We all have that room or space in our home: ‘The Space Which Must Not Be Named” (gold star for anyone who gets that reference). Well, after letting the world into my home this past year, I’ve finally shown the one space that vexes me the most, and it’s under the stairs. Today, Patrons of mine can watch my video where I begin tackling this decluttering project. Woot! (Don’t worry, if you’re not a patron, you can watch it tomorrow when it goes live to the public!).
This mystery closet space has been a catch-all for holiday decorations, mudroom overflow, technology, motel supplies, and honestly just a bunch of junk! It finally occurred to me that if I don’t give this space a name – a purpose – then it will always fall back to what it is now: A messy junk room.
All ideas for this under the stairs space are welcome! Seriously, I need ideas! 😉 So feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!
Week 1 Progress:
As you can see, under the stairs at my house is a minimalist nightmare… This pic was take before we got started.
Below: We had our dear old turtle, Copernicus (Perni), set up under the stairs as a temporary home, but he just never got moved out of there! He’s much happier now in his NEW home.. On TOP of the stairs!
(Below) After our first decluttering session, this is where we landed. There is still a long ways to go!
Under The Stairs Idea: Pantry and recycling area
Under The Stairs Idea: Mudroom
Under The Stairs Idea: Kids play area
Any other ideas you have for this space are welcome! Leave a comment if you have thoughts on how we can give this unusable space some real purpose! This will be an evolving post, so I’ll update as the room progresses!
27 comments
I love the kid playroom idea! what a fun project. The mudroom I would only see working if it was next to where you come in and out of the house–who wants to walk all around house to hang up coats and put away things? I can’t see it being functional that way. If it were me and I had extra space I’d turn it into the room where I hide from my toddler to eat chocolate 😛
What about a meditation/prayer/mindfulness room? You could make it super hygge and add calming elements. A hidden oasis, as it were. A place to go not only for weekly grounding that is private and custom to your spiritual/rooting needs but a space to run to when freaking out just to recenter.
Since I live in a small flat I have a bunch of “Cabinets which must not be named“ 😀
You could use it as a small guest room or a laundry room or maybe a space for your pets?
I love your blog and viedeos, thanks so much for sharing!! <3
Greetings from germany
Hi Rachel. I’m gonna relive your “reality vs fantasy” video in this comment! As a mud room it’s too far from the entry. Reality. The kids playroom looks cute but most kids want to run around, be outside or in an open area. Your home and yard is beautifully suited for that. Reality. I think it would be awesome as a pantry – near kitchen, recycle on one side. Maybe the other side is your office and camera / tech, YouTube area. Put in baskets so looks pretty. Christmas decor goes in garage. Use the room for things that you need FREQUENT access to but you can close the door for privacy or to hide when people come over. You can brighten with lighting, paint and personal decor. The area is cool because it’s centrally located in your home so you can work, look for cooking ingredients, work on a video, do motel work all from the same room ~ all the while engaging with your family! Reality! 👍🏼😎. Love your videos and journey. I’m on my second go around and fine tuning my organization. Can’t wait to see what you do. I’m sure it will be great! Lisa
I completely agree with Lisa. It’s a perfect space for storage and accessing usable things. My guess is you probably have other rooms or spaces that would make better kid areas. There’s no windows and probably not a place you’d necessarily choose to hang out in when you have the rest of your beautiful house or outdoors. The key with storage spaces is having enough shelving, baskets, and organization. – getting stuff off the floor too is important.”A place for everything, and everything in its place,” as they say. When an item is in use, say Christmas stuff as an example, the storage area for Christmas stuff should look kind of empty or the bins should be empty . You know then after those are done being used ,where to put them back. You don’t want other stuff just falling onto the bins burying them. I think that’s the only way from preventing the area from getting full again. I love your posts and you. Your videos are so great and so relatable. Keep up the great work!!!
The polka dot kiddo room was along my kind of IDEA maybe with some of those Twinkle Lights you found.
