Is this crazy? Moving to a tiny space?

[Spryte]

Would love some input from veteran homeschoolers in small spaces.

 

DH and I live in the space where suburbia becomes the countryside. We are near a large city with lots of opportunities for kids, but the distance (with traffic) is just far enough to be prohibitive. Our area is nice, but the opportunities are fairly limited for the kids, unless they are into very standard activities - sports, swimming, more sports, more swimming. Oh, and 4-H, but that's out due to son's allergies. There are a few homeschooling groups, but all require a statement of faith that I find ... not doable for our family. The kiddo is very artistic, very creative, into theater. And science. :) But there are *zero* groups of kids that we can find with these interests. We have a definite fish out of water feeling, at the moment, and my attempts at finding people with similar interests have been less than successful.

 

For some time now, DH and I have kicked around the idea of moving closer to our nearest city. Selling our house isn't a great option right now, but we are considering renting it out. We are thinking of doing a trial run, for one year, renting out our house and leasing a small apartment either in or close to the city. We would put the majority of our things in storage. We're looking at it like camping, almost, while we decide if a more urban setting would be better for all of us.

 

Is this crazy?? What are we not considering here? What are the pitfalls of using our home as rental property? (My parents always had rental property, and it wasn't a great experience, so I think DH and I would use a management company.) What about going from a large® space to a fairly small apartment? Anyone make that transition? How was it? Would the payoff in activities and opportunities outweigh the small space?

 

Oops, I've gotten a bit off the topic... I meant to ask about homeschooling in a tiny space, to see how some of you manage it. Somehow this has morphed into a bigger question. :)

 

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear them.

[LibraryLover]

I think a trial run makes a ton of sense. Do it. :)

[hsmom23]

We just rented our house out so that we could live in our camper full time for husbands job. We are new to this also as this will be our first winter figuring things out, but like you we thought this would give us some time to figure out what we should be doing. Good luck if you decide to try it out!!

Tara

[Sputterduck]

If that is crazy, then I am.

 

We are moving into a one room casita because I was unable to finish our new place in time to move. I'll post pics in a bit. :) It's really cute. There is a tiny kitchen area, a living/sleeping room, and a bathroom. We'll be fine and I'm sure you will, too.

[TheReader]

We've been in many size houses/apartments over the years, so a small space is quite doable if you want to make it work.

 

Some things I didn't see answered -- how old are your kids? Is it just the one boy, or will there be kids sharing a room who don't share right now? What is your plan on dealing with that?

 

Do you have pets? Will that change if you move to a more urban area? (I'm guessing no since allergies prevent 4-H, but...)

 

How much do you use your outdoor space at your current home? Yard? Patio? Etc? How much do you value your privacy? Being able to be in your yard without near neighbors watching you or able to see what you're doing? Are you prepared to give that up if you move to an apartment in an urban area?? Will parks and things be enough of an outdoor space (non-private, not at home) to compensate?

 

How are the apartments set up where you'll move to? Will you have neighbors above and below? Will upstairs noise bother you? Will your noise bother the downstairs neighbors? Depending on how the apartments are built/structured, this might not be an issue, but it's something to think about. Are you willing to endure for a year while you think about being urban?

 

What about prices? Renting something smaller, is that because of needing to save money? Because for price of current home, you get less home? Or will you be saving money as well? if it's the same price, or higher, would the money be better spent on transportation to/from current home into the city for activities?

 

These are things I would think through, have thought through, when considering such a move. Not anything you need to answer here on the boards, but questions I would ask myself if I were in your shoes (and have asked myself when in your shoes).

 

I do think it's doable if you want to make it work, you just have to make sure and think it through.

 

Best of luck whatever you decide. I can well relate (too well) to that "fish out of water" feeling, and it can be very tiring.

[Spryte]

Nice to hear we're not totally nuts!

 

How small are we talking? Probably a 2 bedroom apt. Possibly a 3 bedroom, depending on what we can find. We have a 7 year old and an infant. The infant currently has her own room, but it is basically decorative. She sleeps in our room. :)

 

So we'd be going from a 3 bedroom, 4 bath house to a fairly small space. But I find that we essentially use only a few rooms daily anyway.

