Anyone want to share organizing tips for living in a small space?

[mo2]

My house is getting out of control. There are shoes, clothes, towels everywhere. And the toys! Because of my kids' ages, we have baby toys, toddler toys, big-kid toys, and everything in between. (And the kids' rooms are TINY.) Camping gear, hobby gear...I don't even sew or craft anymore because I have no space in which to do it. :( We have no basement, no garage, no storage space. I really need to find a system for organizing. Any tips? :bigear:

[Jyniffrec]

The first thing that comes to mind is to brutally clean out your house. Get rid of everything, I mean everything, that you don't use every three months (well, maybe not seasonal stuff). Have a big yard sale and use the money to buy nice storage containers that double as other stuff, especially furniture. This will take care of shoes, games, toys, some books, art supplies and more. If you have less stuff then you get more done and you don't feel overwhelmed. Start by going from drawer to drawer and cleaning out. Have a box that you just throw stuff into when you come across it. And get rid of ignored toys when the kids aren't around.

 

If you have a washer and dryer at home then cut down on the clothes and towels. We usually don't need nearly as much as we have, especially if one is homeschooling.

 

Another idea is to get a Kindle or other ereader and use it instead of having certain books about the house. I have put my instructor's guides on my Kindle and have gotten rid of the hard copies. That solves a few problems for me.

 

Just look at everything and consider how you could consolidate or live without it.

 

HTH!

[UnsinkableKristen]

:bigear:

[MrsMe]

My house is getting out of control. There are shoes, clothes, towels everywhere. And the toys! Because of my kids' ages, we have baby toys, toddler toys, big-kid toys, and everything in between. (And the kids' rooms are TINY.) Camping gear, hobby gear...I don't even sew or craft anymore because I have no space in which to do it. :( We have no basement, no garage, no storage space. I really need to find a system for organizing. Any tips? :bigear:

 

Build up! Shelving over doorways and the nasty, messy stuff, gets stored up there...the kind where the kids should ask for it. Same w/hobby items.

 

Only have end tables that have storage.

 

Make things easy to put away. Shoe bucket at the door they go in and out of the most. Hooks for jackets behind the door, towels can be hung on hooks scattered high and low (oldest to youngest, put their name on it), or in their room or bathroom.

 

Find double duty items. Seating with storage underneath, like those little cube seats with the lids made of suede. Think...RV Storage and you can come up with alot!

 

Camping gear can be stored outside in a weatherproof container or get a small shed.

 

Clothes in roll out containers under bed! Get an old dresser, put wheels on the drawers and store them under the bed.

Edited September 14, 2011 by alilac

[livingnlearning]

Same boat here. We raised all the beds to gain the storage underneath-our king size bed is about two feet off the ground and the entire space underneath is baskets and tubs. In the kids' rooms we filled the closets with cubby shelving, their entire closets are storage shelves and we get half the space for our off season clothes. Every closet has additional shelves added, one whole wall of our laundry/porch is shelves, we use a hanging shoe holder for gloves/hats in the winter. I put bookshelves all down the hallway. it makes it more narrow by a foot but I gained 10 feet of wall to wall bookshelves! I have tubs everywhere, by the doors, by the couch, by the bathtub. Look at a farm or ranch store for inexpensive buckets and feed tubs that can be used for all kinds of storage.

[Jyniffrec]

Build up! Shelving over doorways and the nasty, messy stuff, gets stored up there...the kind where the kids should ask for it. Same w/hobby items.

 

Only have end tables that have storage.

 

Make things easy to put away. Shoe bucket at the door they go in and out of the most. Hooks for jackets behind the door, towels can be hung on hooks scattered high and low (oldest to youngest, put their name on it), or in their room or bathroom.

 

Find double duty items. Seating with storage underneath, like those little cube seats with the lids made of suede. Think...RV Storage and you can come up with alot!

 

Camping gear can be stored outside in a weatherproof container or get a small shed.

 

Clothes in roll out containers under bed! Get an old dresser, put wheels on the drawers and store them under the bed.

 

This reminded me that we used to have beds that doubled as seating. They could be folded up into couches or put back into their bags and became seating during the day. It was something like Japanese style sleeping on mats on the floor, except softer. Fold out foam coaches and Corderoy seats are what we used.

