Comedian George Carlin once joked that a house is just a place to put your stuff while you go out and buy more stuff. But homeowners today know that you don't even need to leave the house to amass a serious collection of papers, gear, toys and electronics.

Fortunately, builders and remodelers are creating a variety of sensible spaces to combat clutter and accommodate modern life. From mudrooms to rec rooms and every place in between, local homeowners are devising creative, functional solutions to maximize space and stay organized.

Virtually every homeowner struggles to find a place for the papers and equipment that keep home life running smoothly. Susan Roettgers, in-house designer for John Hueber Homes, says a built-in "mail center" acts as a catch-all space for mail, phone books, cell phone chargers and answering machines. The area can even be made large enough to accommodate a computer. "I think people don't like to line stuff up on their kitchen counter–they'd rather have it where no one else sees it," she explains.

The mail center concept is a new alternative to the built-in kitchen desks that were popular in the early '90s, Roettgers notes, but now the space is moving out of the kitchen. Her clients often want something closer to their laundry or garage entrance, which she estimates is used 95 percent of the time. "It's on the way in from the garage, which is where you're coming and going anyway," she says.

That same garage-entry area is also a popular spot for storing kids' necessities such as shoes, backpacks and sports gear.

"This is a great space for kids to toss their backpacks, store homework and folders and also their hats, coats, boots and gloves," says Roettgers. Individual cubbies and lockers in the laundry or mud room are especially popular, she says. "We've actually modified 24-inch deep pantry cabinets that open for each child's locker."

Jim Cutter, owner of Cutter Construction in Cold Spring, says these areas are great solutions that can work in any size room. "We custom make them on-site, and can do anything from elaborate cabinets to smaller areas with coat hooks and benches and a ledge for their backpacks. They can work in any size home, and they're great for organizing kids' stuff so it doesn't get tracked throughout the whole house," he says.

Of course, kids aren't the only ones with stuff to organize. Home designers say they are also incorporating new spaces for adults. Roettgers is seeing some buyers add a first-floor hobby/sewing/woman's office space. "We are currently building a home with this space and [the homeowner] is making it safe for her grandchildren when they come to visit. She's using it to organize her files, have a hobby space, and to keep the younger grandchildren's toys organized on the first floor," Roettgers says.

Thomas Hoskins, Lifestyle Design Center manager for Fischer Homes, says these types of rooms are moving upstairs as well. "Second-floor laundry rooms and arts-and-crafts rooms all in one is a very popular trend," he says. "To not have to schlep your laundry to the basement is great, but in addition, within that room you can have a great crafts room with specialized shelving and cabinetry for whatever purpose you want."

Homeowners use these rooms for everything from sewing and knitting to after-school kids' projects, according to Hoskins. "It becomes very specialized as well as organized," he says. For example, the laundry component has cabinets with special child-proof compartments for detergent and bleach. The crafts side features individualized storage cabinetry, such as drawers specifically designed for scissors, needle and thread, tape, glue and markers. It's very utilitarian, but it's also got a great design," he says.

Other essential but often unsightly equipment–electronics– involves a different set of storage challenges. According to Ted Jones, president of Basement Living Systems by Champion in Sharonville, built-in cabinets, closets and shelves are the key to organizing media components.

"Closets and built-ins keep stuff out of the way, "he says. "The idea is to have stuff hidden, but still be able to get to it easily," he says.

Sleek cabinetry is part of the trend created by streamlined plasma plasma and LCD televisions that hang on the wall rather than stick out into the room. Jones has designed custom built-in shelving and cabinetry for televisions themselves, as well as speakers, CDs, DVDs and videos. Popular among his clients is a built-in entertainment center that includes a bottom section of cabinets for kids to store their own toys and games. "It's got the storage the adults need, but it's accessible to smaller kids as well.

In their quest to de-clutter their media rooms, Cutter says some homeowners have even requested that he build false walls, 4 feet out from the real walls, that will fit their TV and accompanying accessories. "It's a smart way to give what would be unusable space some value," he says, adding that specialized drawers for electronics can be a great addition to any home. "Everybody has DVDs and CDs, and every camera has a different battery and different accessories," he says. "You want to keep it all separated so you know what goes with what."


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