How to maximise your Brunswick property storage options

ByJamil Allouche

A common reason for moving house is not having enough space. Whether renting or buying a Brunswick property, moving house is a time-consuming and expensive business. Knowing how to work with what you've got can save you a few hard-earned dollars in moving fees and rent or mortgage costs. Learn to manage your storage options and you won't have to stretch your budget to the biggest place available.

How can you maximise your real estate space?

1) Go upwards

Lots of storage options focus on the bottom half of a room. Drawer units and under-seat storage rarely go above waist height. Even shelves get stuck halfway up the wall where most members of the household can reach them. Between the shelves and the ceiling, though, is a whole lot of empty wall space with plenty of potential. Floor-to-ceiling storage units are widely available and the shelves and cupboards within them are often customisable to suit the items you need to house. 

Similarly, think about how else you can utilise the higher spaces in a room to create more storage lower down. In kids' rooms especially, consider raised beds with storage underneath for a fun and practical solution. It works for adults with a sense of adventure too.

2) Built-in storage

There are some spaces that you just can't fill with what's available in the local shop or online. Awkward spaces require custom-made furniture, and while it may seem like extra effort, the additional storage can more than make up for it.

Bay windows, for example, are really easy to make use of with a hollow seat. Not only can you hide unsightly items, you also get a practical use of out this storage solution. Alcoves or gaps between furniture are also good areas to fill with shelves or a custom-fit cupboard to make use of every nook and cranny.

3) Move your accessories

Most of us want some personal accessories around our home, on top of the essential items. However, when you're short on space it can feel like you shouldn't be cluttering up your rooms with extra bits and pieces.

Instead of taking up valuable shelving space with plants or images, look for other spaces in the home where you can house them. Keeping to small plants, for example, gives you the option of hanging them from the ceiling, filling otherwise empty pockets of space. 

4) Find the spaces you don't use

A UCLA study found that an average family's activity is centred around a relatively small proportion of their home. Even those rooms with high levels of activity had significant areas that received little foot fall across the average day. Identifying where these spaces are could open up opportunities for extra furniture without actually impacting the way you use your home.

Take a kitchen, for example. Because most people are standing close to the cupboards, the sink or the oven, the middle section of the room rarely gets used. Use the space for a kitchen island with built-in storage. The bathroom is another good room to look at, given that there is rarely more than one adult in there at a time.

5) Reconsider your choice of doors

We're not suggesting getting rid of doors entirely, but they can severely restrict how you use a room if you aren't clever with them. Instead of writing off the space into which a door opens into a room, change the door. Shutter style doors take up much less room when open, and a hanging curtain in place of a cupboard door is even more effective. Instead of the wall behind the door being forever empty, with a space-saving door option you've got room for a new storage facility.

To find a Brunswick property with the space you need, talk to Ray White Brunswick today.

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