As we’ve blogged about before, we’ve got a nice little storage area next to the stairs to the basement. We’ve also got a lot of wall space in that area. The space is becoming a bit of an expanded pantry and we’ve got to take advantage of the wall space.
The first things I added were two “Hat and Coat” hooks that we had previously been hanging cables and extension cords on. Now instead of laying our broom and Swiffer gear on the top shelf, they’re hanging on the wall. Much more practical.
The next thing I put up was this coat rack we found at Target. We end up getting a lot of odds and ends from Target because its the closest store to our house. Their selection of hooks and racks isn’t great, but they did have this multi-hanger rack that has more hooks than anything I usually see available. We’ve been using it to hold all of our canvas bags and plastic bags. Previously they were living in the pantry cabinet.
These are some heavy duty hooks. I think their intended use is for hanging a bike on a wall. I mounted them into the stud, so they’re supposed to be capable of holding 50 pounds or so, but I like them because they’re nice and wide for hanging extension cords.
This stairwell’s only light source is a 23″ wide window above the shelves, so at night it can get pretty dark. This is an item we picked up at Target when we first moved in. We realized it probably wasn’t too safe to be going down these steep stairs in total darkness; It’s a motion detecting LED wall sconce made by GE that runs off of regular AA batteries. It’s proven to be really great so far, and I mounted it so that the sensor goes off as soon as the door to the stairwell is opened. Oh, and if you’re wondering, that weird looking box above it is the speaker for our doorbell.
This project may have seemed really simple on the surface, but I’m really pleased with how it came out. This area of the house has always bugged me. To the left of the hand rail is the crawlspace under our kitchen, so its always really cold and dank when you head to the basement. I’m not a huge fan of basements to begin with, so I really need something nice leading me to ours. This really does the trick, and as I’ve said before it gives us more storage in a house that wasn’t designed with much storage in mind.
Fresh Nest Blog 