Reduce Clutter With a Remodel
Many times when our clients call us, it’s easy to see one of the biggest things they need to do is reduce clutter with a remodel. Their family may have grown and now they need a way to corral toys and provide a safe play area. They may recently have started working remotely and need an organized office space. The layout may not work with the way they like to work in the kitchen. Or they may have collections that are taking over and they want an attractive way to organize and display them.
Now, don’t get it twisted — clutter isn’t necessarily stuff you need to get rid of, it’s just stuff that winds up in places where it shouldn’t be. But before a remodel, you should cull through your belongings and donate the things you no longer use or that don’t bring you joy. When planning a remodel, our in-house design team can help you take inventory and listen to all your functional needs. When we’re done, there will be a place for everything, and it will be easy to keep everything in its place. Here are some effective ways to help reduce clutter with a remodel.
1. Get Stuff Under Control As Soon As It Enters the House
1. Get Stuff Under Control As Soon As It Enters the HouseYou’ve got one chance to control and contain all that enters your house. This stuff is needs a place to go as soon as you walk it into your entry. So if you don’t have a mudroom, we highly recommend incorporating one into your renovation. This is your landing zone. This is how bags, dirty shoes, sports equipment, hats, scarves, damp pool towels, and the like get stopped before they become a mess.
We can help you set up a system so that every household member has a place for to keep their belongings organized. This also includes the things you need for your pets such as leashes, outerwear, toys and perhaps a feeding station and food storage.
The sneakiest, shallowest cabinets can keep so much clutter from getting onto counters and desks and coffee tables — lost and all over the house. Add an organizing landing strip cabinet near the entry your family uses the most. You’ll be able to sort and contain your mail; stash your keys, leave a message, post invitations and schedule family activities all within a cabinet that’s about six inches thick!
We’ve snuck these great cabinets into all sorts of tight spaces, including camouflaged as a fridge surround. A landing zone cabinet is a great element to consider during a kitchen renovation.
2. Gain Pantry Space
Kitchen counters can be clutter magnets like oils and spices, cooking utensils and small appliances. Whether your remodel has enough space for the butler’s pantry of your dreams, or you need help turning a space without a pantry into one that can act like it does, our designer will take care of you. Butler’s pantries can create an easy transition between the kitchen and dining room, serve as a bar and house all small kitchen appliances. This will reduce clutter in your remodel by keeping your kitchen countertops clean.
When there’s no room for a butler’s pantry or even a pantry closet, we can work hardworking pantry space into your cabinetry. For example, in the pantry we’ve lovingly dubbed “Big Blue,” countertop clutter is eliminated in the following ways:
- Space and outlets for countertop appliances
- Racks for wine
- Designated spaces for baking supplies, breakfast food and other staples
- Deep drawer space for pots, pans, utensils and linens
- Extra pull-out countertop space for prepping, chopping, baking and serving
Another way to avoid countertop clutter is through special inserts in your cabinetry for spices, utensils and knives.
3. Treat Your Closet Like a Boutique
When your clothes are organized and easy to see, it makes life easier. It will be easier to find what you’re looking for, to pull together an outfit, and to realize that certain items are a waste of space and could better serve someone else. So let us treat your closet like we’d treat an upscale boutique. We’ll use beautiful cabinetry, introduce you to lighted racks, find the right jewelry inserts and if there’s room, incorporate closet island. And we’ll make sure that a wire hanger never ever enters your closet again.
4. Create a Special Spot for Your Collections
This self-proclaimed “purse nut” wanted to turn what had once been a child’s nursery into a “pursery.” So we happily obliged. New custom shelves were sized with her favorite bags in mind. Whether it’s Star Wars collectibles, Georgia pottery, books or kicks, we’ll find the safest and most beautiful way to store and display your favorite things. For your precious items, glass doors will offer more protection.
5. Eliminate Bathroom Clutter
So many things clutter up our bathroom countertops, our showers and even our bathroom floors. No more. Our design team will help you size your shower niches to accommodate all the products you need in there. We’ll discuss special cabinetry options, like hair appliance drawers, medicine cabinet outlets and trash pull-outs. We can help you find medicine cabinets that have it all. One of our new favorites eliminates that bathroom floor clutter — one is a trash pull-out and the other is a bathroom scale cleverly hidden in a toe kick!
6. Designate Space for Media, Games, Toys and Books
Media equipment can be ugly clutter. We’ll help you find ways to conceal it while keeping it easily accessible and functional. This can also include home sound systems.
Closed cabinetry, bookshelves with bins and other built-ins are great solutions for stashing toys and games. And they make it easy for your kids to get to them easily and put them away.
And if you still prefer real books to ebooks, we’d love to help you design shelves that will accommodate your beloved libary. In this home, we were short on wall space but tall on height. So a rolling ladder helps our clients access the highest shelves.
7. Display Kitchen Collections
These clients had a stunning ceramics collection that they use daily but also wanted to admire. We removed existing upper cabinets to make way for long open shelves. Then we extended the beautiful new backsplash tiles they’d chosen all the way to the ceiling. The wood of the shelves adds warmth, their strong horizontal lines draw the eye and it’s easy for them to grab and admire their favorite dishware. The amount of space on the shelves and the pleasing arrangement of items lends a calm and uncluttered look.
Other items our clients like to display in the kitchen include favorite cookware, pretty china and glassware. If you’d like to see more examples of how our clients have integrated open shelving into their kitchens, check out this article.
If you need help modifying your home to meet changing needs of any kind, please schedule a consultation.
If you enjoyed this story, here are a few more we think you’ll like:
Remodel To Improve Wellness at Home
