Today’s largest generations of homebuyers—Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers—own a lot of stuff, and they also share a hatred of clutter. According to Joybird’s 2023 survey, storage space is one of the top must-haves for homebuyers—over 81% said they wouldn’t buy a home with inadequate storage.

Older generations willingly climbed into stuffy attics, braved spooky basements, and trekked to outdoor sheds to put away holiday decorations and sentimental or “just-in-case” items, but modern homebuyers aren’t willing to sort through dusty, smelly spider-webbed spaces to find what they’re looking for. They’re more likely to convert such spaces into living space—with storage.

Homebuyers want storage that is:

1.       Quickly, easily accessible

2.       Functional and organized

3.       Room-specific

4.       Attractive, whether open or closed

5.       Able to prevent problems and offer solutions

As a home seller, what can you do to improve storage in the home? Read on for some surefire ways to help you organize every space.

Hot tip: What’s most noticeable to homebuyers is how well you use the storage. Keep it clean and organized, with no crowding or items that don’t belong together.

Entries and exits

When you come home from work, picking up family members, or shopping, do you arrive empty-handed or laden with sacks of groceries, backpacks and laptops, coats, and other belongings? You probably have a routine of where those things will be deposited, but homebuyers will have their own preferences.

1.       Hall closets

If you use the front door when you come home, it’s likely you have an entry closet where you can hang outerwear.

·         Make sure that coats, scarves, rainboots, etc. aren’t crowded. There should be a little space between coats so they can be hung and retrieved easily.

·         Invest in matching wood coat hangers, a detail that makes your home more elegant. 

2.       Hall trees

If you have room, invest in a hall tree, replete with cubbyholes, hooks, drawers, and cabinets. They come in all price ranges, widths, and depths.

3.       Mudrooms

Through the back door, you’re probably coming from the garage where you’ve parked your car for the evening. Buyers would appreciate a built-in hall tree here, too, but the ideal would be a fully outfitted mudroom. 

State-of-the-art mudrooms solve the problem of tracked-in dirt and clutter in clever ways.

·         Include a seating area to take off muddy boots and shoes.

·         Mudrooms are perfect for putting away sports equipment after cleaning off grass, mud, etc. 

·         Child-accessible hooks and cubbies help kids feel more grown-up and responsible.

·         Don’t forget to make room for the pet dog. Hang leashes and store brushes, sweaters, and outdoor toys like frisbees in the pet’s own cubby. 

Wet areas

Wet areas include the laundry room, kitchen, and bathrooms. Each room will have easy-to-clean hard surfaces and flooring, as well as cabinets, shelves and drawers. Not every wet area will have that much storage, so choose the room with the most space to stash cleaning supplies, detergents, towels, brooms, mops and polishers.

Laundry room

In many homes, a laundry room located at the back entry also serves as the mudroom.

·         Good for stashing stinky washables away from the bedrooms.

·         A large farmhouse sink can be used to rinse items, or even to bathe the family dog. Next level convenience would be to install a dog bathing/grooming station.

·         At the least, you’ll want a table for sorting clothes, with storage underneath for soaps, color catchers, stain removers, and fabric softeners.

·         A drain in the floor is useful for drip-drying items under an area designed to hang delicates or no-irons. Wide drawers or shelves for drying sweaters can be built-in easily.  

The kitchen

The most important room in the house for storage is the kitchen. Not only is it a wet area, but it houses appliances, dishes, utensils, and boxed, canned, and frozen foods. And it’s arguably the busiest room in the home with the household’s comings and goings, food preparation, and clean-up.

According to a survey, 81% of consumers cook more than half of their meals at home. Obviously, your home should have designated storage areas to separate foods from cleaning supplies. 

·         A walk-in pantry allows you to see at a glance what staples you have on hand. You can stay organized and use canned and packaged foods well within their “use-by” dates.

·         A big pantry is great to hide away small appliances, specialty dishware, heavier cookware, and large containers of pet food and other consumables.

·         Trash builds up quickly, so keep it in check with recycling bins.  

·         Ergonomic pull downs allow you to safely access that rarely-used turkey platter; ergonomic lifts save your back when you need to pull out that stainless steel mixer or other heavy items.

·         Cleaning supplies are best kept under the sink away from food items. If you have children or pets, consider adding a lock.

Bathrooms

The wettest wet areas are bathrooms, and require more cleanup than other rooms. They also accumulate more clutter, like toiletries, medicines, and used towels.  

·         If you’re building in new storage by adding vertical cabinets, make sure to include some with deep capacities to store linens, value-sized paper goods, and cleansers.

·         Store toxic cleansers under the sink, and be sure to add a lock to prevent kids and pets from harm.

·         Medicines are private and can also be dangerous to others so put them under lock and key, too, especially when you’re showing your home to homebuyers.

·         Don’t clutter showers and tubs with body washes, shampoos and conditioners. One each is plenty.

Hot tip: It’s better to add shallow storage in small spaces than to have none at all. If you don’t have floor space, tall, shallow cabinets to the ceiling may be the answer.

Garages

The garage is often overlooked as an opportunity to create organized storage, but it can be a storage goldmine—as well as being easy to access.

·         Storage solutions in the garage don’t have to be expensive. Cabinets can be builder grade. Peg boards are excellent for displaying tools.

·         Build closet space in the garage for out-of-season clothes. Clothes are the biggest source of clutter in bedrooms, the Joybird survey found.

·         If space is limited in the kitchen or laundry room, build a utility closet for brooms, mops and vacuums.

·         Garage walls are excellent for storing bicycles, kayaks, hockey sticks, and other sports equipment.

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An organized space is better than having plentiful storage. Look critically at potential spaces like walls, under the stairs, and around the fireplace for storage solutions.

Storage is about making your life easier and improving the functionality and livability of your home. For more tips on making the most out of your storage space, reach out to your Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network agent.