DIY Network

America's Biggest Pack Rat From "Special Presentation" episode DABP-S

DIY Network searched the country for the perfect family to appear on this special edition of Wasted Spaces. Tom and Theresa Voyles of Farmington Hills, Mich. won the esteemed title of "America's Biggest Pack Rat" and our team of organizers led by host Karl Champley gave them a chaos makeover.

advertisement

	The spacious two-car garage had boxes stacked from front to back, side to side and top to bottom.
	The large basement is the perfect place to store things, but the Voyles are using it as a dumping ground.
	Over time, the dining room has become a storage area and not a dining area.
	Zachary and Alexander are not the "pack rats" of the family, but they're on their way.
	Tom and Theresa's kitchen is covered up in papers, magazines and mail. No surface is left untouched.

Garage

The goal is to clear out the garage and discard as much of the stuff inside as possible. Once the garage is clear, the plan is to install a storage system that includes cabinets, drawers, shelves and work surfaces. Also, part of the plan is to install a slot-wall system that will enable Tom to keep frequently used tools handy. The ultimate goal is to get the car back inside the garage!

Basement

In the future, they'd like to have two home offices and a play room in the basement but for now it would be nice just to be able to do laundry and store Christmas decorations. The plan is to clear out the basement and teach Tom and Theresa how to avoid letting the clutter build back up. The team will also enlarge the laundry area into a utility room by adding storage solutions that include hanging racks, shoe cubbies, shelving and cabinets. The hope is to clear out enough of their junk to make room for a nice play area for the kids.

Dining Room

Theresa Voyles has a home-based business selling cosmetics. She uses the dining room as her staging area for this business. She also uses the dining room to work on the scrapbook pages she loves to create. When the Voyles do have company over, they stash the mounds and mounds of things under tables and in their bedroom. A computer desk is pushed in a corner and many storage boxes line the walls. Making a dining room dual-purpose is a popular trend these days, so we plan to help Theresa manage her business and hobbies without having to give up family dinners. The team will install shelving that is custom designed to store the types of things she uses most offen...and can be closed off when company comes.

Kid's Room

With toys and clothes all over their small bedroom, a need to intervene is there. Since they're kids, the team decided to have fun with it so they are going to construct a custom storage unit with two beds using a castle theme.

Kitchen

The plan is to help them understand a better way to sort their incoming mail and to take advantage of wasted space behind a door for a custom mail sorting station and cubbies. The goal is to clear the counters so they can cook and eat in the kitchen instead of using it as a big filing cabinet.

Materials:

3/4" birch plywood
primer
cabinet hardware
fasteners
1x2 ledger boards
trim
screws
drawer hardware
storage containers
solutions components
Max-Load components
PODS storage containers
tarps and plastic sheeting
permanent markers
hammer
pry bar
circular saw
gloves
utility knife
framing square
table saw
nail gun
wood glue
chop saw
screw driver
sander
tape measure
chalk line
paint sprayer
paint suit
masks
broom
label maker

Page  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6