Building an ADU, or backyard cottage on your property can be an ideal source of additional income. But maximizing that income and ensuring it stays steady means designing and building a space that tenants want to live in. Investing up front in small details, including providing ample storage, can create a more appealing living situation and may even allow you to raise your rental rates.

Consider these ideas for increasing small-space storage in your ADU:

Don’t Neglect the Closets

The more a tenant can put items “away” the more their space can feel clean, uncluttered, and spacious. Closets shouldn’t be an afterthought for ADUs and shouldn’t be considered a place to skimp or save space. Ensure there is a closet in every bedroom and ideally an additional linen closet, pantry, or coat closet. If there simply isn’t room, add a beautiful armoire in the bedroom to provide hanging space. Using nice furniture items can be a great way to supplement the built-in storage and contribute to the interior design of the accessory dwelling unit.

Use Vertical Spaces

Walls are the perfect spot to add extra storage, but tenants might be nervous about adding these items themselves for fear of damaging the walls. In the kitchen, consider built-in spice or knife racks, pot hangers, or simple floating shelves. In the living room or bedroom, floating bookshelves add space and are less bulky than furniture. Our Home Office ADU plan is only about 500 square feet, but offers discreet storage with built-in shelving and cabinets above the bed and modern floating shelves in the kitchen. We also included a small linen closet and access to the attic space over the bed nook for addition storage space. Coupled with ground floor vestibule with additional closet, this small ADU accommodates all the things most renters will want to store away. 

Install Shelves Above the Toilet

An additional vertical space to remember is the wall above the toilet, which is commonly wasted but provides a perfect place to install shelves in a bathroom without room for a linen closet. 

Maximize Under-Stair Areas

For two-story units, or units above a garage, make use of the under-stairs space on the exterior—and ensure it’s accessible for the tenant—for storing bikes, garden tools, and other outside items. Be thoughtful about wiring, water heaters, and other utilities in the space so the area isn’t wasted. If there are interior stairs, the space underneath is great for utilities like water heaters or even built-in washer and dryers. We have even seen nice home bars designed for the space under stairs. At the very least, make this space available as a small closet or cabinet. 

Create a Mini-Mudroom

More and more Americans prefer to take their shoes off before entering the home. Creating a built-in bench or shoe storage area with small shelves and hooks above can be more efficient than leaving shoes haphazard in the entryway. This is especially necessary if there isn’t room for a coat closet. If going with a bench in the entry, find one that can open and provide storage space. There are some bench products that include storage or you can have your designer create a custom built-in storage bench. 

Add an Outdoor Shed

One of the reasons renters choose an ADU over a traditional apartment building is to hopefully have some outdoor space. This is also an opportunity for a small bit of outdoor storage. A simple outdoor shed can provide space for emergency supplies such as extra water, outdoor tools, car supplies, and other extras, which are often hard for apartment dwellers to store, making them feel less prepared than homeowners. Best part? Adding a small shed takes no space away from your interior footprint. For tenants who love outdoor activities like biking, camping, kayaking, etc. an outdoor shed would be an amenity that can set your ADU rental apart from the competition and lead to higher rents or longer-term tenants. If your ADU is in places like Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado or other places with a big outdoor adventure culture, providing an outdoor shed for your tenants is highly recommended!

Make Use of Every Opportunity

If you’ve ever rented an RV or toured a boat, you likely noticed that every available space is maximized. You need to think similarly with your ADU. Take a step back and truly look at the space—what areas are wasted that could be put to use? These might include space above the kitchen cabinets, an oddly-shaped foyer, or an out-of-the way corner. For example, in our Backyard Oasis ADU floor plan, narrow cabinets installed next to the refrigerator are the perfect spot for storing brooms, baking sheets, and other awkward items. 

Ready to talk about building your ADU? Browse our ADU plans here or contact us for a consultation.