I'm sure this has been done B4, but tips for living in a small space?

[Joanne]

We no longer homeschool, but we will have 3 students (2 minor, one adult), one teacher, and (if I get accepted into a Ph. D. program, another student).

 

I already know I am going to have to store my books (parenting, for my eventual office, counseling, many of the religious spiritual).

 

The house was built before closets were big. There is ONE family living area, and it's small. The kitchen is tiny.

 

We had to buy a queen sized bed; our king won't fit!

 

The laundry area is in the garage.

 

I wish I could post the link for more specific help, but even *I* am not that bold!

 

So.......

 

Help with kitchen, food, planning, study space, bedrooms, bathrooms, and clothes suggestions?

 

House is 1200 sq. feet.

[....]

We lived (a family of 6) in a 1,000 square foot rental house until this summer.

 

It's rough! My biggest advice is just to downsize "stuff" as much as possible. When we moved into that place, I probably sold, gave away or threw away half of our possessions.

 

Those plastic bins that slide under your bed are good. Also, SpaceSaver bags (we use those). Our bedroom was our bedroom, office and TV room. :glare:

 

Our schoolroom was the kitchen/dining room (we didn't have a dining room). We did school in there, so there were schoolbooks everywhere.

 

If you have an IKEA, their catalog has pictures of living in tight spaces...plus, they have a lot of organization stuff in their store.

 

I'm not sure if any of that helps you...

[Wheres Toto]

We have 5 in 750 square feet. Only 2 small closets, no attic, no basement and only a detached garage that is not climate controlled and is prone to spiders, chipmunks and squirrels.

 

We put up shelves everywhere we could. We don't have particularly high ceilings but we managed to put long shelves about a foot below the ceiling in the living room, our "bedroom" (which is a room built out of the corner of our living room that only holds our bed), the kids room and on an archway between the kitchen and dining nook (both are very small).

 

We have very little wall space in our living room since we have a large fireplace and have to leave our heating vent unblocked. Plus the doors for every other room open into the living room. We put our tv on top of the mantel and there are two billy bookcases on either side of the fireplace where they block windows. We removed the backing on the top half so you can see out the windows through the bookcase and light comes in but the shelves can still be used. We have a skylight so the room is still plenty bright.

 

My oldest had a custom built loft bed that she's requested to come down so she's getting the little guys bed (they've been sharing until now) which is from IKEA and has three large drawers underneath. The kids are getting a custom built low bunkbed with dd only far enough off the floor to have underbed storage boxes under the mattress and ds about 4' off the floor. All our dressers are in their room and their clothes are in plastic drawer sets - the 3 large drawer ones - that are mounted to the wall just underneath the long shelf in their room. Their bed sits right under the drawers so this saves a lot of floor space. Plus I can pull the drawer out completely to let them pick out clothes and I can swap drawers around based on the season. (they have separate drawers for long sleeve and short sleeve, pants and shorts, etc.) There are about 9 drawer sets fitting across a whole wall. I do use some of the higher drawers for my junk.

 

Other than that, I'm constantly working on cutting down on crap. Unfortunately there's only so much I can do. The kids need clothes, toys, school books, fun books, craft supplies, games, etc. We all need clothes. I need books - both for myself and for school.

[Melinda in VT]

We lived in 950 square feet as a family of 5-6 for six years. The more ruthlessly I decluttered, the more content I was. Anything that could be moved to lesser storage space (an outside unit, basement, attic) was stored in rubbermaid or similar containers and moved.

 

For long-term storage of books that you might need to access periodically, I recommend numbering each box and then creating an index card (or computer file) that lists the specific titles in each box. People looked at me like I needed counseling when they saw me doing this, but I used that list many times to retrieve a book and never regretted spending time making the list.

[Cera]

Well, my first thought is turn the garage into living space and park outside (plus get a small shed to store garage items, if you are somewhere that doesn't get freezing cold in winter).

[Upward Journey]

We had 7 in 1200 sq.ft. w/ very small closets, no attic, no garage...

What helped: bunk beds, lots of shelves, bins under the beds.

What I should have done is just get rid of a.lot. of stuff.

[Renee in NC]

We have 8-9 people in roughly 1200 square feet.

 

Obviously your house is laid out very badly. We have one larger living room, 3 decent size bedrooms (all would hold a king, but it would be tight in one of the rooms.) The laundry room is off a decent sized kitchen. We have NO hallways - all rooms open off of the living room. We also have closets, including a walk-in closet.

 

I have 3 6-foot tall bookcases, 2 hutches, and a cabinet the TV sits on in the living room. We do not have a regular couch - there is a loveseat and a reclining chair (not a recliner because the foot is fixed in place.) There is also a 55 gallon aquarium.

 

In my bedroom, there is a chest of drawers, a very small set of drawers, the bed, a table that holds the printer, a large pie safe, and the turtle tank (which has storage underneath.) The walk-in closet holds all of my dh's stuff (he keeps a lot more stuff from the past than I do), the linens, important records, pictures, etc. The pie safe holds the Christmas dishes, my milk glass, the china, and the fancy glasses.

 

In the girls bedroom there is a queen-sized bed, a chest of drawers, a small set of drawers, a toddler bed, and 2 Rubbermaids of toys. I keep the Christmas stuff in their closet.

