Not everything that needs to be stored requires prime real estate. When something is stored in a highly utilized part of the house, it should be something that’s used or appreciated daily.
There’s often some square footage languishing in not very well used cupboards, closets, and pantries between rooms. In many older homes, there’s a butler’s pantry between the kitchen and dining room, for example, that we don’t have much use for today.
If this sounds familiar, consider borrowing this space for the kitchen expansion and finding a more decorative but less space-consumptive way of exhibiting just a few of the prized dishes within the remodeled space, so it becomes a form of creative storage. Though it may seem a bad idea to remove storage to acquire additional square footage, a small amount of more creatively designed storage can replace a large amount of poorly designed storage, providing the space you need for your kitchen remodel and more functional storage space.
Adapted with permission from Not So Big Remodeling, by Sarah Susanka and Marc Vassalo, published by The Taunton Press (2009).
