Peterson Plans
A good closet, cabinet, or mudroom is only half lumber and paint. The other half is function — and function comes from watching how you actually live, not how you picture yourself living. This is the prep session before your build — fill it in, and the last page becomes the brief you hand straight to your plan.
Physical limits come first — everything downstream fits inside these numbers. (Width × Depth × Height.)
Obstacles to work around (ductwork, columns, trim, outlets, a sloped ceiling):
List it all, the real version, not the tidy version. Mark how often you reach for each: D = daily, W = weekly, S = seasonal.
| Item | D / W / S | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Sort your inventory into categories — by what each thing is, or what it's for (school bags, sports gear, outerwear, shoes, pet supplies, mail and keys). You design zones, not slots, so each bucket becomes a zone. Watch for orphans that fit no bucket — those are usually what ends up piled on the counter.
| Bucket / category | Roughly how much — and how big |
|---|---|
Where does each thing land today — and, more telling, where does it pile up? A pile is a habit pointing at where storage actually wants to be.
| Where things land now | The pile-up spots (your best data) |
|---|---|
Tape it on the floor and wall, or build a rough bay from cardboard. Then load it with the real stuff — the actual backpacks, coats, bins, groceries. Record what the real objects demand:
| What it has to hold | Real depth / width / height it needs |
|---|---|
Physically walk each routine through the mocked-up space and note every spot that snags. You feel the problems with your body before you'd ever see them on paper.
Snags and surprises (where something banged, didn't fit, or felt awkward):
Observe yourself, the people you live with, and especially anyone who can't easily tell you what they need. Watch what they do, not what they say. Let them use the space naturally and take notes from the side.
For each item or zone, choose one: design around the habit you already have, or nudge the habit you want by making the right thing the easiest thing. Write the reason down so every dimension in your build has one.
| Item / zone | Around or nudge? | The reason |
|---|---|---|
Pull your answers together into the short brief your plan turns into exact cuts: your footprint, a zone for each bucket, and what each one holds. Enter these and the plan sizes every piece to fit.
| Zone (from your buckets) | What it holds | Daily / weekly / seasonal |
|---|---|---|