 

At the end of a year, we'll re-assess and figure out where to go from there. If we like the more urban setting, then we may continue to lease, or try to buy something. Or we could head back to our house, depending on the renters, right?

 

If we rent our house... What do we need to do get ready? It is... customized. The baby's room has a mural with fairies and girly things. The boy's room has 3-D clouds. We have color everywhere! Do we have to make it all neutral first? Am I getting ahead of myself? :)

[J-rap]

I can't address the renting-out-your-home issue, but as far as homeschooling in a small space... I think you can make anything work! Both situations -- a bigger home in the country or a small apt. in/near a big city -- have their advantages. We've done both. When the kids were smaller, I'd say the bigger home in a small town/rural area worked best, but as they got older and developed more specific interests (and with us, it was definitely the arts), we LOVED our times spent in a big city, even if it meant living and homeschooling in a tiny space. That's just us. For some people, a tiny space would drive them crazy; we didn't mind it at all given the opportunities it opened up for us.

[Scarlett]

Would love some input from veteran homeschoolers in small spaces.

 

DH and I live in the space where suburbia becomes the countryside. We are near a large city with lots of opportunities for kids, but the distance (with traffic) is just far enough to be prohibitive. Our area is nice, but the opportunities are fairly limited for the kids, unless they are into very standard activities - sports, swimming, more sports, more swimming. Oh, and 4-H, but that's out due to son's allergies. There are a few homeschooling groups, but all require a statement of faith that I find ... not doable for our family. The kiddo is very artistic, very creative, into theater. And science. :) But there are *zero* groups of kids that we can find with these interests. We have a definite fish out of water feeling, at the moment, and my attempts at finding people with similar interests have been less than successful.

 

For some time now, DH and I have kicked around the idea of moving closer to our nearest city. Selling our house isn't a great option right now, but we are considering renting it out. We are thinking of doing a trial run, for one year, renting out our house and leasing a small apartment either in or close to the city. We would put the majority of our things in storage. We're looking at it like camping, almost, while we decide if a more urban setting would be better for all of us.

 

Is this crazy?? What are we not considering here? What are the pitfalls of using our home as rental property? (My parents always had rental property, and it wasn't a great experience, so I think DH and I would use a management company.) What about going from a large® space to a fairly small apartment? Anyone make that transition? How was it? Would the payoff in activities and opportunities outweigh the small space?

 

Oops, I've gotten a bit off the topic... I meant to ask about homeschooling in a tiny space, to see how some of you manage it. Somehow this has morphed into a bigger question. :)

 

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear them.

 

I could live in a small space with the ages of your kids.

 

I have one comment....I am so against putting stuff in storage. I will only EVER do it for a very specific short term reason. I have vast experience with stuff in storage....my XMIL has spent over 12K in fees for a bunch of junk in storage that she will probably never lay eyes on again. She is 81 and lives 5 hours away from where the stuff is. I've been through the stuff when she has asked me to look for something and trust me there is no monetary value there. A few sentimental things maybe. But they should have been in the hands of people who care about them all these (10) years instead of sitting in storage probably being eaten by rats.

 

My dh was scattered to the winds when his wife divorced him, he lost his job and was badly injured--all within 18 months. He has slowly been retrieving his belongings and bringing it to our home...we had a yardsale this weekend....it was sad to see how little it was all worth. Same with the stuff of mine that I had put in the garage a year ago for the yardsale. I wish I had donated it all a year ago!

 

So I am opposed to storage! I say if you are going to downsize, then do it completely. Take what you can and sell the rest or leave it as part of the rental package.

[CLHCO]

Well, I "officially" live in a 300 sq ft converted bus. (For the moment, it is parked on my parents' property and we use their house often, but that will change in January when we take off.)

 

I do not love the fact that it still needs some renovation. I need more shelving hung and organizing. That said, so far (only lived this way for a month) I really appreciate having so few items, less area to clean, and having to prioritize. Everything I own must be scrutinized for a proper location - one that can be stable when driving, so just stacking things is not an option. For someone chronically disorganized, that has helped me tremendously. I own very little anymore.

