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Permalink Reply by Donald Parsons on July 26, 2012 at 12:18pm

Hi Debbie:  If you are not building on a basement and have a 2nd floor/loft, under the stairs is a great storage area.  We use the space under our stairs to store DVD's (built shelved under each step) as well as a small "wine cellar" and other general storage.  I've seen folks put stackable washer/dryers under the stairs as well.  We used built in bookcases in our living/great room areas.  Put narrow/tall built in shelves between the studs (doesn't take up any room at all).  Used similar ideas in the master bath making a large medicine type cabinet.  We designed our closets to use the same theory as the "designer" closets, except our carpenter built them with leftover plywood, and lumber from our log home.  We have dual clothes rods in one closet to hang shrits, pants and the other closet has one rod to hang longer clothes on.  We also have built in shelves for sweaters, towels, sheets, etc.  We really get the most use of of our storage spaces and did a lot of thinking about the space when we designed our own log home 20 years ago.  Be sure to share photos as you proceed with the construction of your home!  All the best....Donald

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Permalink Reply by Debbie Pifer on July 29, 2012 at 1:08pm

Those are excellent ideas. Thank you, Donald! Husband said we should pay you for those ideas. I told him to hush up. ;-)

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Permalink Reply by shanny on July 31, 2012 at 9:53am

Hi,

We are presently working on our little log retirement home.

Although we have a walk out basement (and knee wall allows for a good second floor loft), we packed a lot into the main floor (about 720 + or - sq. ft.).  Our design was based off the living room in our previous house.

This was supposed to be our master suite, but with the way things are going we re-did the design thinking for a small compact home, and then later we could expand.

The main cabin section is only 16 x 24, but we put two bump offs to allow for a small bedroom, and a full bath...a 12' x 12' end wall bump off is going to be a small kitchen entry (was originally going to be a foyer).  We really had to compromise on the kitchen (our other house had a larger kitchen which my wife really loved).

The second floor will also have a full bath and a larger single bedroom.

We always use the storage under the stairs for a good sized pantry (if it is close by the kitchen area).

To make a long story short....the main wall between the stick framed bump off and the log section is 2" x 6" (as already mentioned by Donald), which could allow a person to trim this wall cavity out and put shelves or doors and use the space in the walls as extra storage (done in camps a lot).

Also we designed our little place with a wrap around porch, which expands the living space when we really like it most (spring summer and early fall).

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Permalink Reply by shanny on July 31, 2012 at 10:04am

I forgot to mention smaller cantilevered bump offs give architectural eye candy and can be used for closets etc.

The master closet (which became a small bedroom for now), was in need of a small closet, so I cantilevered the floor 2', super insulated the floor with foam, which allowed us to have a small closet etc.

You can see it here....it might give you extra ideas (excuse the mess);

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Permalink Reply by JIM SLAUGHTER on August 8, 2012 at 10:02am

Good morning Debbie,

With a second floor you can usually build "knee walls" out from the perimeter wall and that space formed by the walls and the slope of the roof provide excellent storage spaces, under stair systems, shelves that completely cover a gable end wall in a second floor room provide tons of space.  If you're going to be on a basement foundation, whoever does your drafting, make sure they also help you with a basement plan, lots of space can be found down there.  If you're on a crawl space, depending on the heights, there is also space.  A spare bedroom can double as an office so you may be able to consolidate that one room into two.  If you are building a garage, with the doors open you can put shelves up above them, tons of space.  These may all be no brainers but I thought I'd mention them to you, hope it helps.....im

 

 

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