Planning Our Bedroom Suite Storage Room
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m almost finished with our bedroom. As soon as I get these last few projects done, that will mean that the majority of our bedroom suite will be finished — the foyer, my walk-in closet and laundry area, the bedroom, and our bathroom. But that leaves one more area that needs to be finished before our whole bedroom suite is actually finished. I will still need to finish the storage room.
The area marked “storage room” on the floor plan above is the hallway bathroom. Ever since we moved into this house, this room has been our guest bathroom. But now that it’s located inside our bedroom suite, this is a very strange place to have a guest bathroom. So the plan is to turn this room into a much-needed storage room. For the majority of our time here, this room looked like this…
And then I had plans for a small makeover in this room. We had the remnant of quartz that was leftover from our master bathroom cut and installed in here. And then I was going to add wallpaper and make a new shower curtain. I never got to those last two projects (and I’m thankful for that now) before we decided to turn this whole area of our house into a master bedroom suite. So for the last year-and-a-half or so, this bathroom has been in this in-between state. It has the new quartz countertop on the sink area, but it still has the wood countertop (not seen in this photo) on the cabinet opposite the sink. I never put the shower curtain back up, so there’s only a shower curtain liner. And I poached the resin art to use in my studio a while back. So while it’s not terrible, it hasn’t looked finished in quite some time now.
But again, I’m glad that I didn’t waste my time finishing up that room (and especially installing wallpaper) because now the plan is to turn this room into a storage room. It will probably the the least exciting project I do this year (with the possible exception of turning our ugly sunroom into a home gym), but this is a project that I’m very excited about. I literally daydream about this storage closet.
Matt (my husband who has M.S.) has three pieces of equipment that we use for his various needs — a power wheelchair, a shower wheelchair, and a Hoyer lift. The entire time we’ve been in our house, we’ve never had a place to store any of his equipment when it’s not in use. The Hoyer lift is pretty big, and when it’s not in use, it feels in the way. The shower wheelchair stays in the shower, which feels intrusive when he’s not actually using it. And when he’s not using his wheelchair, it just stays in the music room.
So the idea of having an actual room to store these pieces of equipment when he’s not using them is incredibly exciting to me. I’ve dreamed of this for a long time, and now it feels very close and within reach. So while I’m finishing up the bedroom, and passing by the hallway bathroom several times a day, I’ve been imagining, dreaming, and planning just how this storage room would look and function.
It’s not a big room, but I think it will be plenty big for everything I want in there. In addition to storing his equipment, I want a lot of shelves and general storage. Plus, our new hot water heater will go in there. I think I’ve decided on an electric tankless hot water heater, so it will go on the wall to free up floor space.
But the other day, I had a thought. This room already has plumbing since it’s a bathroom. So why not add a utility sink to the room as well? I think it would really be handy to have a utility sink, and this seems like the perfect place to put one. I imagine something like this stainless steel sink. This one is 20″ deep and 36″ wide.
I’m imagining that the room will be arranged something like this…
Once everything is out of the room, I’ll be able to get a better idea of just how much space Matt’s equipment will take up, and then I can plan around those. But even in the equipment storage area, there will be plenty of room above his equipment for shelves. The bottom line is that I want to maximize this area for as much storage as possible. Right now, I store lots of things in the sunroom that can’t stay there, so I need to think through how I’ll use this much smaller space to store those items — items like the vacuum, floor mop, carpet cleaner, etc. I need to account for all of those items and make sure that I have dedicated storage for those.
Anyway, I still need to finish the bedroom, and then I need to finish the studio bathroom before I can even think about starting on this storage room. But I’m so excited about this room, so I want to have a solid plan in place long before I’m ready to start on it.
I don’t know yet if I’m going to try to make it look pretty or if I will just make it strictly utilitarian. If I make it pretty, that would be just for me since I’m the only one who will see it. It’s not like guests will be going into that storage room (unless I show it to them). But I like for things to look pretty, even if it’s just for me. But it’s the utilitarian use of the space that I’m the most excited about.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Any use for the quartz countertop in the studio bath when it moves out of here?