 

For school, I have to simplify. We have a used e-reader, a used Sony, and that will get us everything from McGuffey readers to large numbers of classic literature. Computers supply research, and even a few school subjects. I have a shelf where the curriculum that would never work on computer can be put away (Math/English/Handwriting). I do have a other books in storage and we can rotate those out.

[Spryte]

Scarlett, I truly appreciate your thoughts on storage. I have visions of "junk boxes" in a storage unit that are truly frightening. May need to rethink the storage idea! We have some large pieces of furniture that I was thinking we might like to have in the future, but it may be more beneficial to re-home them right upfront. Part of the reason we are leaning toward this idea is to have less "stuff"... I have been feeling encumbered by our belongings, and would like less to sort, organize, keep clean, etc.

 

And, wow, CLHCO, you have me humbled. I can not imagine living in 300 square feet, but I *can* see the appeal of a small space. :)

[CLHCO]

 

So I am opposed to storage! I say if you are going to downsize, then do it completely. Take what you can and sell the rest or leave it as part of the rental package.

 

Yep. That's what we did, with a few exceptions. I did save our nice mattress, but I could get rid of it if I need to. I kept a few indulgences because we had a space on my parents' property, but if they sell this place, we will have to rent, and I guarantee I will manage somehow to get it all into one of those 5x8 spots. Just enough for winter/summer clothing swaps, precious memories (already secured in only 2 large, sturdy plastic tubs and kept to a minimum), and books to swap out now and then. That's it.

 

I missed something maybe once in the last month. I got over it and now I don't remember what I missed. ;) The clean break has been soooo freeing.

[Sahamamama]

We have less than 900 sq. ft. of space on our living level. Two small bedrooms, a bathroom, a small kitchen (table not big enough for everyone), and a living room/dining room. That's it. :)

 

Here's how we make it work (so far):

 

• Store stuff in bins in the basement. Our basement isn't the driest place on earth, but there is a little room in one corner that is decent enough for storage IF we put the stuff in plastic bins.
  
• Rotate toys, games, puzzles & books from the basement to the living level. Some stuff goes down, other stuff comes up. It works, and provides the girls with some variety in their toys and games.
  
• A wall of bookshelves for our homeschool area (the living room). These are loaded up with our books & binders, mini-boxes for math manipulatives, some puzzles & games, and our pencil boxes. The shelves are next to our work table, which is also our dining table. So, yes, we have to clear off the table after every school time, if we want to eat a family dinner. But it takes two minutes to put it all away on the shelves, and then we know we're done.
  
• Another bookshelf, just for books. We put some of the books in rubber dish washing bins, with labels -- Science Read Alouds, Geography Read Alouds, Literature Read Alouds, Picture Book Read Alouds. The top shelf is for the "nice" books that I don't want the Pre-K'ers to get to, unless I'm around. ;)
  
• Desk with computer in the living room. This keeps us connected, but it can be a distraction. We use it for the first grader's math fact practice, listening to music, watching Youtube videos (rarely), and... well, being here. LOL. Not much else. But keep in mind that if you have one main living space, it's harder to eliminate distractions, especially if you have someone working from home (my husband does some days, and it's a pain... oh, I mean, it's lovely, just lovely).
  

I really don't see a problem with homeschooling in a small space, as long as you have some spot nearby to use for storage of what you're not immediately using. In fact, sometimes I think the small space allows us to move many activities into group learning, more than we might do if we had more space. We're certainly all aware of each other! ;)

 

As for moving closer to the city, would you like to trade houses for a year? We'd love to live "farther out." You could move to our little, itty-bitty house and we could live in your nice, big house in the country? :D

[Jaz]

I wouldn't worry about the small space as much as I'd worry about renting your home. I've had friends who rented out their homes then were devastated with the condition when they decided to return to living in them.

Edited August 24, 2011 by Jaz

[Amira]

I wouldn't worry about the small space as much as I'd worry about renting your home. I've had friends who rented out their homes then we're devastated with the condition when they decided to return to living in them.

 

:iagree: I've often homeschooled in small spaces and it's really not a big deal. We use ereaders and have very little homeschooling stuff. But renting out a house makes me nervous.

[Mergath]

One thing to keep in mind is that, in some apartments, you can get a lot of secondhand smoke leaking into your unit.