 

The boys room has a twin with a trundle. It used to have a bunk above the twin, but no one ever slept there so they took it down. The bed has two mattresses on it and they pull one onto the floor at night. There are 2 chest of drawers, a desk, and more junk than anyone can imagine!:tongue_smilie: When the 18yo is home from college, he puts one of the mattresses on the livingroom floor. Over Christmas break, though, we are putting him in his sisters' room and they can sleep in the LR floor.

 

In the kitchen, we use Rubbermaids along one wall as chairs for the kids. These hold the camping stuff. The laundry room has a shelf in a recess at one end where I keep the grilling stuff and a basket of tools, lightbulbs, etc.

 

I don't know if any of this is helpful or not. We obviously have more usable space than you do. We *are* looking for a bigger place because we need another bedroom. When the 18yo is home next summer, he's going to need a room of his own (or at least one where he can share with one other person- not 3!)

 

One good thing about having less stuff and having it organized is that it is easy to move!:D

 

ETA: No basement, no attic. There is a shed out back that holds the rest of the camping gear and my 13yo's tools and equipment. We also have VERY little stuff for a family of our size!

Edited November 20, 2011 by Renee in FL

[Tammyla]

Bed, Bath and Beyond sells bed risers. They enable you to store a lot under the beds. They also have shoe carriers and other pull out storage containers that slip in and out from under the beds.

 

Back packs are good for student storage and easy to spot.

[gardenmom5]

I started doing much more organization of space last summer - things are easier to get to, and space is utilized much more efficiently.

 

the container store. (love that place. some things I've found nowhere else, but they do have lots of ideas.)

real simple magazine (online) for free storage/organizing suggestions

modular storage

adjustable bookshelves so they can be adapted to the size of the books so you don't have lots of wasted space above them before the next shelf starts. bookshelves can also go across the top of doors and windows.

elfa (or similar) racks on the inside of closet doors. My pantry door is very narrow (18") - and elfa was the only one who made something small enough. it is so much easier to find small items in there now.

turntables

 

My sil did a floor to ceiling in her garage of shelving for apple boxes (free from the grocery store) for stuff she wanted to store.

dejunk.

Edited November 20, 2011 by gardenmom5

[Teachin'Mine]

Obviously downsizing things will be necessary. After that, I'd suggest getting a shed for any of the usual garage type items. Then I'd work on making the garage as nice as possible. Start by cleaning the floor with a good degreaser and then putting down some carpeting. It will make going to do laundry that much nicer and you won't freak over something falling from the dryer onto the dirty garage floor. You may even be able to find someone who's tearing out carpeting in their main living area and can get it for just the labor of removal. Then I'd turn the garage into one huge storage area. Build, or buy, very sturdy and deep shelves. You can store your books in good plastic containers here and avoid the cost of a storage unit. Put them on the floor or up high since you wont' need them much. Then use an area for a pantry and cookware section, another for sports items, another for ... This will help to keep the clutter out of the main area.

 

Inside the rooms, think vertically. If you need bookshelves, make them so they can go all the way to the ceiling. Since this is a rental, you can make them freestanding, and then anchor them to the wall. That way they can move with you, or build them in two sections for even easier moving. Loft beds might work well as you can put the desk area underneath. If extra closet space is needed, you can put a wardrobe or two in the garage. For the bath area, wall hooks are your friend. For seldom used items - extra shampoo, bandages, etc., make a shelf in the garage just for that or even get a shelf unit with doors and make that your remote linen closet. When fresh towels or sheets are needed, they'll be there and out of the way in the bath area - convenient since the washer/dryer is right there too.

 

For the living area, you'll need to decide whether you want a few larger comfy items, or want to accommodate more people with smaller furnishings - apartment sized. Don't forget about the availability of folding chairs - can't think of the name of them, but they're round and pretty comfy for tv watching and all - as that's an easy way to give more seating when needed. You can find these at Target, garage sales, etc..

 

I hope you find whatever works well for you and your family. :001_smile:

 

ETA: I checked out Target and they don't seem to carry the chairs that I mentioned, other than in kids' designs. They resemble the papasan chairs, only they're on a foldable metal frame. I think they call them saucer or moon chairs. Another thing that could work well are the types of folding chairs usually used outdoors. Some are really comfortable and they're available as rockers too. You can keep them in the living room corner, or in the garage, and use them in whatever room they're needed without taking up a lot of space. This is a good time of year to find them at garage sales.

Edited November 20, 2011 by Teachin'Mine

[foxbridgeacademy]

There's only 4 of us in about 1000 sq. ft. but we have lived in much smaller places. Look at every space and think of different ways to use them. If it takes up floor space it should also be used for storage. I even store my dry erase board and school posters behind the couch. Clothing that must be hung in closet everything else in drawers. Instead of end tables I have short bookcases. Our kitchen table is "trestle" style where two sides drop down. So it's only 18 inches wide (extra prep space) then can be opend up to fit up to 6 people. We use folding chairs kept in a utility closet. Instead of trying to make your space work for your "stuff" make your stuff work in your space. Meaning simply get rid of what doesn't fit.

[Liz CA]

Any chance there is an IKEA near you? They have all kinds of "space solutions."

 

If not, you could visit their website. If this doesn't help much, I would search for blogs (you know they are out there) where other women in your shoes have done marvelous things with their limited space.

I am not good at coming up with these ideas myself but I am good at imitating...:001_smile:

[amyable]

Nothing to add that hasn't already been said, but thought I'd give you a friendly *bump* :001_smile: