lovinmomma Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 My family is moving this weekend into a super small duplex. I have to. :D It's about 800 sq. ft. There are 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. I have 3 kids (both genders). There is also a basment, BUT I would not feel comfortable with making the basment into a room of any sort because it has a common hallway with the neighbors. The upstairs and downstairs is devided by a joint hallway. The downstairs DOES have a seperate door that locks, though, on our side of the basement. The living room is suer small and so is the kitchen. No dining room, but a small table could fit in the corner of the kitchen. My best thoughts were to put my 2 oldest in a bunk in the largest room and have my youngest in a toddler bed in the same room (she will probably wander and end up in bed with my oldest). Then, I could stretch our space by making the downstairs room that is seperate but locks into a play area of sorts with an old TV and free couch. Maybe a rug (when I can afford it). I see stuff going for next to nothing on CL all the time so maybe we cut put an air hockey table down there or something to make it into a useable space? The laundry hookups are down there, too, but I don't own a w/d right now. Any ideas on how to maximize this space??? I'd love some more functional ideas. :bigear: Anyone with pictures of how they have made their small houses work??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeFe Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I'm having a hard time picturing the layout. But I love this kind of thing so I'll give it a go! I would put all the kids in the largest room. If I could get 3 twin beds in there I might do that. That way if someone wants their own space they could separate but if they all wanted (or just two) wanted to be closer they could push the beds together. Or bunk beds with a twin or full. Use the space under the beds for clothes and I would try to eliminate the need for a dresser in the room by putting it in the closet or really making the closet work for all the clothes. Or if you really don't want to use the basement much you could use that as a closet/storage area. That would free up bedroom space. I would put some type of table in the kitchen. You know those semi-circle tables that you see in foyers often? They can be great in a small kitchen. It only seats two but it might be nice. You're going to need to carve out some type of space for homework. Would you be able to have a living room area in the basement and leave the upstairs living room as a dining/homework/just a nice organized family central type space? Maybe a table to fit everyone to eat. Then be used for homework, game nights, ect. You could also keep the calendar, bookbags in there. The basement could be the family hangout. HTH some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookfiend Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 For kids beds, I would do twin or full with loft and trundle. The idea of storing dressers or clothes in basement is a good one because then you could put a desk in a closet for computer or study space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 We moved from 4 bedrooms to two. My girls are in bunk beds. We sold our big furniture and bought used stuff that fits. I got rid of 70% of my kitchen stuff. I was sad but now I couldnt tell you what I got rid of!! Throw. Away. Toys. Now!!! Seriously. In a tiny house, things are easier to access, so they'll play with what they have even more. You won't miss the extras. Get one bookcase for your homeschool stuff and make it fit. Get rid of excess, don't buy more unless you get rid of more. Make sure everything has a home and your kids know where the homes are. Everyone should be able to clean. Teach your kids to clean the bathroom with rags and vinegar. Have them do this everyday. It will help keep it clean in between deep cleanings. Think about meals and how you cook. You may have to simplify. I don't do things like Homemade pizza crusts anymore because there isn't anywhere to roll it out. You only need 2 wooden spoons, not 8. You only need 10 towels, not 18. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriK Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 We have turned our hallways into extra rooms. LOL I have lined one with bookshelves and another one with cheap cubbies from Target. I found buckets at the dollar store that fit in the cubbies and the kids keep their toys in those buckets. They are allowed to bring out one bucket at a time and it must be put back before they bring something else out to play with. We lived in one house that had really tiny rooms. My daughter was 2 at the time, so we took her closet doors off and put a really cute curtain up and kept it tied back...then we put her toddler bed in the closet. We put glowing stars up on the closet ceiling and she thought she had a princess alcove to sleep in. I took all her clothes and put them in a dresser in the basement by the washer and dryer...easy to fold and put them away. We would just pick out her next day's clothes and put them in her room each night. I bought a small underwear type of chest at Kmart and each kid has a drawer for their underwear. We keep this in the bathroom. They can grab a new pair after bath and is one less thing in their small rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 For kids beds, I would do twin or full with loft and trundle. The idea of storing dressers or clothes in basement is a good one because then you could put a desk in a closet for computer or study space. :iagree: That is what my neighbor did. She bought a bunk bed with a twin on top, full on the bottom with a pull out full trundle. She had three children sharing the room. The idea was that each of them would have their own bed, but in reality two of them ended up sleeping in the full together and it worked out great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 We are in a 1300 sq ft house and we are a family of 6. We homeschool