For every parent currently cleaning up their child’s Lego blocks off the floor, colouring books, pencils and Barbies – this is the storage space you need in your home.
Australian company Austin Maynard Architects renovated a mother-of-one’s terrace in Melbourne so that she had ample storage without ever needing to assemble an IKEA chest of drawers.
So can you see how they’ve made it possible?
Australian company Austin Maynard Architects renovated a mother-of-one’s terrace in Melbourne so that she had ample storage without ever needing to assemble an IKEA chest of drawers
The main lounge room floor is actually a carefully crafted toy box which – when opened – can fit hundreds of arts and craft supplies, household products and play equipment.
It can even double as the perfect place to play hide and seek should you be whiling away time.
‘The toy box floor is 450 millimetres deep,’ the architects in charge of the design write on their website.
‘The toy box floor is 450 millimetres deep,’ the architects in charge of the design write on their website
The main lounge room floor is actually a carefully crafted toy box which – when opened – can fit hundreds of arts and craft supplies, household products and play equipment
The same idea was applied to her son’s bedroom with the floor being used as a place to store his shoes and clothes that weren’t in season yet
While it’s immediately obvious there isn’t a television on display in the room, with one flick of a button the TV ascends from out of the toy box and against the wall – so you can watch your favourite sitcom and the kids playing at the same time
But if you thought these were the only fascinating features of the Mills home you would be incorrect
‘A typical seat is roughly 450 millimetres high. The open floor is not only storage space, it is also play space at a comfortable seat height for adults.’
That means if you’re in the company of a large party there is space for guests on the lounge and on the floor.
While it’s immediately obvious there isn’t a television on display in the room, with one flick of a button the TV ascends from out of the toy box and against the wall – so you can watch your favourite sitcom and the kids playing at the same time.
The same idea was applied to her son’s bedroom with the floor being used as a place to store his shoes and clothes that weren’t in season yet.
But if you thought these were the only fascinating features of the Mills home you would be incorrect.
Where the original corridor ran through the tiny terrace there now sits a chic black kitchen with a fluorescent pink lining in each of the cupboards.
Where the original corridor ran through the tiny terrace there now sits a chic black kitchen with a fluorescent pink lining in each of the cupboards
A typical terrace abode is one six metres wide so they had to make the most out of the space
That neon highlighting continues in the main bathroom where there is a yellow fibreglass-moulded bath with no sharp edges on it
That neon highlighting continues in the main bathroom where there is a yellow fibreglass-moulded bath with no sharp edges on it.
‘No one likes cleaning a bathroom. Adding a bathtub to a small space creates a lot of fiddly details where grime, mess and mold can gather,’ the architects said.
‘To avoid the mess, and to create a bathroom that was easy to maintain, we made our own bathtub out of fibreglass. There are no seams or joins. Along the walls a slim, continuous gutter ensures water runs around the bath and drains through the floor.’