Getting Creative Is Key!
Pratt Modular Homes, in Tyler, Texas, understands the limitations of space involved in a small apartment, home, mobile home, or tiny home. Being stuck inside for long periods of time can make any house, even a new house, feel tiny. But don’t despair! Our in-house home designers have learned lots of unique ways to utilize space even in the smallest of homes. Take a look at some of Pratt Home’s best tips for organizing and using your space in creative ways.
Luckily, changing and adapting how you utilize storage and space can make even the smallest home feel larger.
With these helpful tips, you can make use of all your square feet, make your space more livable, and make your home feel more positive.
All The Wall Space!
When people look to organize and better utilize space in small or mobile homes, they often underestimate wall space. As well as finding ways to use the space well, and storing small items to minimize clutter, the ceiling is the limit for shelf storage space.
Put shelves above doorways, in corners, and over windows in anywhere from the bathroom to the bedroom. In the kitchen, these places are great for cookbooks, not-often-used bowls or china, and jars of noodles, beans, rice, or other dried goods.
Why not go straight up? Build narrower shelves horizontally all the way up the wall, and build them higher. This way, you can utilize an entire wall’s worth of storage and save a lot of space. By building the shelves closer to the wall and going up, it is possible to maximize storage without compromising room space.
Wall-Mounted Desk/Table
This concept takes the same idea as the Murphy bed—a bed that conveniently folds up into the wall, making room for lots more living space—and translates it to a desk or table. Or even a bar!
Desks and tables are permanent fixtures that take up a great deal of space in a small home. By building the fixture into the wall so that it conveniently folds up when you don’t need it, you’re making substantially more room in any room. When it’s time to work, simply unhook the desk from the wall and pull up a chair.
Or if you have company, use the pull-down, instant counter space for appetizers, a buffet service, or bar. This concept is perfect for incorporating into your new home plans or incorporate it into an existing house.
Window Seats
Window seats are a fantastic, easy way to provide extra seating and storage space in your house. A window seat in a living room makes for more seats, as well as a great place to store the clutter that can often take up residence in your living space: books, pillows, blankets, etc.
This option isn’t available for every house, but in many homes, the floors themselves offer possibilities for storage. Pull-up boards above cubbies in the floor are especially useful to include when designing a custom tiny home. A storage space like this is useful for anything from tools to electronics, to blankets and pillows. Place in a spot that’s easily accessible, but well-hidden, and you’ll have the ultimate sneaky storage.
Storage Containers
One of the key elements between a house that appears cluttered and a house that looks tidy is storage. Especially in small homes, it can be challenging to find places for all of the necessary day to day items. Storage containers can make a big difference, and there are lots of options: crates, bins, hampers, baskets, and large jars in the kitchen, etc.
Wooden crates, sanded and stained, make tasteful, inexpensive storage space to organize household items, and even create great instant bookshelves.
Oversized baskets look great and also have a lot of storage room.
Organize items you don’t often use into plastic storage bins and tuck into extra space under beds and in the back of closets. Make sure to label what’s in each bin—this will save you from too much rummaging later!
Bed Frames With Drawers
Beds take up a significant amount of space in any home, but especially small houses. Using the bed frame itself as storage significantly helps utilize space in a tiny or mobile home.
Drawers built into the bottom bed frame are perfect for storing sheets, towels, clothes, and even books and electronics.
· Pullout beds are another great way to utilize space in a bedroom. They’re perfect for adding extra sleeping space in a guest bedroom. In a child’s room, pullout beds add room to sleep two siblings to a room, or are great for sleepovers.
Hooks and PegBoards
Pots and pans, as well as utensils, can take up a lot of space in a kitchen. Hanging hooks from the ceiling—in places you won’t bang your head—allows for extra space in cupboards and on shelves, as well as reducing clutter.
A pegboard can be particularly useful in a kitchen. In fact, this is how Julia Child herself organized her utensils, pots, and pans. Not only does this method help organize clutter, but it also makes your kitchen much more accessible when cooking. Place the pegboards and items in a way that makes them easy to reach, instantly making cooking easier.
The Space Under Stairs
Too often, the large space beneath the stairs is underutilized. While it can make a good cupboard space, it can do so much more than hold brooms.
If the stairs are close to your kitchen, transform the spot into a pantry. Extra pantry space can then lead to extra counter space, which is valuable in the kitchen. Store dried/canned goods, electronic kitchen utensils, extra bowls, etc. in the pantry, opening your kitchen to less clutter and more room.
If it’s a smaller staircase, or already taken up by a cupboard, there’s still room to insert a small shelf space. Extra shelves, especially recessed, not only provide storage but can also add to a room’s aesthetic.
Pratt Modular Homes understands that spending more time in the house makes it essential your space is comfortable. Finding ways to utilize storage and other spaces can make a big difference.