Every home needs an organized, targeted storage space for seasonal items and those things we only need once or twice a year. Well labeled shelves would still leave plenty of space for a mud room, technology storage or something else.
You are so inspiring. I have been working on my basement for several months because of your show! You have done such a wonderful job on your under the stairs room. I think any of your ideas for the space sound great. The pantry and recycling area looks wonderful, with space for your coats/boots etc as well.
Okay after stalking your videos and reading all of your posts I think you could really benefit from a pantry/recycle zone. A mudroom is too easy to become a dumping zone again and like another commenter said the playroom might not really get used enough to justify the transformation. Only you can truly know what you need as a family. Your kitchen looks like you could benefit from an additional pantry area. I will say that part of minimalism for me is streamlining my have to-dos. I am a full time working mother of a 4 year old and 21 month old. My husband is in school full time and is pretty much non-existent when it comes to household chores. So it’s just me and the kiddos. I despise the weekly shopping trips to the grocery store so I really like stocking up on canned goods like beans, rice, green beans, corn, cereal bars. We have two pantries (small and medium sized) in our 2,000 square foot home. I could not imagine life without it. Okay I’m being dramatic. But having the additional space saves me on making so many trips to the store which is so hard with kids. So okay enough already, the pantry gets my vote! Let us know what you decide. Maybe just mull over it a while.
I’d like to suggest that you wait a bit before deciding. Enjoy your life for a while as a minimalist first. I’ll bet the perfect solution for that space will come to you after everything has been cleared and your mind is clear.
My favorite suggestion so far!
Gmail
A twist on the pantry idea. This space could also serve as a severe weather hideout for you and your family, and your guests as well. The sever weather hideout would dovetail nicely with the pantry idea, and the space would have 2 very specific purposes, with only supplies for both being allowed to be there.
We’ve always used the under-the-stairs space as pantry/emergency goods storage. In go all the canned/dry goods but also emergency water and candles/flashlights for power outages along with batteries and bulk toilet paper. When i write it out it sounds like a mishmosh but it actually fits together better than you’d think. It is pretty much just the place to go to check for something before adding it to the next grocery/shopping trip. Also makes it easy to see what we need/are out of. Good luck finding a purpose for your space and keep up the great work!
Great job on the clean out! I’m impressed you got it done that quickly. 🙂 Regarding ideas, here are a couple thoughts in no particular order.
*I like the pantry/supplies idea, also. It would be functional and it is helpful with bulk purchases. I love having a “grocery store” inside my pantry. A little spot for beans, a little spot for pasta, for big bulky bottles of juice, baking things, etc. I recently moved my bread machine & giant mixer in there, as well.
Additionally, you could make a space for your other bulk things like toilet paper, paper towels, extra ziplock bags, paper plates, and even a loaded picnic box. (We have a plastic tub that we keep stocked with paper plates, utensils, napkins, Dixie cups, a small cutting board & one sharp (and sheathed) knife. Perfect for a grab & go adventure.)
*I also love the emergency shelter idea.
*My father-in-law turned his little window-less space into a “movie theater” with a nice TV, sound system & a couple of recliners they inherited.
*One caution. One year I taught in a small school at a two-story church. The school entrance was on the ground floor. My kindergarten room (16 students) was on the first floor and built into the hill. We had no windows in there. First semester we had the doors closed to our class and we all got sick over and over again. Second semester we always kept one open, at least partway, for ventilation. We were so much healthier!
So I don’t know if that could be a problem with the playroom idea.
*You still need a storage spot for your Christmas decorations to go back home to.
*Living in northern Michigan, with long cold winters, do you want a living/working space away from windows and sunshine?
*It might make an awesome music practice room!
Thanks for all your inspiring videos, Rachel! It had helped motivate me to keep going on my purging.
Hi Rachel, my kids loved the play reading space we had under the eaves. It looked a lot like this. Great video!
