When you have gone through the house, cleared out what is no longer needed either to be dumped or recycled, you then have to bite the bullet and deal with the loft. The loft is a wonderful place to throw things that will be useful later or, if you have just moved in, boxes still packed and not urgently needed but are taking up space at the moment.
Ideally, you will want to use the loft as a storage area. If so, there needs to be a way of accessing it reasonably easily and providing adequate light to enable you to move around safely. Another good idea is to board it over to cut out the risk of accidentally putting your foot through the floor. Not forgetting that, depending how much you intend to store there, the extra weight maybe too much for the ceiling to bear.
The wall furthest from the access point would be a good place to install shelves or shelving systems. Consider flattening out the boxes specifically used to hold, for instance, computers, the television, DVD recorder and so forth, then storing them out of the way at the lowest part of the loft in case they are needed again.
Next, you must decide what stays and what goes. Documents from the bank, insurance company, utility companies, for example, could be sorted into separate envelopes then into plastic storage boxes and onto the shelves. Record collections, books and toys will probably also figure in your personal Aladdin’s Cave.
Although the travel pouch is meant to be used as its name implies to store DVDs or CDs and carry them when travelling, there is another potential use for them.
They can also be utilised to help solve storage problems in the home. A typical travel pouch or a ring binder container measures about 15 x 20cm and will have a capacity of 24 disks held in 12 sleeves.
The storage pouch can be used in several ways. For example, you could use it to store TV programmes and films recorded from the television, PS2 games and CDs. You may want to keep a particular TV series in one place so you are more easily able to access it. Or perhaps you could organise by genre – science-fiction, detective or comedy. Alternatively, films and TV series’ may be kept in separate pouches. The options are endless.
If you were, for instance, to record from TV using even the LP mode, you could store four hours of viewing on each disk and this in turn would mean that it is possible to have 96 hours of films or TV programmes in each pouch. If you decide to use the SLP mode on every disk, you would increase this to 192 hours per travel pouch.
Now we turn to the storage part. The DIYer might decide to build tall, narrow shelving units, possibly on castors so that it be easily slipped in and out of a small unused space in one of your rooms.
Even when metal storage racks have been braced and stabilised, the bolts will eventually loosen. In the first place, the bolts should always be tightened with a socket or a spanner to get enough torque. The fixing bolts, if tightened with pliers, will not give enough rigidity. They will loosen, no matter what, but a lot more slowly.
An all round tightening should only be needed approximately every one to two years or so. If this is overlooked, the shelves will become unstable and unsafe. Storage racks that do not have adequate bracing, in other words on three sides, may become loose very quickly. It is entirely possible that a rack without proper bracing will loosen to the point where it is about to collapse in less than a week.
With wooden shelving units, two by two inch uprights will give a racking system suitable for the usual household loads, if they have been well braced and jointed. For a shelf to be well jointed it needs metal reinforced joints, large corner braces, for example. There should be at least two screws into the upright and one into the shelf.
Free units can be made from scrap for storage sheds, cellars, lofts and so forth. Timber shelving units may be made to be adjustable quite easily by resting the shelves on blocks secured to the uprights. One way of arranging shelves is to make cut-outs at each corner to accept the uprights. Making a template from cardboard is often useful.
There comes a time in everyone’s lives when they need to de-clutter. Regard it as a de-fragmentation of your home. The kitchen and its potential for effective shelf storage will be hindered by items either no longer needed or unusable. It is all too easy to just push things to the back of the cupboard and promise yourself you will deal with it later.
However, it is always worth considering the wealth of kitchen storage solutions that are currently available on the market. Most are designed with specific products in mind, such as hooks for pans and mugs. Making use of these ensures that you are using all of the space available to you, and aren’t wasting any and therefore not expanding upon the original decor.
The cupboard under the sink can be a convenient place to put things that belong in the shed or workshop, usually under workbenches – tins of paint or varnish for instance. Decide what should be stored there, cleaning rags and cloths, sponges, furniture polish for example. Perhaps candles, a camp-stove and a torch in case of power cuts could be stored in plastic storage boxes, as well.
If you are a enthusiastic DIYer, making a cup tree would help store cups and mugs more tidily. Pans, spatulas and kitchen scissors for example could be stored out of the way with the help of metal hooks or shelves fixed into a strip of wood secured to the wall.
Once you have decided upon an approximate idea of the size, basic components and layout of each of the rooms in your self-built house, it is a good idea to make initial sketches of designs for them. Measure the furniture you will be using to scale and draw them onto graph paper. Cut out the various items and play around with the replica models until you find a layout that works best for you. Allow space for doors and windows then show your plans to your architect to make sure you have not forgotten anything.
Even if a space initially seems small, this can be altered with the clever use of different storage solutions. Decorative shelving and clear plastic storage boxes provide optimal storage space, whilst appearing innovative and making the room overall seem larger.
In the bedroom, for example, there are a number of things you should bear in mind when planning:
Shelves or shelving units – you might want to keep books near you. Please bear in mind that they tend to gather dust in bedroom, so a small collection may be best in the bedroom.
Lights – think about where you want them positioned. You may want to read in bed, so a reading lamp over the bed would be useful. Wall lights on the other walls or a ceiling light should also be considered.
Bedside cupboards – these might be necessary or perhaps shelves should be considered, since this increases the amount of floor space available.
Hanging space – you should decide whether you need more or less hanging space than you have at the moment.
Folded clothes and other items – decide whether a chest of drawers or a tall boy is needed or shelves in a closet.
