It might seem a little untraditional to upsize when you have one adult child out the door and the second one looking to move out. However, we were firm believers that inorder to move, the new house had to have all (or most) of the items on our Want List. We found the smaller patio homes targeted for Empty Nesters just lacked all the many wants that we had.

We always seem to think differently from the norm. We guess it’s our Think Outside the Box attitude that brought us to the house that we selected. We think our decision to take on a forclosure was a great idea. Sometimes you have to take a gamble.

When we decided to move we were thrilled to find a house with more storage. Let me introduce you to the TOP 10 Storage Solutions that I have no idea how I ever lived without.

#1: The Dual Master Closets Trust me after our first house that was built in 1900; our second house built in 1980’s seemed to have ideal closets. However, after some time the double slider-door closet lacked in many ways. I found myself needing to utilize space in the Guest Bedroom for ‘off season’ clothing. It was a pain when packing for trips. I often forgot about items because they were out of sight, out of mind. So, for me when we moved to 609 it was sheer heaven to have a walk-in closet of my very own. It might be considered small as walk-in’s closets go and it doesn’t have any award winning drawers, racks or fancy bits; but, to me it is heavenly.

#2: The Butler’s Pantry I do get a kick out of saying that. After 30 years of marriage it is so very sweet to finally have a spot for all the dishes we received from Michael’s Mom and Grandmothers. So many were stored in boxes and never used because we just didn’t have anywhere to put them. We even devised an area in our last house in the basement and garage to help accomodate the overflow. But, as you know, sometimes even the best of intentions just don’t work because they are too taxing or time consuming to care to search for this or that. Now, I open the doors to the pantry and I can see all the plates, chargers, servers, etc. It’s so much more fun. And, to make things even better is the Bar Counter opposite that houses all the glassware.

#3: The Mudroom In our last house we walked straight from the garage into the diningroom. A bar counter sat on the opposite side of the door and if someone was sitting there the door would crash into the barstool. We knew to tread carefully if company was in the house. Ever creative we built a “mudroom” area in the garage. It provided a space to put the bulk of shoes. However, in the cold months noone wanted to leave their coat and shoes in the cold garage. So we were forever dragging them in to place in the front closet. Now, we have a large coat closet and a large cubby closet. Some people might prefer a bench, hooks and cubbies; but, I like having the doors to hide all the mess. We have a bench in the garage and one in the butler’s pantry if one needs to sit to take their shoes on or off. We also have a huge closet in the front entry that can more than accomodate dress coats and guest coats.

#4: The First Floor Laundry I had a laundry in the basement and for the last 22 years I ran up and down the stairs to do my laundry. Over the years having babies, toddlers, kids, teenagers it was a troublesome task. I delight doing laundry now. I have a beautiful window overlooking the garden, plenty of storage, counterspace, a broom closet and a cedar closet that stores all the ski gear and is ideal for all my air dry and delicates. I often find the dogs in the laundry room napping. With plenty of cupboard space I have room for cleaning supplies, dog items, craft items, and even a spot for all my vases.

#5: The Garage as in our last house we find the garage is useful as a mudroom. We have a storage bench that comes in handy to put on/off shoes, an armore that provides ample storage for: smaller garden tools, workgloves, picnic items, coolers and such, a bench that helps access shovels, rakes, and such. We also have ample storage to accommodate a worktable and tools, bicycles, golf clubs and others gear. Not to mention trash, recycling and two cars.

#6: The Sunroom or 3 Season Room More times than not, you will find me in the sunroom. Right off the kitchen facing Southwest it is my little paradise. Other than winter, when it doubles as a refrigerator for excess storage of beer, soda, and such. We dressed it up with a comfy sofa, rattan chairs, bookcases with momentos and garden books. It’s a great place to nap, read, write or just daydream.

#7: Michael’s Office is an ideal spot for all the kids momentos, the desktop computer, printer, monthly bills, and all the things that he has collected over the years. There is no argument he always has a spot now for his Greatful Dead Collectible items, Racecar pictures and Keepsakes from his career.

#8: The Kitchen Desk is my office. There is a file drawer and gobs of storage for keepsakes, recipes, cookbooks and such. I even have little cubbies to display items that are near an dear to my heart.

#9: The Livingroom Bookshelf was originally on the list to be removed. Michael encouraged me to consider keeping it. Once I put all my favorite books and items upon the shelves and housed my dvd and vhs within its closed storage and dressed up a dogbed in the opening I was sold. Now, I can’t imagine why I didn’t see the potential from the start.

#10: Bonus Room I was going to give this slot to the amazing bowling alley basement that houses all kinds of unwanted goodies; but, thought it better fitting to praise the Bonus Room that has been such a wonderful Suite for Amanda. On the opposite side of the house from the Master it provides both of us with privacy. It’s like having her own apartment as she has her bedroom, a sitting area, a fabulous walk-in closet and bathroom. The convenient access to the garage, laundryroom and kitchen makes the location ideal.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Have a great day!

InJOY-Trisha