In a small kitchen, every part not being used needs to be utilised in some way as a storage area. With this in mind, a side rack could be made and be used as a storage rack for holding, utensils, cups and crockery. Its strong oak frame will hang on securely fitted wall hangers. It can be built to any length since it has a repeating dowel pattern.
Measure the wall area where you want to hang the storage rack and mark it off with a pencil. Cut the shelf, wood or plywood is suitable, to the length required and nine inches wide. Then cut two top, two bottom rails and two face boards to the required length. Four side rails, 12 inches long will be needed as well. Cut three eighth by three eighth inch grooves along the centres of the bottom rails.
Mark points at six inch intervals along the centres of the narrow edge of both bottom rails and the face of each top rail. At each of these points, glue the dowels into the holes. One 12 inch side piece should be fastened to each of the top rails. Slip the shelf into the grooves cut into the bottom rails, secure the other side piece into place.
Mark across the top of the upper rails six inches apart. Place one slat across each point and fix with glue and one screw per joint. Fasten the face-boards to the top and bottom rails. Fasten hangers to the wall ends of the upper side pieces.
A poster rack is ideally suited to the artist’s needs, but even if you are not an artist, it is easy to see how many different items can be stored here. It will hold pictures, picture frames and anything that cannot be stored easily anywhere else. Straight grained softwood such as pine would be the best material to use for this open ended storage rack. However a sturdy piece of plywood would be perfectly serviceable as the rack’s bottom.
Two legs at either end of the storage rack are secured to a leg base, with both legs slanting inwards and joined to a leg brace, which will support the bottom of the rack. Mark out with pencil the middle of both leg bases. Two uprights at either end are screwed to the mid-point of the leg base slanting upwards crossing the point where the legs meet the leg-braces and fixed to the upright brace.
When both the uprights have been joined to the leg assemblies, the bottom of the rack can be laid and fastened into position. Five slats, three quarter by one and three quarter inch thickness should now be laid across the uprights and fixed into place with flathead screws. One slat should be fastened at the top of each upright, one where the bottom of the rack has been fixed. The remaining three slats at either side will now be secured at equal distances on the structure.
Sand the wood and apply undercoat sealer. Then paint it in a colour to match its surroundings.
The three shelved bath valet only takes up a one foot square area in your bathroom but is capable of offering a quite large amount of storage space. Its other advantage is that it offers much needed dry storage space which is always welcome in a humid bathroom. White pine is recommended to be used in the construction of the bath valet.
When assembling the unit, you have the option to fix the shelves in place and use three separate doors. On the other hand, you may want to make the shelves adjustable and simply use one door to cover the front of the valet. Whichever decision you make, having a glass panel in the door or doors will enable you to tell at a glance what is being stored inside the unit.
To add to the valet’s usefulness, you could fix a towel rail to one or both sides. A shallow ledge around the unit’s top will be a handy addition as well, since it would make a convenient storage space for items such as deodorant, after-shave, shampoo and other such items.
A plastic storage rack with multiple pockets to hold various smaller items such as spare razor blades, hair grips and other miscellaneous bathroom necessities could be hung from one of the rails.
The unit will, ideally be mounted on four legs. The leg pieces should be cut to two by two inches square and about four inches in length and tapered to a one inch square at the base
If you have converted your loft but retained the slanted roof with just a window installed, that particular floor space under the slant could be used as storage space by installing a shelving unit.
However, with a little imagination and creativity it could be an excellent place to build a podium bed. The advantage of this arrangement is that it can be used not only to hold a comfortable mattress or a pair of mattresses depending on how much room there is available.
It can also be utilised during the day as a work surface, snack table or a place to generally relax after a hard day at work with the use of throw cushions.
First measure the floor space from wall to wall, making sure that you have at least eight feet by three and a half feet to accommodate the mattress.
Mark out vertical lines 16 inches above the floor. Once the frame has been built, leave a gap roughly a foot and a half in from the side wall for the mattress wall. In this gap you should secure three quarter by one and three quarter inch hardwood bed slats roughly two inches apart. However two of these slats should be fastened together to form a head support.
Lay the platforms over the rest of the frame but leave also room to install hatches further away from the front edge of the podium. This will make better use of the storage space beneath the podium, since it would be impractical to build long enough drawers.
If you have put boards down in the loft to allow you to move about more easily, it would also be an idea to maximise its potential as a storage area. The simple addition of a shelf along the rafters will set up a long narrow storage space for seasonal items such as skis, the Christmas tree, tent poles or fishing rods.
You may already have, lying around in the loft, some materials that will make this a very low cost project. A length of sturdy chipboard, wood or thick plywood for example will be ideal as the ‘floor’ of your storage space.
Measure the distance along the top of the collar tie between the rafters. Measure from the wall forward to the nearest set of rafters to place the tie with enough room to hold the items you are planning to store there.
Cut to the length of the span of the collar tie you just measured a piece of three quarter by two and a quarter inch strip of wood. Trim both edges to match the angle of the existing rafters. Fasten this to the rafters using wood glue and one and a quarter inch screws. Repeat the process for each set of rafters along the length of the intended storage area and secure a length of wood to the wall at the same height as the rafters’ strips.
Finally, cut the ‘floor’ piece to the appropriate length and secure it to the strips using glue and screws.
