Hands Up: It’s A Stick-Up
Nov 25th, 2008 by Lauri
Last Friday, I worked with a client who’d hired Use What You Have when it first opened back in 1981. After living in her previous home for decades, Marcia Duffy now needed help with decorating her sunny new apartment. One of her primary aims was to keep the place uncluttered and she’d even framed a sign to remind her of that goal.
It said, “Clutter: A collection of unmade decisions.”
We got to work and rearranged Marcia’s living room, dining room and entrance foyer and a couple of hours later they looked lovely and had become much more functional. She then asked me to stay and work on her remaining rooms. When we entered her bathroom, Marcia shared a great storage secret with me: She had used double-faced, industrial strength, Velcro tape to line the back of her medicine chest and had also placed a bit of tape on each of her toiletries so that they instantly stuck to the wall of her cabinet. 
This enabled her to effectively use all of the “air” space for storage as well as the shelves. How clever!
Marcia’s idea was a fine example of one of my theories: air equals potential storage space. If you’ve read my newest book, Downsizing Your Home With Style, 
you are probably familiar with the concept. If not, just think about it: Anywhere you can wave your hands, you can create new storage opportunities, and the possibilities are endless, as Marcia proved. So, if you need more storage, you have several options: Get some industrial strength Velcro tape; read the downsizing book - which came out in paperback last week - or just start waving your hands around and pondering.
Great idea! I have got to try that! I used the 3-M removable hooks on the inside of a craft cabinet to hang things. I have also hung a couple of nails on the inside of one of my kitchen cabinets, where I keep my baking items, for a scoop and a sifter. I love to add the stacking shelves inside a cabinet where space is available. Storage space is a precious commodity!
Debbie,
Love your suggestion about hanging your baking items on the inside of the cabinet door and, I agree: stacking shelves are a must, whenever possible. You’re doing a great job of utilizing your “air” space!