May 6, 2008
Space Usage
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Do not waste high-level areas that can be used for storage without getting in the way of the room. Shelves fixed at picture-rail height and above doorways will probably need a stepladder to reach them, but can be used for effective display, or for books and other items that you do not need to assess very often. Usable space is often wasted behind doors, either because you don’t think of looking there or because the door itself blocks the space. There is probably enough available wall for a set of narrow bookshelves, or you consider rehanging the door from the other side to free up extra space.
At ground level, make use of spare space under beds and other large items of furniture baskets, crates, boxes and trays, perhaps on wheels, can be slotted underneath and pulled out like drawers.
An efficient way of providing extra storage is to create double-skin walls, with shelves and cupboards built into the hollow interior so that they can be assessed by doors on both sides of the wall. You can even build shallow bookshelves into doorframe, as this will be the same thickness as the wall into which it is fitted.
However, do not feel obliged to use every available space for storage. Larger pockets such as landings and the space under the stairs may be just big enough to create miniature rooms and take a desk, chair or even a small bed to accommodate overnight guests.
May 1, 2008
Space Usage
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You do not want to cram every inch of your home with shelves and cupboards, but you will probably need more storage space than you have. If you want to keep your living space clear and uncluttered, make the best possible use of wasted corners and unexplored angles.
Follow this storage checklist to ensure extra space, and decide whether some possessions should be out on show, easily accessible or stored away until they are needed.
1. Clothes and shoes
2. Coats, umbrellas and other outdoor accessrories
3. Linen and towels
4. Books and magazines
5. CDs and videos
6. Kitchenware and gadgets
7. China and glassware
8. DIY tools and gadgets
9. Files and office work
10. Letters, bills and household documents
11. Personal papers
12. Photographs, scrapbooks, old theatre programmes and other memorabilia
13. Works or art, porcelain, designer glass and other collectibles.
Remember, you may have to make sacrifices to create effective storage space for the things that really matter to you. Photographs and letters are precious, but you will not need to get at them too often, so they can be hidden away in closed storage, while everyday tableware needs to be near at hand and easy to retrieve and replace.
April 26, 2008
Space Usage
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This procedure can be followed each time you plan a new room. For each plan, use squared or graph paper and a scale of around 2.5 cm(1 inch) to represent 1 meter(3 ft.). Mark all fixed features such as doors, windows, alcoves and fireplaces with semi-fixed items such as radiators and power points marked in a different color. It is helpful to where these are, but they should not over-influence your plans as they can be moved in most cases.
Mark on the plan which areas you are designating for different uses and different times of the day, and start thinking about the essential furniture-kitchen cupboards, beds, tables. Plan likely positions for these pieces, leaving plenty of room for walking around them, stretching legs, opening cupboards and drawers and so on. Next add smaller items whose positions can be more flexible and that can be, if necessary, be removed from the plan if space is proving limited. If you want to try out several different layouts, cut out pieces of card to represent the furniture so that you can move them around until you are happy with the plan.
Be led by the shape of the room, the light it gets, how it fits with the rest of the space and how you are going to use it. But remember that you sometimes have to waste a bit of space in order to create the impression of it-that sense of largesse, of being bale to afford to throw it away, automatically makes the place feel bigger. Leaving corners unfilled and bare areas of wall creates more of an illusion of space than cramming in as much as possible.
April 17, 2008
Space Usage
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Before you start to put any of your plans into actions, you will need to back up your assessment of the space that you have with some accurate dimensions. Then you can create an accurate scale plan and start work.
Measure all the relevant distances in your home, including the width of corridors, the width and height of doorways, the space between windows and each room’s ceiling height, as well as its length and width. These measurements will allow you to create a floor plan drawn to scale. Start with an overall plan of the space(or a plan for each floor if you have more than one) so that you can see how the rooms fit together and allocate areas of use, then draw up separate plans as you progress to individual rooms.
Reassessing Your Furniture:
Unless you are starting from scratch, you will have existing furniture-pieces you have accumulated from previous homes that will not necessarily suit the plans you have for this one. Try not to feel too attached to these. You may have a few favorite or valuable items that you definitely want to keep, but otherwise you should be as flexible as possible. This is the time to get rid of anything that has really outworn its looks or usefulness. Decide whether or not each item can be updated, painted, re-covered or re-cycled to match the look you have in mind, and be ruthless with anything that cannot.