Organizing a utility room for functionality and storage space - Part Two -

In our last post, we started our utility redesign by defining the area, visualizing its appearance, and sketching out the floor layout.

We gave every activity zone or storage area a home in the room. The key of our plan was to make the space productive and functional. With your sketch in hand, review your plan of action and decide if you have to make changes.

Measurements

First, measure the size of the entire room from wall to wall and then from floor to ceiling.

After, you measure the room, move on to the different room segments. You will use these measurements to decide what kind of equipment you can fit in each activity zone, and what bins or shelves you will need for storage.

Whether you are buying, begging or stealing to fill your room, the better your shelves, boxes or equipment fits, the less roadblocks you will encounter in completing your project.

Bins and Shelving

When buying your bins, make sure they fit properly in the shelves. Storage bins that hang over the edge of a shelf can tip over or hinder your movement around the room.

In addition, a good vertical fit will allow you to effortlessly pull out the bins and reduces the temptation to stuff loose items in the space between the bins and the top of the shelf.

If you plan to stack the bins on top of each other, it is a good idea use identical bins. This way, the bins will stack properly and give the room a clean and aesthetically pleasing look.

If you are on a tight budget, you might want to buy your shelving and bins as they come on sale. With your measurements in hand, you can see if you can work with items on sale, or adapt your plan to meet budget restrictions.

Cardboard boxes

Cardboard is good for moving, and bad for long-term storage. Plastic bins offer better protection from moisture, rodents, and insects than paper boxes. Also, plastic bins are less likely to tip or bend under pressure.

While more expensive, brand name bins tend to be stronger and less likely to breakdown over time.

Final Floor Plan

As you develop your floor plan, you might find that your sketch is mangled with modifications.

Instead, of drawing up a new plan every time you make a major change, you might consider copying the plan into a diagram program like Visio, Gliffy.com, or Diagram.ly.

While all the programs I listed will serve your needs, I recommend Diagram.ly because it is free, requires no signup and uses a straightforward interface.

Diagram and chart programs offer the following functions:

• Design 2d floor plans
• Drag and drop interface
• Easily resize and customize shape colours.
• Use different line thicknesses to differentiate between rooms, zones, shelves and fixtures.
• Ability to label any part of the diagram

Once you complete you diagram, you can print it and hang it up as a guide for your current project.

In our next post, I will give you some practical tips to help you implement your plan.