and dh works at home. We have all the boys in one bedroom with bunkbeds. Instead of having clothes in closets or dressers we converted part of a garage to clothes storage. So I would consider the basement for storage/clothes/family closet. I have one bookcase and one cabinet with all our homeschool stuff. I use the closets in the house (they aren't huge but not tiny either) for storage. The closet in our bedroom has extra office things and my craft stuff. The boys closet has their boxes of "stuff" and one side it has shelves that has extra non school books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoLuRu Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 We live in a 950 sq ft house with no basement, and have 3 kids (boy and two girls) in a 10'x12' bedroom. It's not too cramped. I have no objections to boys and girls sharing a room. :) Here's what I've done in their room: Bunk bed for the two bigger kids, trundle underneath for guests, and a crib for the baby, but she'll be in the trundle bed when she's big enough. The kids each have an IKEA spice rack over their bed for books. An IKEA Expedit 4x4 holds SO MUCH STUFF! All their toys and things live in bins on the shelf with room to spare. Almost all toys are mutually shared. Each has one bin for private stuff they don't have to share. If it doesn't fit, something has to go. This isn't ours, but is the same style and you can see how much you can fit in it: All clothes go in the closet, no dressers. They each have a plastic drawer set that has 7 small drawers and 2 deeper drawers. I put two outfits in each of the small drawers, pajamas in one bottom drawer, and socks, hats, etc. in the other drawer. They each have a little hanging space for nicer outfits, too. Fourteen outfits apiece, plus 2 dressier outfits, is PLENTY! The back of the closet door has a hanging shoe rack for shoes and other accessories. The front of the closet door has hooks for backpacks and coats. (Ours are the 7 drawer Sterilite drawers stacked to make them 7/2 with the extra pieces put together in the linen closet.) There is a changing table for all the baby supplies, and a small toy kitchen as well. It all fits with room to play in the middle of the room. Once the crib is out, I'll add a small table and chairs as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoLuRu Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 For tiny kitchens, make the most of the space by going vertical as much as possible. Use wall space to hang knives on magnets, hang utensils, potholders, etc. Whatever you can make magnetic, hang on the fridge. We have magnet spice holders and the spices all live on the fridge. We have a similar set up in our dish cabinet to this: The dividers make a huge difference! I have a full set of Corelle dishes, which stack small, and the whole set is on one shelf, plus glasses. The second shelf at our house is baby bottles and lunch box stuff, and the top shelf is serving bowls. I love this woman's use of tiny spaces: http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyjanssens/collections/72157622958743825/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 Oh my gosh. This is exactly what I needed. So many ideas. I'm going to read through them all and start responding, because there's so much in here I hadn't thought of. :D I didn't grow up in a small house, so this is all new to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 I'm having a hard time picturing the layout. But I love this kind of thing so I'll give it a go! The layout is unusual. They should have made each side of the duplex with a seperate staircase so that we could utilize the basement in a much more efficent manner. It's basically unlivable space. Imagine a detached basement basically. lol I would put all the kids in the largest room. If I could get 3 twin beds in there I might do that. That way if someone wants their own space they could separate but if they all wanted (or just two) wanted to be closer they could push the beds together. Or bunk beds with a twin or full. Use the space under the beds for clothes and I would try to eliminate the need for a dresser in the room by putting it in the closet or really making the closet work for all the clothes. I'm not thinking that 3 twins will fit. However, I'm thinking that I may do a full on the bottom of the bunk bed like you suggest so that my girls can double up if they want to. They love that. Or if you really don't want to use the basement much you could use that as a closet/storage area. That would free up bedroom space. Good point. I shop sales ads at my grocery store, so this would be a good place to put my bulk stuff. I would put some type of table in the kitchen. You know those semi-circle tables that you see in foyers often? They can be great in a small kitchen. It only seats two but it might be nice. I think you're right. I will save up for a table. I was thinking that I will probably have to use it as counter space, too. You're going to need to carve out some type of space for homework. Would you be able to have a living room area in the basement and leave the upstairs living room as a dining/homework/just a nice organized family central type space? Maybe a table to fit everyone to eat. Then be used for homework, game nights, ect. You could also keep the calendar, bookbags in there. The basement could be the family hangout. HTH some! Hmmm... good question. Let me think about that a little more. Thank you for your thoughts and ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 For kids beds, I would do twin or full with loft and trundle. The idea of storing dressers or clothes in basement is a good one because then you could put a desk in a closet for computer or study space. A trundle would be a really good idea for guests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 We moved from 4 bedrooms to two. My girls are in bunk beds. We sold our big furniture and bought used stuff that fits. I got rid of 70% of my kitchen stuff. I was sad but now I couldnt tell you what I got rid of!! I'm thinking that I will have to say goodbye to some kitchen stuff. It's the only area that I have really any "stuff". Throw. Away. Toys. Now!!! Seriously. In a tiny house, things are easier to access, so they'll play with what they have even more. You won't miss the extras. I strongly dislike toys as it is, so I may be ahead of the game on this one. lol I prefer to spend time together instead and keep just a box full of toys. They always seem to bring home little trinkets from some place or another though. Get one bookcase for your homeschool stuff and make it fit. Get rid of excess, don't buy more unless you get rid of more. Make sure everything has a home and your kids know where the homes are. Everyone should be able to clean. I have got to work better on this. My kids should be able to clean, too. Teach your kids to clean the bathroom with rags and vinegar. Have them do this everyday. It will help keep it clean in between deep cleanings. Dually noted. I think this would be a perfect chore for them. Think about meals and how you cook. You may have to simplify. I don't do things like Homemade pizza crusts anymore because there isn't anywhere to roll it out. I thought about that, too. I have pretty much no counter space. You only need 2 wooden spoons, not 8. You only need 10 towels, not 18. ;) You're right. lol I DO have way too many wooden spoons. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 We have turned our hallways into extra rooms. LOL I have lined one with bookshelves and another one with cheap cubbies from Target. I found buckets at the dollar store that fit in the cubbies and the kids keep their toys in those buckets. They are allowed to bring out one bucket at a time and it must be put back before they bring something else out to play with. We lived in one house that had really tiny rooms. My daughter was 2 at the time, so we took her closet doors off and put a really cute curtain up and kept it tied back...then we put her toddler bed in the closet. We put glowing stars up on the closet ceiling and she thought she had a princess alcove to sleep in. I took all her clothes and put them in a dresser in the basement by the washer and dryer...easy to fold and put them away. We would just pick out her next day's clothes and put them in her room each night. I bought a small underwear type of chest at Kmart and each kid has a drawer for their underwear. We keep this in the bathroom. They can grab a new pair after bath and is one less thing in their small rooms. Very good ideas!!! I will have to see how big the closet is, because I can't remember off the top of my head. And I REALLY need to get some sort of drawer thing for their socks/underwear. Right now they have no place to put them. They don't even have a dresser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 :iagree: That is what my neighbor did. She bought a bunk bed with a twin on top, full on the bottom with a pull out full trundle. She had three children sharing the room. The idea was that each of them would have their own bed, but in reality two of them ended up sleeping in the full together and it worked out great. This is what I think will happen with my kids, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 We are in a 1300 sq ft house and we are a family of 6. We homeschool and dh works at home. We have all the boys in one bedroom with bunkbeds. Instead of having clothes in closets or dressers we converted part of a garage to clothes storage. So I would consider the basement for storage/clothes/family closet. I have one bookcase and one cabinet with all our homeschool stuff. I use the closets in the house (they aren't huge but not tiny either) for storage. The closet in our bedroom has extra office things and my craft stuff. The boys closet has their boxes of "stuff" and one side it has shelves that has extra non school books. The closets in this place are TINY (talking about hall closet). Sigh. Tiny closets drive me batty. There is no closet in the bathroom, either. Yay! ;) I'm thinking that when I can save up for one I will have to get one of those over the toilet organizer things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 We live in a 950 sq ft house with no basement, and have 3 kids (boy and two girls) in a 10'x12' bedroom. It's not too cramped. I have no objections to boys and girls sharing a room. :) That's good, because my Mom acts like I'm doing something wrong or illegal by putting them all in the same room. Here's what I've done in their room: Bunk bed for the two bigger kids, trundle underneath for guests, and a crib for the baby, but she'll be in the trundle bed when she's big enough. The kids each have an IKEA spice rack over their bed for books. IKEA spice rack, huh? I'll have to see if I can find a pic of that. I'm hearing pretty much the same thing from everyone as far as beds so I think I'm on the right track with the bunk and toddler bed possibly trundle, too. An IKEA Expedit 4x4 holds SO MUCH STUFF! All their toys and things live in bins on the shelf with room to spare. Almost all toys are mutually shared. Each has one bin for private stuff they don't have to share. If it doesn't fit, something has to go. This isn't ours, but is the same style and you can see how much you can fit in it: All clothes go in the closet, no dressers. They each have a plastic drawer set that has 7 small drawers and 2 deeper drawers. I put two outfits in each of the small drawers, pajamas in one bottom drawer, and socks, hats, etc. in the other drawer. They each have a little hanging space for nicer outfits, too. Fourteen outfits apiece, plus 2 dressier outfits, is PLENTY! The back of the closet door has a hanging shoe rack for shoes and other accessories. The front of the closet door has hooks for backpacks and coats. (Ours are the 7 drawer Sterilite drawers stacked to make them 7/2 with the extra pieces put together in the linen closet.) This is GREAT practical information. Thank you so much for responding. The hanging shoe rack is something that I hadn't even thought about!!! Good thinking. And the hooks for