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/79938962109147778/
I have loved following your channel! Thank you for sharing your journey :). One thing that has helped me declutter and stay decluttered is reducing the amount of storage space I have! The less storage containers, shelves, units, and areas you have, the more thoughtful you will be about bringing things into your home. MY IDEA for your space is this: It would be great if you finished the space (like you mentioned) with drywall, paint, etc. Then you should close the door and literally put a padlock on it. One less space in your home for you to worry about and manage. It’s ok to for this space to not have a purpose. Your kid will grow out of the space as a playroom eventually and anything else just means more stuff to manage. You said at the very begining that’s an unusable space –
so don’t use it at all. Just an idea! Love your channel, thanks again!
Love this comment!!!! It is okay to do nothing with it!
I am not sure if this is next to your current mudroom. If it is, I would make this room a mudroom with shelves and hooks to put all of the jackets, bags, shoes, etc. That way your entryway can just be an entryway and not a entryway/mudroom.
You are such an inspiration!
If it was my space I would put cupboard doors to shut off the low head height area under the stairs and then just use that space for Christmas decorations (too dark and awkward for regular use), the inner area I would use for a tech cupboard – the printers and their accessories. Then the final area (where the turtle was) I would use as a pantry/recycling area.
I think that PILOTRTC has the right idea though – wait and see what your needs are once the space is cleared out and the festivities are over.
All the best for the holiday season and looking forward to seeing what you will make of 2018!
I’m with PILOTRTC. I called mine Spare ‘Oom (Narnia) and my Husband- my Monica Cupboard and it was ALWAYS filled with CRAPOLA. I don’t advocate pantry, mud etc rooms, we live on a farm, these are ALL junk repositories. Plus unless you are prepping why is an extra (away from the kitchen) pantry necessary? It will just fill with food you ‘think’ you ‘might’ need. For when, for what? How much ‘extra’ food does one family need? Is there a concern that toilet paper factories will go out of business? Will it be unavailable? Pretty unsustainable and wasteful. A Mud room is to be used, ie put the muddy items there when you are wearing them, which would be everyday in the muddy season, so then they need to be really accessible, otherwise you will just go get more of that wet weather gear. Off season I’m sure they have a home in a cupboard. Hotel supplies totally get, if you run a business, there are supplies, you need to keep them neat, clean, accessible & be able to do a visual audit (I’m not suggesting your Harry Potter Cupboard is the most appropriate place for your Hotel supplies). I just don’t think this is a space to ‘put things in’: look forward to the “Re decluttering the already decluttered under the stairs” Monica cupboard in 12 months. Put nothing in, keep it empty and wait for the inspiration to hit (like some of the kids reading areas above, what a great hidey fun hole for kids), meditation space, worshiping minimalist life space, breathing space, or just like empty space. It has no function apart from being just, empty. An anti Mc Mansion space that says I have enough things in my life and I’m content to have a space with nothing. I have no need to fill it….. (ok not that I have one of these, but now I’m aiming for one).
