you expect to need. A general rule of thumb is to use 10% of the total square footage of the house for storage. But if you want to go higher, especially in a smaller home, that is fine, too.

Talk with your custom builder or architect about how much storage space is enough for your family.

21 Storage Space Needs Your Family Has Right Now

Consider having enough space to store:

One-two months’ worth of non-perishable food items or more.
One-two months’ worth of paper products or more.
Enough toiletries for a month or two.
Extra cleaning supplies, potentially a separate cleaning closet for each floor.
Extra school and office supplies.
Enough gallons of water to last each person in your family for at least a week or two (if your area is prone to hurricanes, especially).
A chest freezer or two.
An extra refrigerator if you have a larger family.
Enough closet space for each person in the family to store all of their clothes and shoes in one closet.
A large storage closet for seasonal decorations or bulky items that your family wants to keep but won’t want to display constantly.
Outdoor furniture and coolers during the winter.
Enough closet space in the foyer or mudroom for all of your family’s coats plus space for some guests’ coats, as well.
Gardening equipment and mowing/lawn care supplies.
Bikes and other riding toys.
Tools and hobby items.
Pet supplies, litter, food, toys, medications, and bedding.
Children’s toys, electronics, and video games.
Prescription and over-the-counter medications and first aid supplies.
Computers, chargers, and electronics.
Luggage and gift wrapping supplies.
Room for all the dirty laundry hampers and clean laundry baskets, ironing board, and room to hang and fold clean clothes.

An important thing to consider when storing nonperishable food is that you will need to rotate your stock. Keep the things that expire first near the front of your cabinets and pantry and use that up first. Keep items that expire later in the back so you don’t end up wasting food.

21 Great Storage Ideas for Your New Custom Home

As you think about your family’s specific needs, here are some ideas to help you design enough internal storage in the new home:

A storage room
Built-ins cabinets
Built-in shelves
Walk-in closets
A large kitchen pantry or two
A kitchen island with storage
Cleaning closets (for vacuums, brooms, mops, and cleaning supplies)
Custom-built window seats with drawers or storage underneath
A custom breakfast nook with benches with deep drawers
Under-the-stairs storage
Attic storage areas
Mudroom cabinets, cubbies, closets, and pegs
Organization systems for closets
Extra space in your garage – for a chest freezer, decoration storage, lawn equipment, bikes, and more.
Built-in cubbies
Flush-mounted bookcases that take up no floor space
Hidden storage under the floor
Hidden wall safes for guns or valuables
Built-in foldaway shoe racks
A built-in tub surround with panels that fold out for shampoo and liquid soap bottle storage
Slide-out custom-built drawers under each step in a staircase

Of course, when you are building a custom home, you can also add external storage with a custom-built storage shed or guest house.

These are just a few of the creative storage solution ideas you can include in your custom home design so that your home meets all of your family’s needs. If you know what you want before the building process begins, it will make your build time go much more smoothly.