I have become intimately acquainted with the walls of my new house as over the last several weeks my husband and I and a pack of friends have stripped most of the rooms of wall coverings, plaster, and lathe, exposing the true bones and studs. One side effect of this (besides sore shoulders and scraped hands!) is that the naked structure of my house has given me a whole new perspective on storage. There's so much room in there, between the studs! Here are some inspiring photos showing how you can use all that negative space inside your walls for positive storage solutions.
In case you've never done this (stripped a room down to the studs), it's actually not a terribly difficult process, especially if you have drywall in your house, instead of plaster and lathe. It's dusty and messy, but given a crowbar, anyone can do it.
Once you're in there, you'll see that there's a lot of room between the studs of your walls. There has to be, to run plumbing and electrical wires. But these take up relatively little room, and if you're so inclined, you may find opportunities to create shallow recessed cabinets and shelving between the studs.
Here are a few examples of how these shallow spaces can be used in a small kitchen. It's even something you could do in a rental, provided you left a real improvement in place.
- Craftsman Bungalow Open Storage - At first glance, this looks like a boarded-up window, but I think it's actually between-the-stud storage, cleverly outlined with trim that looks original. (No more info than this on this solution, unfortunately; it's a photo I noticed in a real estate listing!)
- Double Recessed Pantry - Here it looks like space on either side of a stud was reclaimed for a double pantry. So useful!
- IKEA CD Rack Storage - IKEA CD racks were inserted in the spaces between the studs. Great solution for kitchen or dining room.
- Recessed Shelf over Countertop - This is another great use of this technique: Reclaiming space over the countertop, in the backsplash. These recessed shelves keep ingredients handy while keeping them away from heat and too much light.
- Squeezed-In Pantry - A great example of how otherwise unusable space can be used in this way. A shelf would never have fit in this teeny space between doors, but a recessed pantry is totally awesome here.
Instructions on Building a Spice Cabinet Between the Studs
Ready to try this yourself? Here are some good instructions from HGTV on installing a spice cabinet between the studs in your kitchen.
→ Built-In Spice Rack at HGTV
Do you have recessed cabinets or shelves between the studs in your kitchen? Want to share pictures or tips? We'd love to get more tips on making this happen!
Related: Small Space Saver: Fold-Down Shelf
(Images: Realtor.com listing; Aidan Design via Houzz; Allenaim Photography via Houzz; Leva & Bo; Spaces Into Places via Houzz)
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great examples!
The Gordan Matta-Clark approach to kitchen storage...love it!
Oh I love this! So smart!
Wonderfully innovative ideas for kitchen storage! So smart!!
We did this, I highly recommend considering it. It isn't too bad with a couple power tools and some patience.
As a gift for our wedding, my dad sunk a floor to ceiling set of spice shelves into some dead space in my kitchen. Best gift ever.
I did this in my bathroom too- it is tiny but now I have easy access to loads of shelves for all my stuff!
Great roundup.
We turned some "unusable space" into a sunken spice cabinet when building the house. I love how open it is. We also built some into the bathroom which goes through the wall into the walk in closet on the other side, making cubbies in both rooms, which is a favorite for storage. And it forces me to keep things neat.
Anyone know the best way to find out whether there is electrical or plumbing behind the wall?
My parents did this in a number of places in their house. In the bathroom they made a sunken space and put in towel rods and shelves. Elsewhere in the house they became paperback book shelves. My favorite of these book cases was in the half-wall in the landing at the top of a staircase. It was a half-wall instead of a banister.
You just need to be careful in an exterior wall so you're not taking up space where insulation should be. You could make quite a cold spot.
@rexrayfan The easiest way to find out what's between your walls is to get one of those infra-red cameras. Because it requires a gadget, it's also expensive. You'll be surprised what you can see. However, the cheapest way, as long as you're okay with causing some damage to an area you plan on cutting out anyway, is to cut away squares of your drywall or punch holes in it with a mallet and take a look around.
@Rexrayfan -- the HGTV page suggests you use a stud finder that also has a metal finder for wiring. If there were to be some pvp pipe, I'm not sure how you'd locate that. But at least vents or wiring would be found with the metal finder!
Addendum: FLIR cameras are *very* expensive. A quick Google search brings up a $1000 *minimum* price. I imagine these pay for themselves, if you're a contractor.
I'm not a fan of 'built-ins' but always loved the idea of recess shelving. With a built in, there's not much you can do unless you remove it. With recess shelving, it's easy to hide it with a dresser or wall hanging if you decided you no longer want it or need it.
Seriously considering doing this to my small 1/2 bath. Thanks for this great post with wonderful examples.
I'm planning this for my bathroom. I also want to do something behind the bedroom door to hang coats, dump boots and hats etc.
Beautiful cabinetry! Such a great way to really get to use your square footage.
to answer rexrayfan, you can buy a $20-$40 stud finder off amazon that has an AC and pipe feature. Anyone considering this should do so first. I intended to do this in my kitchen as well however my stud finder shows two lines of AC right where I wanted the cutout positioned. I'm no electrician so paying someone to move it probably isn't worth it, nor is the hassle of building around it. I'm glad I didn't cut out freshly finished drywall just to realize I had wasted my time. A cheap stud finder should be in everyones tool kit, home owner or renter.
I'd advise checking if the wall is a loadbearing wall if you're going to remove any studs in the process. Correctly framing the opening with a header, king and jack studs will alleviate structural issues.
As talktoearthworms noted, a scanner that has a deep scan and metal setting is a very good idea (if you've got thick plaster you'll need the deep scan to actually 'see' the studs).
I've seen this idea tossed around before for various cubbies in the living room etc. but I never thought to apply it to the kitchen. Not a fan of 'built-ins' but I love this idea since I wouldn't feel guilty if I wanted a new look and sheet rocked over it in a few years.
As they say "great minds think alike". We were gutting our tiny master bath and I had the idea to put my "medicine cabinet" between the studs behind the bathroom door. We improvised and finished it out very differantly but the concept is the same. Painted the interior, cut the shelves from 1"x4" and drilled holes for the shelf clips. It really is a great little project. Perfect time is when you are changing paint colors. Glad to find this site.