ᐅ Houses Without Basements: Storage Space or Hobby Room?

Uh-oh. Our neighbor also built without a basement, attic, or garage. HE IS FRUSTRATED! Do you already have children?
I would think it over. Anyone without a basement needs extra storage space, even if they tend to throw things away. Some things just aren’t disposable: tools, seasonal clothes, keepsakes, certain children’s toys, and so on.
A house without enough storage quickly feels too small. Think carefully. I would reconsider the shed roof and build a gable roof instead.

We don’t have a basement, and I would only store things in the attic that our martens and mice could really make use of—so basically nothing.

However, we do have two garages (currently filled with building materials and wood briquettes, clutter level at zero). In addition, we have a small extension that is unheated. Bicycles are kept there, along with some clutter from the previous owner, which we’re gradually throwing away. So, we’re in the process of decluttering, mostly me actually. My husband would keep everything, but I’ve moved so many times in my life that I’ve come to appreciate the value of living without excess stuff. After converting two conservatories into living spaces, we still have a third one with about 20 m² (215 sq ft). That’s where I keep my rabbits, my baby squirrel aviary, hay, and currently some building materials as well.

The heating system is located under the stairs in the living area due to lack of alternatives. There was space elsewhere, but the distance to the fireplace would have been too great. The house has a cellar level (the basement is used as living space) with a kind of utility area at the back, but it is quite full with an inverter, electrical panels (two huge ones covering one and a half to two square meters (16 to 22 sq ft) in total), and a 500-liter (132-gallon) buffer tank. That leaves just a 2 m² (22 sq ft) niche for shelves, where a few boxes with clutter are stored.

The hobby space is spread throughout the entire house. Before renovations, we had 10 rooms and 200 m² (2,150 sq ft) of living space. Now there are 5 more or less connected rooms in the whole house (most walls and doors have been removed). So, there is plenty of room for all kinds of activities, even enough space for a ballet/gymnastics/yoga room (upstairs) and a PC/gaming/VoD room (downstairs).

Despite all the available space, I still wouldn’t start accumulating clutter now. My in-laws filled an entire room to the ceiling with bulky waste, which I find too wasteful. Most of that stuff is never needed again anyway, and for everything else, there’s already a place in the living areas.

klblb schrieb:
5-year rule: if you haven’t used or touched something in the last 5 years, you probably won’t touch it for the next 50. So get rid of it!

Of course, you can also apply a 2-year rule

I know it as the 1-year rule.

We also have a sloped roof, but two staggered ones, so that the lower half can serve as an attic (under 2 meters (6.5 feet) headroom), which is accessible from the upper floor through a regular door.
In the higher sloped roof, we have the two outer gable rooms with normal ceiling height, each with a door at the top walls leading from the gallery, where we store sports equipment (seasonal gear), garden cushions, and spare blankets.
Also, in this area—on the upper floor gable side—there is a laundry room just for washing. We initially considered leaving it completely open above (like you are currently thinking), but decided against it.
Out-of-season clothes and shoes are hung in a built-in wardrobe in the office. The other half of the sliding-door cabinet holds the PC on a built-in sliding work surface; when needed, the door simply slides open, and the PC niche is ready for use.
In the laundry room, we made sure one wall is free of technical installations so that an Ikea kitchen unit without appliances can hold all the tools, glassware, kitchen supplies, small items, and odds and ends.
On the upper floor, we also have a dressing room that can still accommodate boxes in the upper part.
Memories are stored in boxes in the office. What you absolutely cannot do is keep leftover furniture lying around. We now post it quickly on classifieds or social media and it’s gone.
The same will likely apply to children’s equipment/strollers, etc. for you.
Outside behind the garage is a storage room (a garden shed is not allowed) for the lawnmower, tools, and bicycles.

So if you have the chance, it’s best to plan a multi-purpose room (guest/office/hobby) on the ground floor, with one entire wall made up of cupboards.

You can also store boxes and containers well on top of bedroom wardrobes, and in the hallway above doors, you can install shelves or wall cabinets for similar storage.

Books can be neatly stored behind a raised staircase platform or, in the case of a sloped roof, at height accessible by a ladder.

A stroller can also be parked in a box outside during summer.

The space under the stairs is not to be underestimated: it serves well as a cloakroom or broom closet.

P.S. Internalize a few Feng Shui principles, and you won’t have to worry about clutter anymore.

klblb schrieb:
5-year rule: if you haven’t used or touched something in the last 5 years, you probably won’t use it for the next 50 years either. So just get rid of it!

Of course, you could also apply a 2-year rule

Hey, my old Fleischmann model railway with dozens of locomotives, cars, buildings, Wiking/Herpa models, etc., is still waiting in the basement for reconstruction – it won’t be going anywhere even after applying the 5-year rule.

And: with children, it’s really impossible without an attic and/or basement – unless you have more than 200 sq m (2,150 sq ft) of living/usable space… or very large garage extensions.

For us, 180 sqm (about 1,940 sq ft) of living/usable space is sufficient with one child, without a basement and with 10 sqm (about 110 sq ft) of attic space. But my wife is also very careful not to accumulate anything unnecessary.

We have "only" 135 sqm (1453 sq ft) of living space. But with kids,... Without a basement, we would have a huge problem. Old children’s clothes that the younger one wears later, tents, sleeping bags, tools, sleds, decorations, and so on. All of this takes up the equivalent of 1.5 rooms in our basement.
The garage holds the car and the bicycles, and there’s no room for anything else. In the garden shed, we keep the lawn mower and the kids’ fleet of vehicles—this space is also full.
I’m curious to see how you will solve this.