Some plants and herbs cannot be put outside but do need a sunny location inside the house. A three or four shelved storage unit, depending on the size of the window will make full use of the window. White pinewood would be recommended for this project. Measure the inside of your window first. This will give you an idea of how much timber to order.
Cut the two sides and shelves to the length that will fit the window. Remember to allow about a centimetre clearance on either side of the unit. Therefore when cutting the shelves, take into account the thickness of the side pieces as well as the centimetre clearance. Measure the side pieces and use a pencil to mark off where the shelves should be positioned evenly.
Now form a rectangular box by positioning a shelf at the top and bottom of the sides. Fasten them into place using two inch cabinet screws, and then screw a metal corner support onto each corner of the box.
Put the remaining boards on the pencil lines you made earlier and use wood screws to fasten them into place. As an alternative you could create more versatile storage space simply using shelf supports making them adjustable by drilling into the sides at even distances so that the supports can be plugged into them when necessary.
To avoid the danger of the unit toppling over, use a hook and eye attachment secured to both sides, at the top and back edge of the unit.
In a child’s playroom, storing toys, books, CDs and DVDs can be a problem. One solution is to build a couch and side table with storage capabilities.
The back-rest of the couch is assembled to have enough depth to store magazines, books and various media. Adjustable shelves might be recommended here as the child’s storage needs change. The top of the back rest may be used as a temporary home for odds and ends. The back stanchions should be cut at a taper to make the back rest comfortable once cushions have been added.
The seating area may have either a canvas or wooden base. Whichever material is decided upon, the base should have a divider at the centre from front to back. The advantage to the wooden base is that the seat then becomes another storage area. This would be achieved by either fitting drawers or constructing the base so that it can be lifted off completely or hinged then lifted up.
If however, a canvas base is preferred then a piece of three quarter inch dowel should be secured towards the back of the base. The canvas will be cut in half to be slung on either side of the divider. Sew one inch borders at the sides of the canvas. Sew the ends of the canvas slings into sleeves to fit the dowel.
The side table, assembled in the same way as the couch with a lidded top that can be opened so that items may be stored away inside.
A window seat is not only a marvellous place to relax but can be a potential storage area as well. If you have a particularly long window or two windows set close together, in the lounge, you may be able to create a window bank. A window bank is, typically, two window seats flanking a cupboard, upon which any number of items could be placed, including a coffee cup while you sit and enjoy the view from your window.
Some construction timber will be needed for the unit’s framework. However, the cases are, for the most part, held together with the use of three quarter inch plywood. The seats and cupboard should be assembled as separate units and the units cut to fit the length of the window or windows.
The back frame for the cupboard should be built first and attached to the wall using eight three inch screws. Next attach the mid-rail to the wall and fix the side panels in place. If you are building the window bank for a long window, simply build the cupboard as a free-standing unit. When you assemble the window seats and attach them to the wall, be sure to leave enough room for the cupboard and allow clearance of about two centimetres on either side. However you may decide to also build the seats as free-standing unit.
One advantage of having free standing units is that you can move them to different parts of the room should you fancy a change.
Adding storage space by building a foot locker, or bed foot chest, is simple to do and makes an attractive addition to the existing bedroom furniture. An alternative to the traditional bed foot chest would be to build two chests that, when pushed together, will be the width of the bed, to give the impression of a single unit but no wider to avoid the trip hazard this would otherwise create.
You might also utilise the lockers to create another storage space. This may be achieved by not using the more traditional hinged lid to access the items inside the chest, but by using drawers instead. This means that the top of the lockers will not need to be cleared off every time you wish to open them. The chests may also be used as bedside tables.
The suggested materials for the construction of the lockers are either red cedar or clear pine. The type of drawers can vary; you may want to use the swing bin type, for example. The sides are cut in an arc to allow the drawer to be swung out using a piano hinge at the bottom. This type of drawer will prevent the contents spilling out from the sides whilst still opening out flat.
The locker could also be a cupboard with the door hinged at the side and with the addition of a shelf might be a handy place to store books, CDs, DVDs and other miscellaneous items. Castors will make the lockers easier to move around the bedroom.
If your clothes collection has grown too large to be contained in the wardrobes already in your bedroom or spare bedroom, it may be possible to create extra storage space. This can be done, quite simply, by adding on to the wardrobes rather than getting rid of them, especially if they are still in good condition. Begin by moving the wardrobes to the furthest sides of the wall, one on either side.
You should use cabinet-grade plywood, preferably as close a match to the existing wardrobes as possible, although wood-stain could be used, and framing lumber. The size of the materials will differ according to how large or small a storage area you wish to construct. First, measure the dimensions of the space you will be using, then mark on the wall in pencil, where you intend to place the back panels.
Build the centre unit first, making sure the side panels are the exact height of the flanking wardrobes. Alternatively, you may wish to create units to sit atop the wardrobes, affording even more space for bedding items rarely used such as spare pillows, duvets and so forth. In this case, simply take the side pieces to the ceiling. This would be the easier choice since a top section will not be needed. Depending on the width of the wall area, a dividing panel might be useful.
Once you have the basic surrounding panels in place, you can then add in drawers, storage racks or rails to suit your needs.