Guide

Where storage actually goes

Storage is not a room. It is the residual space in a plan, and it only exists if the plan was drawn with it in mind.

Where do I put all our things without building a dark store room?

You worry that your new home will run out of storage space. The common reaction is to carve out a dedicated walk-in store room on the plan. This decision usually creates an expensive mistake.

A dedicated store room requires its own internal walkway just so you can reach the shelves. That internal walkway is dead floor space. In 2026, building costs in India range from ₹1,600 to ₹2,000 per sq ft for basic finish, ₹2,000 to ₹2,800 for standard, and ₹2,800 to ₹4,500+ for premium construction. When you pay those rates for a room that only stores boxes and holds dead walking space, you waste tens of thousands of rupees.

Store rooms also tend to become unmanaged dumping grounds. Items go inside, the door shuts, and floor space that cost full construction value stops functioning. The practical alternative is to eliminate dedicated storage rooms and distribute built-in 600 mm storage runs across the functional rooms of your home.

The standard dimensions for built-in storage

Storage should fit standard human ergonomics and standard item sizes. Our practice sets the clear wardrobe depth at 600 mm. If a passage door must swing past or clear the front of the unit, our practice requires 150 mm given up where the door clears it.

Kitchen storage follows matched dimensions. In our practice, base counters sit at 900 mm high and 600 mm deep, with a 150 mm toe kick at the base. Upper wall cabinets are 350 mm deep. Our practice requires a clear space of 500 to 600 mm between the top of the counter and the bottom of the upper cabinets. For circulation between opposing counters, our practice requires a 1220 mm kitchen aisle so two people can work without colliding.

General walkways outside storage zones must remain clear. The National Building Code Part 3 sets the minimum general circulation width and corridor width at 914 mm.

How storage is applied to the layout

You do not need extra rooms when you design your storage runs into walls from the start. Our practice enforces a core rule: no residual space, because every square foot must do a real job.

Start in the bedrooms. Our practice places the wardrobe mass on the acoustic joint nearest the party wall. A 600 mm deep bank of wardrobes filled with clothing acts as a sound buffer between your private room and the next room. This gives you high-capacity storage while improving acoustic privacy across partition walls.

Look next at your circulation paths. Our practice states that a corridor must not end on a blank wall; the layout should terminate the view. When a short passage connects private rooms, the end wall or the side wall can house recessed shelving or linen cupboards, provided you keep the 914 mm corridor clearance required by the National Building Code Part 3.

Examine the depth beside wet cores. Bathrooms and plumbing runs often leave structural offsets. Rather than closing these off with false cladding or leaving awkward exterior corners, integrate 600 mm cabinet niches directly into the room layout.

Use the volume under your stairs. A stair landing requires 1500 mm in our practice. The triangular space beneath the flights and the landing can house utility storage, water filter hardware, or household supplies. This captures useful cubic volume under an element you are already paying to construct.

You can also capture vertical storage above door heads. Built-in loft cabinets can run up to the ceiling lintel level. This stores seasonal items without stealing a single square millimeter of usable floor area.

Residual space that has no assigned purpose always becomes an accidental junk pile. A recess that is 400 mm wide cannot take a standard 600 mm wardrobe and is too deep for books. If a pocket of space does not meet standard storage depth or standard clearance, remove it during the drawing phase.

The mistakes this prevents

Designing storage on paper prevents physical conflicts between doors and furniture. These clashes are expensive to fix once partitions are cast.

On a measured drawing we checked, a bedroom door leaf struck a wardrobe by 567 mm. The door could not open fully because the wardrobe encroached on the swing zone. Fixing that mistake on paper cost nothing. Fixing it on site requires breaking masonry, shifting door frames, or cutting down custom joinery.

Another drawing defect our checker caught involved a bathroom door leaf striking a vanity counter by 290 mm. The vanity had to be shortened. When counters and cabinets are placed without accounting for door arcs and the 150 mm door clearance buffer, joinery must be scrapped.

Planning continuous 600 mm runs also stops you from paying to build unneeded floor area. An unnecessary 60 sq ft store room built at standard rates of ₹2,000 to ₹2,800 per sq ft adds ₹1,20,000 to ₹1,68,000 to your masonry, plastering, and floor tile budget. Linear built-in cabinets cost less to fabricate and keep floor area open for daily living.

What this means for your plan

Check your layout to ensure every wardrobe run provides a clear 600 mm depth without intersecting any door swing arcs. Confirm that your corridors maintain the 914 mm National Building Code clear width after cabinet installation. Verify that every niche has a designated dimension and job rather than sitting as leftover space. The tool applies these clearance rules and storage depths automatically when it draws your plan.

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