Rachel, your sheer will to keep going in the face of what seems like some overwhelming conditions sometimes is really inspiring. I enjoy watching your videos. I am similar to Marie Kondo in the fact that I have been obsessed with organizing since I was a little kid so to see some of the situations you come up against and how they genuinely challenge you has been eye opening to me. I must confess, the first few videos I WAS a KONMARI stickler and kept saying “but that’s not how Marie would have you do it!” LOL! I have learned we all have to make it work for our own lifestyles and personalities. KonMari is just a guideline. 🙂 Back on topic! Under the stair space. I agree with the others, doesn’t feel like good location for mudroom or kids room for reasons all ready pointed out. I agree with you, you must assign a purpose as soon as you can. IF you do decide to go with pantry, may I offer some advice to prevent future problems, try to stick with shallow shelves and when shallow shelves are not appropriate, pull out/slide out shelves so that it is very easy to see everything at a glance. Otherwise you may end up buying multiples of the same items because you are not aware they are already lurking in the pantry. Second point, no matter what you choose, make sure there is a LOT of lighting (since there are no windows). This will also help prevent the dumping ground effect. Have you considered it as a “mommy space”? If you don’t already have one, set it up as a little work center that is easy for you to do the things you need to do – like maintain all your social media, any household or motel business…OR MAYBE a peaceful SHE DEN…..somewhere for you to just go to get your zen back and rejuvenate. A comfy lounge, soothing music, fluffy rugs, some candles, maybe aromatherapy…..you get the picture….From the video it looks like a sort of “T” shaped space. I would consider using the back portion for one purpose and the front portion for another…just a thought…
I agree with Lisa’s comment! Mudroom and kids’ area seem impractical for your house. I think a pantry/kitchen storage area would be really ideal in that space. Nice job cleaning it out! I laughed so hard at your box full of empty boxes. I have found the exact same thing in my house!
I can’t see it working as a mudroom unless it is directly beside the entrance you come into your house at. The pantry seems pretty do-able if you’re someone who keeps lots of dried and non-perishable items in bulk and if you have it really close to your kitchen. The playroom is super cute but I’d make sure you have really nice lighting in there and perhaps a baby monitor so you can hear if they run into any sort of trouble playing in there alone and out of your sight. Depending on the age of your kids of course..
Hello,
I just discovered you about a week ago and so I’m trying to catch up on the videos and blogs. I’ve been obsessing lately about becoming a minimalist myself. Reading/watching everything on the subject. So, I am not sure if this has been addressed/suggested yet, but make it a pet room for your dog and kitties. You can store the food and litter boxes in there. Even place beds/toys. You can also add a pet door or just hang a curtain so they have easy access. Good luck! I love watching your videos.
It would make a really good Pet chilling area especially as you moved the cage from out of what was formally your junk room which became your office and is now the new nursery. Its a shame you had to use your Hygge nook for your office now, which although it a great view when you are working, does rather restrict the space if you want to use it for what it was originally intended so maybe an office would be great. A pantry would also be great but I got the impression you were trying to reduce rather than increase what you have in your kitchen so might be counter productive. For me personally it would make a great space as an ironing room but thats because I hate ironing and dont want to bring it into my living space so I can see why that would suit no one else. You could have it as a seasonal wardrobe and really reduce what you keep in your bedroom wardrobe and everything that doesnt fit the season goes down there but still in a wardrobe format rather than shoved away so you cant see it
One thing – a little off topic – you did say in one of your videos that at some point you would show your vintage trailer and honestly I am dying to see it. Any chance it might turn up in a video when the weather gets a bit warmer
Hi! By now you’ve probably turned this into something, but I wanted to let you know that I used an exact space like this growing up as a “fort,” so I’m a huge advocate of you turning this into a play area full of whimsey. Our fort is one of my favorite memories — painted it cute colors, put a few little fluffy chairs, pillows and string lights. I was about 10 years old and my friends and I basically LIVED in that fort and it remains one of my fondest childhood memories!
Rachel! I adore your Youtube channel and blog. The past two years our family now of 5 has been purging from the house to our phones to our food to our minds. We have finally after watching your videos finished the last major purge….sentimentals. Our old junk room also called the bonus room is now a preschool for my girls as I am going part time next year to teach my 4 and 3 month old….but also working as a kinder teacher and teaching my own daughter kindergarten.
I would consider truly turning your closet into a playroom, a little school, or a fun family nook to include you. I know some people even do a quiet time room.
You will never regret the time you will have with Clementine or Nova. We finally seeing your videos turned our bonus room into a school. The girls love it and last night we all went up there and had pizza watching the rain in the beautiful window which in 14 years was never used…even though we painted it and it is a great space. I finally have a peace about this house I cannot explain. Thank you for helping us finish our last pieces.
Alana Stanton