Can the Garage become the Heart of the Home?

The nicolai house, part 1

When we hear “the heart of the home” we immediately think of the kitchen - the place where families and friends come together, where parties inevitably end up gathering, where memories and traditions are passed on through food, and where we land at the start and end of long days. But sometimes another part of your home can take this special designation for a while when we realize the impact of our spaces functioning for the better.

The Nicolai home immediately gives a true sense of the family living in it. It’s small, but cozy and obviously loved, with a sense of its Ballard roots (just like Stornes). It’s filled with books and music, instruments and crafts, and a myriad of mementos from ordinary lives richly lived. It’s loud, messy, and often chaotic, but somehow when you step inside you feel like you’d like to stay longer, even if you’re tripping over Hot Wheels, book piles, and gathered rocks and acorns. In short, it’s happy. The design term - (Affectionately) Maximalist. 

Stornes was uniquely positioned to take on organizing a home like this, because of our commitment to “enrich” instead of “get rid.” 

The homeowners, Katey and Chris, were overwhelmed by the task of organizing their garage. Years of full time work, and prioritizing their young children and friends during rare free hours, meant this space had become a “catch all” for discarded projects, outgrown baby items, and important tools and family heirlooms. Tasks like pulling out the Christmas tree or preparing for a summer camping trip were becoming prohibitively hard. But Katey and Chris were also wary of seeking professional help with organizing, primarily because Katey felt as if she’d have to sit beside anyone helping to distinguish between paper plates for tossing out, and paper plates that were precious crafts. Chris felt it was “do-able” in a Saturday he never had and was scared of committing to a system he didn’t create himself. Their fears prevented them from seeking help with their home, until Stornes was able to focus on the true task at hand - creating a space that allowed the happy family to function better, without judgement or stress (or outsize cost). 

Organizing is not about changing a family into something better - a “cleaned up” version of life. Organizing is about understanding a family and allowing the best parts of them to shine through.

We spent some quality time together getting a rich understanding of the family’s values and priorities. Katey’s expectations that a professional organizer would dismiss her collections of preschool art and saved wrapping paper as frivolous, and empty the place out, were quickly dispelled. Chris’s worry that organizing would take weeks and cost a fortune was also put to bed. We drafted a plan that would create easy access to the functional needs of a garage, storage solutions for short and long term items, and a budget that relied on home- and locally-sourced items, a few shortcuts, and labor costs clear and up front.

Stornes was able to see more storage options in this family’s small townhome than they have ever considered. We are experts in seeing creative and hidden options in plain sight. An under-utilized closet in the bottom floor office, the “cupboard under the stairs,” and even an alcove under the kitchen/dining area could all become part of a more efficient system to relieve pressure on the full-to-burst garage. 

We began by ranking how frequently items were needed in the family’s typical day, month, and year. Heirlooms and mementos for long term storage were tidied and organized, and placed in the back of the under-the-stairs storage closet. Camping gear, tools, and holiday items were sorted and stacked in bins using a system that would flow through the year, and expand as needed. The family’s sports gear was organized in easily accessible crates that opened up their entryway, and allowed them to bike or take the kids to the park without having to search through a mess on the garage floor. Party supplies and backyard essentials were left front and center, so there would never be a delay in hosting friends and having a spur-of-the-moment party. The result was a system that allowed for the Nicolai family to shine through, but move a little easier through their days.

Organizing the Nicolai garage was a moment when the heart was centered outside of the kitchen. The “mess” that had been overwhelming them for years was actually the family’s true nature needing to be released and spread through the rest of their home. Chris’s love of hosting and holidays needed to be easily brought inside and throughout more accessible storage in their home. Katey’s fondness for childhood collections and her children’s art needed to be celebrated, not considered “clutter.” And the family needed to be able to get their camping gear out without having to unpack the Christmas tree in July. But mostly this family needed to be reminded that they were not a mess - that the chaos in their garage was actually a testament to their full and happy lives. (Quite a few runs to the donation center and a full truck from Stornes helped, too).

By leading with heart, Stornes was able to put the heart back in the Nicolai home. Their garage can now be another place for love and fun to flow out to the rest of the space. 

But we hope this isn’t the last heart-of-their-home we help… speaking of the kitchen, we can’t wait to get our hands on it!