While you are planning the layout of your self-built home, it is a good idea to have a look at your current living arrangement and indeed other people’s houses as well. There may be some aspects of the rooms and the layout in general that you might want to keep and some that you feel to be unattractive or just awkward, due to there possibly being too many items on the floor that would be more accessible and organised on shelves.
The hall and staircase, for example, can be just an attractive feature or more functional in nature. For instance, a cupboard under the stairs might be handy especially with integrated shelves or shelving systems to hold various items such as a toolbox and cleaning materials. It might also possibly be a good place to store shoes and coats.
An open plan living space might be more useful to you. The number of bathrooms and whether you want en-suite bedrooms will be another aspect to be considered. Even if a bathroom is small, making use of shelving units not only for storage, but innovative decoration can make a room appear larger.
Think carefully about each room in turn, as the size of the windows and the height of the ceiling, as well as the use of well-placed shelves can have a dramatic effect on how the rooms feel, as it were. More natural light in the room would mean less use of electric light. A high ceiling will make the room feel cooler which would be beneficial in any hot summer weather that might occur.
You might want an office or a hobby room. Where you put this room should also be thought out carefully, preferably it should be located in the quietest part of the house to allow you to concentrate on your work or hobby.
Metal shelving units need to be kept rigid at all times. They are different to shelving units made from wood because any joint movement at all in metal units works the bolts loose.
With heavyweight metal shelving systems, it is best to either brace them on three sides as a free-standing unit or you could secure them to a wall. Two braces are not enough to make the system completely safe. For instance, if a unit were braced at the rear and right side, it would still enable the left side to twist, albeit only slightly. However, even a slight amount of movement would be enough to loosen the bolts holding the joints together and possibly cause an accident.
Lightweight steel units will also need bracing on three sides. The light systems usually have quite shallow shelves. This makes them too easy to topple over and cause damage or injury. Your best bet is to secure them firmly to a wall as well as bracing them. Another option is to fix them to more shelving units, which will give them greater stability. This, of course, depends on the amount of floor space available to you, since lightweight units tend to be used in the garage or garden shed.
Bracing a unit is quite simple. Basically, all you need to do is attach a piece of wood or metal diagonally across each of the three sides. This will create triangular shapes which will make sure that the shelving unit is completely rigid.
One of the only practical options for heavy storage racking in industry is the heavy duty angle iron unit. These shelving units consist of holed angle iron uprights with sheet metal shelves and angle iron or wood bracing. These are the most popular industrial duty systems on the market and they have industrial looks and prices.
There is one particular brand that is best known, and heavy duty angle iron shelving is often called by its name even though it does not bear the brand’s name. Its units are mostly sold as 90cm wide bays and there is a choice of depths and height. 30, 45 and 60cm are three of the popular depths.
There are quite a few different brands and hole patterns. Unfortunately, different systems, as a rule, will not fit together. It is possible to force them together but this will be less than perfect since the shelves are often not horizontal and poorly supported. Therefore it is recommended that when adding to shelving space the same brand of unit is bought. That or a different brand is used but as a separate unit rather than as an extension to the existing system.
When assembling the heavy duty units, 1 inch M6 roofing bolts are recommended. A storage shelf fitted at ground level will create a strong box structure for the legs. This box structure is also useful to help to spread the load on the floor. Uprights can be cut with a tool known as an angle grinder.
There is a surprisingly wide choice of materials with which to construct shelving units.
Moulded plastic shelf racks are easy and quick to assemble as well as being unaffected by the damp. Since there are various designs it is recommended that you check the shelf unit, after you have assembled it, for stability. If it is not totally stable then you need to secure it to a wall. One of the limitations of shelving units constructed from plastic is that it is difficult to modify them in order to make larger systems or customised assemblies.
Bamboo and willow can make unusual and rather attractive shelving units. However they are only really useful for very light usage. They are excellent as display units for example, or as shelf storage space for bed linen, towels or clothes.
Now and again, it is possible to stack breeze blocks as support for wooden shelves. If the unit is well designed and well built it will make for a strong unit. However, if there are not sufficient means to withstand sideways forces, these units can become unstable without warning and therefore unsafe.
Chipboard is okay for quite a few uses around the house, but does tend to sag after a while and has very little water resistance. When used in shelves, it is recommended that it rests on supporting rails on all four sides.
Plywood is a lot tougher than chipboard and WBP plywood is water resistant. OSB is a cheap alternative to plywood.
There are pros and cons when it comes to deciding whether to install book shelves or book cases in your home. Although it may seem like a simple decision, it is one that should be considered with a wealth of knowledge.
The advantages of a book case are:
• It can be moved from one place to another in the room, and it can also be moved from one room to another.
• It is generally easy to assemble and indeed disassemble to make for ease of transport if you are moving house.
• It is versatile in that you can use it to store not only books but DVDs, CDs and computer games.
The disadvantages of a book case are:
• It is a fixed unit in terms of height and width and cannot be designed to be narrower, wider or higher unless you are building it from scratch.
• If it becomes too full, you will need to buy another book case that might only have one or two of its shelves being used.
The advantages of using book shelves:
• They are easy to make, even if you have only the most basic of workshops.
• You can make them as wide or as narrow as you like.
• There is no limit to the number of shelves that you can install.
The disadvantages of using book shelves:
• If you do not have a workshop at all, you will have to buy them separately and usually pre-packed. This will eventually make them more expensive than a book case.
• Storing DVDs and CDs on them is more risky as if they are not stored carefully, for example they are attached too high, they may fall off.