[Scarlett]

:iagree: I've often homeschooled in small spaces and it's really not a big deal. We use ereaders and have very little homeschooling stuff. But renting out a house makes me nervous.

 

I agree too. Renting a house out is scary. Be very very careful about the screening process.

[JennyD]

After years in tiny NYC apartments, we just moved to a house. I am enjoying the extra space, for sure, but moving into a 2BR for 2 kids sounds just fine to me. I will say that the one thing about a house that is making a huge difference, especially for homeschooling, is having a yard. We never had any outdoor space before and I just LOVE it. It is so great to be able to take art projects outside, not to mention actually do things like nature study someplace where we can, you know, dig in the dirt. If I were to move back into an apartment, I would definitely try to find a place with at least a bit of outdoor space. Indeed, I'd take a 2BR with outdoor space over a 3BR with none in a heartbeat.

 

I also really, really, really, like having my own washer/dryer. I don't know if the apartments you're looking at have w/d,but I'd prioritize that as well.

[hsmom23]

Just wanted to add a few thoughts on some of the things stated and that you asked. Its really up to you if you wanna repaint neurtral. We left everything the way it was. I would try that first and list it for a month or other specified amount of time. See what people's reactions are. Reason being: You don't want to spend any more than you have to to make it work. We seem to have found some good renters, but we will see. we were worried about the same thing as described above, the house being destroyed.

 

Storage: I also agree that you should downsize as much as you can and maybe leave some of your bigger furniture that you are willing to rehome in the house instead. My husband is in the camp that paying for storage is silly, so we are going to try to make a little enclosed trailer work for the things we absolutely wanna keep and we will park this at his parents house.

 

Making a small space work: It takes a lot of thinking about where to put everything and it takes a little money to buy a few specialized things for your space. Much of this you really won't know until you are in your space. And you will probably need to readjust several times until you feel organized and all set up in your space. I use small file crates to keep school work in and some small rolling carts of drawers that I keep in my closet for the kids' art supplies, etc. It's really not that bad once you get used to it and WOW! A lot less to clean :tongue_smilie:!

 

Ok I know this is long, but one more thing I am not sure has been mentioned is laundry. If you have a washer and dryer now, your apartment itself probably wont. The building might, but they will probably cost something so keep that in mind. Its a lot different then throwing in a load when you have a spare minute, you have to carve out a larger chunk of time to go to the laundry room or building!

[twoforjoy]

I homeschool in a small space in a city. We moved to our home (a small rented two-bedroom flat in a duplex) six years ago, when we decided to "try out" living in the city. Our DS was 1-1/2 at the time, and our only.

 

After about two years, I completely fell in love with it here, so the trial became at least somewhat permanent. It was great when we just had DS. Then we had DD, and it was a squeeze, but doable. Then we had DS2, and it's fine while he's an infant, but we think we're going to need something bigger.

 

I had made a lot of friends in our neighborhood, and really love the neighborhood, so didn't want to leave, but three-bedrooms are really hard to find here. So at this point we're either holding out for a three bedroom (if we rented, I wouldn't want bigger than that) or deciding if we want to buy a house. While we're figuring that out, we're making due with three kids in about 750 sq. ft.

 

Honestly, it's not that bad. It gets a little crazy when DS has friends over. And, it can sometimes be an issue with homeschooling, but mostly just with my own state of mind. I have trouble focusing when things are chaotic, but we do everything in our living area. We have a medium-sized living area, and it's where the computer/home office area, the living area, the kids play area, and the dining area all are. We do school at the table, and sometimes the entire living area is in completely disarray when we're trying to do school, and that drives me a little nuts.

 

But, the upsides are that a city can be an awesome place to homeschool (we've got a branch library just blocks from our house, a major university, a couple of parks, and several museums in walking distance, and other kids who live really close who DS can play with when they get home from school), a small home is really easy to clean (we were considering moving to a much bigger apartment in the spring, but we decided that the extra space was more than we needed and so not worth both the extra expense and the extra effort it would take to keep clean), and it's really easy to keep my eye on all the kids at once. Plus, a small place is a really good excuse to kick DS and his friends outside to play. ;)