[Audrey]

Some of these have already been said but my system is:

 

1. Declutter - be a bit ruthless, too, but not entirely cold-hearted. Get rid of broken things and things you know very well that you don't or never will use again. Don't get rid of sentimental stuff just for the sake of space, but do consider carefully how and where you will store these things.

2. Containerize - this can be plastic storage tubs, pretty baskets, drawers, cupboards, whatever works.

3. Maximize household space by having no minor furniture (ottomans, side tables, etc.) that doesn't also store stuff. Turn spaces below furniture into storage spaces. Under beds and under sofas are good places to stash things, but do it in a container. They make these great plastic bags with zippers that slide under beds and sofas. I use them to store clothes, miscellaneous toys, linens and out of season blankets.

 

 

After that, everyone must abide by the rules:

#1 If something new comes in the house, something old must go. Once you get things in order and are using your space to its potential, don't go bringing in more stuff, even if it looks like you now have room for it. Looks can be deceptive. ;)

#2 Everything is assigned a place and everything is returned to its place. Even teeny tots can learn to put things back. Train everyone in the household to help keep things neat.

 

These things also making regular cleaning much faster and easier by the way. Nothing slows down house cleaning like piles of clutter.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I agree with building up.

 

We also have a small space, but with low ceilings, so It's hard to use vertical spaces. All 3 of us have loft type beds. Mine and dd's beds are sitting on our dressers and I use the other half as storage while she uses her space as a hide out. Ds has a loft bed, but he doesn't yet have a dresser. The foot of his bed is supported by a small bookcase, and my father built the rest.

 

Walmart has storage benches for $20 that have come in really handy for us. I use one in the living room for wii things and a blanket, and use the top as a foot rest, laptop (school) table, etc. Dd has one for dress up and dolls, and ds (have to get his) will have one for diapers.

 

There are futon type couches with storage in them that look really nice, but I don't have one yet.

 

I can almost recommend those plastic storage bins (the ones with drawers) but they have not held up past one tantrum, then I have a broken drawer.

 

My desk is an unfinished door from home depot supported by a small file cabinet on each end.

 

The only other thing I need to find or build is a dining room table with storage so school books can be put somewhere planned during dinner. Right now they just end up on the couch (no, I have not yet been able to complete all lessons before dinner :( ).

 

Use over the door shoe hangers for shoes or toys. The mesh ones are not good for toys but the plastic ones are.

[livingnlearning]

I agree with building up.

 

We also have a small space, but with low ceilings, so It's hard to use vertical spaces. All 3 of us have loft type beds. Mine and dd's beds are sitting on our dressers and I use the other half as storage while she uses her space as a hide out. Ds has a loft bed, but he doesn't yet have a dresser. The foot of his bed is supported by a small bookcase, and my father built the rest.

 

Walmart has storage benches for $20 that have come in really handy for us. I use one in the living room for wii things and a blanket, and use the top as a foot rest, laptop (school) table, etc. Dd has one for dress up and dolls, and ds (have to get his) will have one for diapers.

 

There are futon type couches with storage in them that look really nice, but I don't have one yet.

 

I can almost recommend those plastic storage bins (the ones with drawers) but they have not held up past one tantrum, then I have a broken drawer.

 

My desk is an unfinished door from home depot supported by a small file cabinet on each end.

 

The only other thing I need to find or build is a dining room table with storage so school books can be put somewhere planned during dinner. Right now they just end up on the couch (no, I have not yet been able to complete all lessons before dinner :( ).

 

Use over the door shoe hangers for shoes or toys. The mesh ones are not good for toys but the plastic ones are.

 

Re the table-last year I put our dining room/school table against a wall and put a runner on the table and stacked the books out of the way, against the wall when the table was used for eating. I've also had the table against a wall that had a window and wide window sill that we then used as a book shelf out of the way. maybe that doesn't work with your setup but I thought I'd throw it out there. I've also had shelves next to the table but it takes up a little more room...

[mo2]

Thanks, these are great tips. I've found some over-the-door hanging laundry hampers that I'm going to get, one for each bedroom and one for the bathroom. I also like the idea of an over-the-door shoe rack. I would like to turn the beds into loft beds---can anyone tell me how to do this?