No, but all of that will be saved and used in our future guest bathroom when we build the addition.
I immediately wanted to recommend a utility sink seeing the headline for today. I think freestanding shelves or carts if the floor is level enough. Don’t waste time on level pretty floors too much. As you get your workshop completed, you’ll come up with a variety of shelves and fixes. Freestanding will keep the flexibility to swap out what you’ve made as needs evolve. vs knowing the perfect spot upfront. Storage is Iterative. If shelves don’t work well (too deep…Monica closet risks) I suggest making French cleat stripes so you can hang oddball things onto the wall and not worry about plumbing to maintain flexibility. But that is likely an overkill idea for the size of the space but possibly fun.
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I love the utility sink idea, which makes so much sense, since the laundry room is just across the foyer. I know you’ll make it look gorgeous even if it is just for you. Have fun!
Cheers to you, Matt, and the Fur Babies!
Definite yes to a utility sink. They are very handy. The three pieces of equipment are substantial in size, particularly the hoyer lift. Block out their sizes on graph paper and arrange them for most convenient & frequent usage. Coordinate the wall color to your blues and keep it basic. Save your $
Sounds like a plan! Considering the size of the “storage closet”, I think you would have more room to maneuver in there by going to an L shape with the sink and HWH as pictured. Put floor cabinets under the HWH. I would also consider keeping Matt’s shower chair in the shower. When you use it, it’s going to be wet. I don’t think the moisture would be good for the Hoyer and Power chair. I have had much experience with both Hoyer and Power chairs. Dry is better. Then, since neither is tall, you could have cabinets or shelves above the parking space. BTW, Amazon carries 48″ long gripper “tongs” for reaching stuff on upper shelves.
Your “not terrible, it hasn’t looked finished in quite some time now” is a thousand times prettier than most baths!
Dear Kristi,
Your bedroom is looking incredible! It’s hard to believe it’s almost time for you to start the storage closet/room. If it was me, since your proposed utility sink is almost in the same spot as the current vanity and sink (because that’s where the plumbing is), I’d leave the vanity with it’s enclosed storage underneath. This is supposing that whatever you are intending to use the utility sink for, can be done in the vanity sink. Or enlarge the hole for the sink and get a bigger sink for the vanity.
You’d have a head start on making the storage room look good with that vanity cabinet already in place.
Just an idea for you to mull over. Have a fantastic rest of your day!
YHWH Bless You : )
Would it be useful to put the utility sink over in the shower area? You already have plumbing there. And leave the entire left side for storage and cabinets?
I meant, tub area.
I thought about that since that side is deeper than the sink side. But the drain that’s there (the tub drain) doesn’t drain very well. Unless that can be fixed easily, I’d rather use the side that drains well (i.e., the sink side).
I wonder why the tub doesn’t drain well. And the toilet and the sink currently drain fine? Don’t the drains all connect? Leveling issue?
I’m not sure, but that bathtub drain is the one we’ve had the most problems with over the years.
I never knew I needed a utility sink until we moved into our house that has one in the laundry room. Oh. My. Word. We use it daily for multiple reasons. Good call for adding one to the storage closet.
I might have missed the part about your studio bathroom. Are you opening up the pantry for access to the bathroom or will guests go out to the studio through the door in the sitting room? My mind’s a little fuzzy about the plans for the kitchen, pantry and bathroom.
I never knew I needed a utility sink until we moved into our house that has one in the laundry room. Oh. My. Word. We use it daily for multiple reasons. Good call for adding one to the storage closet.
I think this storage closet is a magnificent idea. I’m not familiar with the size of Matt’s equipment, but wondered if it would be better to leave storage shelves off the right side of the room until you’ve had a chance to work in it for a while. Might make it easier to maneuver equipment in and out and around each piece. I do like the idea of shelves that are flexible as someone else suggested. But what a wonderful place to have to store stuff. And so convenient.