Hidden Storage

When we gutted our 800 sq.ft. lakeside cottage, we removed our only large closet in the entire house (more on why we did that another time). The other closet is a tiny space in the knee wall upstairs, barely able to fit anything. That’s why when we added in a gas fireplace we needed to utilize the space behind it which is directly under the stairs. In order to make every inch of the space as functional as possible, my husband designed a roll-out built-in shelving unit.

He built the frame slightly larger then the cut out so that the molding would sit flush with the opening, making for a seamless look.

He attached castor wheels on the bottom for easy roll in and out….and hid the wheels behind the front piece of molding.

I have to admit, when he first proposed that this is what he wanted to build I thought it was a little overkill

seemed like a lot of extra work for not a lot of added space…but boy was I wrong”

I couldn’t believe how much space it gave us to store extra tools, dock parts, paint cans and tons of other supplies. Most importantly, it gave us access to behind the TV allowing us to hide wires and install it with a clean look.

Since we are on the topic of hidden storage, I wanted to share another tiny feature of these shelves. I wanted this built-in to house games we would play on weekends at the lake, but didn’t like the look of the original game boxes. I was so excited to find these vintage games at Home Goods that were practical but also pretty to display.

However, Rummikub is one of our favorite games and since I could not find a vintage version, I used a decorative wooden box which fit our game pieces perfectly and made for a prettier look. Just a little trick of how you can use pretty boxes and decorative pieces to store everyday items you actually use but may not be aesthetically pleasing. (Isn’t that always the goal?)