backpacks is exactly what I need, because those annoy me being on the floor or shoved in a closet. There is a changing table for all the baby supplies, and a small toy kitchen as well. It all fits with room to play in the middle of the room. Once the crib is out, I'll add a small table and chairs as well. Thank you again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 For tiny kitchens, make the most of the space by going vertical as much as possible. Use wall space to hang knives on magnets, hang utensils, potholders, etc. Whatever you can make magnetic, hang on the fridge. We have magnet spice holders and the spices all live on the fridge. GREAT IDEA! We have a similar set up in our dish cabinet to this: The dividers make a huge difference! I have a full set of Corelle dishes, which stack small, and the whole set is on one shelf, plus glasses. The second shelf at our house is baby bottles and lunch box stuff, and the top shelf is serving bowls. I wonder if these dividers are just from Walmart? I love this woman's use of tiny spaces: http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyjanssens/collections/72157622958743825/ I'm gonna check out that link! You've given me some GREAT ideas. Thank you. I'm such a visual person so the pictures really help. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Costco sometimes sells a triple bunk. I'm sure you can get them elsewhere too. It's basically a bunk bed with a trundle under it. I'd get one of those to save space. I actually want to get one for my boys because the trundle can be used as storage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoLuRu Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Do you have an IKEA nearby? They always have great small place set-ups on display. I can give lots more suggestions for small spaces if you can use IKEA things! :) Also, if you can draw a floorplan and show it, we can give more specific furniture layout ideas. Here's the IKEA spice rack as a bookshelf: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 Do you have an IKEA nearby? They always have great small place set-ups on display. I can give lots more suggestions for small spaces if you can use IKEA things! :) Also, if you can draw a floorplan and show it, we can give more specific furniture layout ideas. Here's the IKEA spice rack as a bookshelf: Ack! Those are SO cute. I don't have an IKEA around that I'm aware of. I live in KS. I was thinking that I could draw up the floorplan and maybe even post some pics of it empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 Costco sometimes sells a triple bunk. I'm sure you can get them elsewhere too. It's basically a bunk bed with a trundle under it. I'd get one of those to save space. I actually want to get one for my boys because the trundle can be used as storage. My only issue is that I can't go buy something new right now. Maybe that's a possibility in the future, though. Maybe they will have one on craigslist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maus Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Do you have an IKEA nearby? They always have great small place set-ups on display. I can give lots more suggestions for small spaces if you can use IKEA things! :) :iagree: We get lots of stuff for our Fifth Wheel (opens to about 500 sq. ft.) from IKEA. Our favorites are an over the door towel rack and our toddler bed. But if you shop for bunk beds at one, be aware that you need to know your room height. A lot of their bunk beds are designed for European apartments, which usually have higher ceiling than American rooms, by at least a foot or so. Besides furniture, we also get smaller sized bath mats, ironing boards, etc. there. And when you are looking for used furniture, take a look at stuff designed for RVs. Our RV has dinette chairs where the seat lifts on a hinge for storage under each seat. Our couch has a storage drawer AND folds down to allow access to its built in queen size aero bed. (Both are free-standing, not built in, so they could be used in an apartment.) My mom had a tiny apartment for a while and had a rolling, drop-leaf table (not the exact one in the link, but really similar). She still uses it in her somewhat larger space (a single wide mobile home) as an extra kitchen work surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saved1112 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 The closets in this place are TINY (talking about hall closet). Sigh. Tiny closets drive me batty. There is no closet in the bathroom, either. Yay! ;) I'm thinking that when I can save up for one I will have to get one of those over the toilet organizer things. I see these on sale in the Kmart ad often. A lot of times it's the over the toilet organizer shelf, a magazine holder, and something else like an over the door hooks for $25-30... I've seen just the over the toilet organizer shelves for about $15-20 at some stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 I see these on sale in the Kmart ad often. A lot of times it's the over the toilet organizer shelf, a magazine holder, and something else like an over the door hooks for $25-30... I've seen just the over the toilet organizer shelves for about $15-20 at some stores. Alright. I will check those out. Thanks for the heads up. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 (edited) See if your town or a nearby town has Freecycle set up online. If not, set it up yourself and put up flyers around town inviting people to use it. That way, instead of throwing things out (not everyone wants to bother reselling), someone else who needs it could pick it up and get some use out of it. Win win. Apartmenttherapy.com has lots of ideas for living in small spaces. I also have to mention http://theletteredcottage.net/ Layla and her husband do an amazing job with their remodelling and decorating projects -- often for very little money. Could you set the basement up as storage and a playroom for the kids? Edited August 2, 2012 by MBM added a link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.