[msjones]

We have a similar situation -- small house with very little storage. You have just got to get rid of stuff. In our house, if there isn't a place to put something, we can't buy it or don't keep it. Everything has a place. No piling, no putting-it-over-there-just-for-now.

 

My kids only have enough clothes to easily put into their drawers. We have only two sets of sheets per bed. That way I don't need a linen closet. We just keep the one clean set of sheets in the bedroom closet.

 

All toys/games/ art supplies must fit into the one closet in the family room.

 

Kids have one box for random stuff. The lid must close. If it won't close, they need to purge some things. This works well.

 

I have two boxes of Christmas decorations, and no other holiday stuff. I 'decorate' with flowers from the garden or the grocery store.

 

I don't have a laundry room, so I do a load of laundry daily and fold it as soon as it leaves the dryer.

 

I use my nice china every day (rather than storing it on a shelf).

 

I don't keep tons of books. There simply is nowhere to put them. I do own a Kindle, and am very happy about it. :)

 

It is very freeing to have space and to be able to easily clean and tidy the house. I am thankful for my little house and the way it forces me to stay organized.

 

Good luck to you!

[CLHCO]

Totally agreement about the shelving. Put toys into cheap, clear plastic shoe or sweater boxes - up on the shelf. When one is put away into its container and ready to be put away, then they may ask for the next. I organize by types of things that play well together.

 

My daughter loved tents, so before moving I bought her a little circus tent and she was to us that for her little messy items, like her Littlest Pet Shop toys. The tent contained the toys, and even if she had them scattered inside the tent, everything else looked nice.

 

Pet nets are helpful, but put them up high where friends are seen, but only brought out by you. Right now we're using a bungee cord for stuffed animals because we don't have room for a pet net, and it works ok, but my daughter does have access to it. This makes it far less likely they'll be picked up, but since I have control of the other toys, she will if she wants them brought out.

 

Less is more, too. I learned the hard way, when my older daughters were little, that life is far more stressful, and therefore far less "fun" when there are simply too many toys. We cut them down to the level we need (we live in a 39' bus now) and if she wants a new one, something must go.

 

I will admit that I am very happy in a small living environment right now. My last house was too big, and I'm a chronic disorganized mess. More space really isn't the answer, just less stuff. Smaller space, less stuff, and you can clean it top to bottom so much more quickly. Kids don't get as overwhelmed with the size of the messes, either, so there are fewer headaches trying to walk them through cleaning a monster mess.

[KungFuPanda]

Go to the Ikea website and steal their ideas :-)

[SKL]

Some good ideas above. I am always striving to maximize storage space while still keeping the place looking nice. I use most of the ideas above.

 

One thing I've found is that my house seems less cluttered if I have just one area - however small or large - where the kids have to keep their stuff. They are not allowed to wander around leaving a trail of toys, clothes, etc. If they bring it into another room/area, they have to take it back before they start something new.

 

As far as towels and the like - I only have 1 set that I use. I use them and hang them right back up, then on wash day I wash them and hang them right back up. No need for dirty towels taking up space. Same goes for sheets, etc.

 

I keep clothes hampers in the closets and enforce the habit of dropping the clothes right in there upon taking them off.

 

I put hooks on the side of the doors that you don't normally see - inside the coat closet, inside the kids' room, inside the bathroom, etc. The kids' hooks are low. This solves the issue of having them drop their coats, etc. on the floor instead of having them hung up right away - and doesn't take away space from other stuff.

 

Papers - for most, I scan them and keep an e-copy rather than have piles / files around the house. I also do most of my personal business online, and where practical, I choose the option to have stuff no longer mailed in hardcopy to me.

 

Another thing that really helps is doing a periodic inventory of what you already have. This prevents buying new stuff that you don't actually need - whether it's clothes in the back of your closet, food you stocked up on sale, whatever.

 

If you're not the yard sale type, just donate everything you don't need. Someone, somewhere will probably appreciate it, and you'll feel so much better having more space without feeling like something went to waste.

[Bang!Zoom!]

 

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ :001_smile: