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Sarah
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Many of us may have small homes and are in need of tips to organize, especially as we get more stuff to prepare for the new school year.
Let's share tips on surviving in small spaces.
What have you done to adapt?
How do you feel blessed to with the simple home you have?
How could you encourage others who might feel cramped and overwhelmed?
I've started with an entry. Its on my mind lately.
Small Home Survival
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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amyable
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This has been on my mind lately (oh, like for the past 2 years, LOL) as well. Especially now that we are getting more serious about buying something new. Do we really need to? Should we? Touring homes for sale always leaves me with one of two thoughts: "we are so LUCKY to have the home we have", or "Oh boy, what I wouldn't do for those closets/that extra room/that beautiful sunroom, etc".
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Major decluttering, including books. Trying to think of what we really and truly *need*, not just what is convenient. We've done the family closet idea and it has really freed up the small closets in each bedroom to be used for other things. Underbed boxes are great too.
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| How do you feel blessed to with the simple home you have? |
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Although sometimes I say "I'm blessed, stop blessing me so much!"  in regards to this, because it can be painful to have to give up or do without things I want when all others around me are not...I have to say that I really *am* blessed to be forced to live a simple life, to let go of all attachment to things now.
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| How could you encourage others who might feel cramped and overwhelmed? |
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I'm really not sure! Other than to say, "You can do it, because you have to."  You'll come out a better person on the other side. Work hard on contentment, and on decluttering, and on virtues/manners for your kids and yourself. Read Little House on the Prairie! Read Happy Are You Poor by Fr. Thomas Dubay (I think). Remember we are storing up treasures in heaven which are eternal. The kids will all be out of the house someday and then it will feel huge again.
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: July 16 2008 at 10:53am | IP Logged
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Sarah, I really appreciate your thoughts on Small Home Survival.
Just yesterday we installed used slotted wire racks inside our closet pantry where they now hold pan lids. (The racks once held craft books in a fabric store and were free) The 31" x 35" pantry also has 3 legal size wall pockets that hold lids for containers, paper sacks and misc. bags of food, which fit better when containerized than loose on the shelves. We also have a rolling wire rack on the floor. All items mentioned above fit nicely in front of our floor to ceiling 17" deep wire shelving.
We've found pegboard to be a valuable tool for utilizing small spaces...we installed pegboard on both sides of our broom closet, we store the majority of our pans (including cast iron) on one side, on the other we store tools, cleaners and supplies for dogcare. A wastebasket & small rolling rack on the floor completes our broom closet's 26" x 21" space. Every time I open our pantry or broom closets I am SO grateful for God's inspiration in helping us be better stewards of His gift of a small, comfy home.
Another helpful way in which we've saved floor space in our home is by storing all folded clothing in plastic drawer units inside of closets, rather than using dressers in the bedrooms...which, of course, leaves more space for scads of bookshelves!
Creativity and a grateful heart, such as yours, are two important ingredients for appreciating what we have! I prefer to think of our home as a cozy cottage that much better suits our homeschooling way of life than a cold, picture-perfect mansion. Besides, we are focusing on building mansions in Heaven!
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amyable
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LOL, maybe I should stop reading this thread... I'm already coveting.  Insert wistful image of me here going, "ooooh, you have a pantry? Ooooo, a brooom closet, how wonderful that would be!" Obviously, I need some help.
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Amy
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MarilynW
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I have FINALLY (at least till the next round of nesting hits!! ) stopped wanting a larger home. I have been doing a massive declutter all summer - I need a clear uncluttered simple space for peace of mind - and I will share my plans - but I have a little guy who has just had shots and is very fussy so I need 2 hands.
And it is relative - as my husband tells me - our house is HUGE by British standards - and for most of the third world!!!
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amyable
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MarilynW wrote:
And it is relative - as my husband tells me - our house is HUGE by British standards - and for most of the third world!!!
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(warning, I'm having trouble wording this correctly - please read it with all charity!) 
While I don't think I want to compare myself to the third world, I *do* wonder how first world countries do it, like the British. Are thier houses set up better? What do we own that they do not, and do not need? How, practically, do they do it? I'm guessing it's not just the same amount of stuff crammed in a smaller house.
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MarilynW
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amyable wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
And it is relative - as my husband tells me - our house is HUGE by British standards - and for most of the third world!!!
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(warning, I'm having trouble wording this correctly - please read it with all charity!)
While I don't think I want to compare myself to the third world, I *do* wonder how first world countries do it, like the British. Are thier houses set up better? What do we own that they do not, and do not need? How, practically, do they do it? I'm guessing it's not just the same amount of stuff crammed in a smaller house. |
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most do not have big families for starters....
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amyable
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| Posted: July 16 2008 at 11:34am | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
amyable wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
And it is relative - as my husband tells me - our house is HUGE by British standards - and for most of the third world!!!
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(warning, I'm having trouble wording this correctly - please read it with all charity!)
While I don't think I want to compare myself to the third world, I *do* wonder how first world countries do it, like the British. Are thier houses set up better? What do we own that they do not, and do not need? How, practically, do they do it? I'm guessing it's not just the same amount of stuff crammed in a smaller house. |
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most do not have big families for starters.... |
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Oh...yes. I was hoping it wouldn't just come down to that.  I need practical help here, British people! Start having larger families so I can see how you do it!
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The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Servant2theKing
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Amy, I actually feel guilty having a broom closet and pantry...I have never lived in a house with either before! But, our current home is also 800 sq. feet smaller than any home we ever lived in (and those were not considered large, at least by US standards). I tend to covet garages myself ;) If you have one, I'll trade you one broom closet and one pantry for it!!! Oh no, I can see it now..."Small House Monopoly". Anyone else want to trade?
Seriously, Marilyn's comment regarding third world countries is very fitting. Those of us with smaller homes live like kings in comparison with many other people around the world or even in our own country, especially in some areas of the South, or the Ozarks, or even in the shadows of the White House. May God bless us all with grateful hearts for His gifts of a roof over our heads and food on our tables!
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JodieLyn
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Oh Thank you for this thread it reminded me when I had dh right here to talk to.. I've been trying to remember to talk to him about a loft bed we've been offered.. I think we can put it in place of a bed in teh girls room and gain more floor space.. it might need some modifications though.
my pantry is a cupboard in the one car garage that I'm not sure could even fit a bicycle let alone a car by the time we get everything else in
I have plans on how to make it into house space though and maybe gain room in the places we need it (not so much more bedrooms but a second bathroom and a seperate dining area from the living room would make things work so much easier) But who knows if/when those will ever happen
Anyway.. use height.. tall book cases not short.. bunk beds not all singles.. tall dressers (or stacked ones)shared between 2 rather than 2 short dressers.
I use one color of hanger for each child (one has red, one blue, one purple etc) that way it's easy to grab the right clothes for the child in question even if things are rather cramped in the closet. even dh can manage
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MarilynW
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I am hopefully going to write a blog post about this. Things we have done over the last couple of years:
Boys bedroom - we have 3 of our boys (and will in the next year have 4) in one room - we will have 2 sets of bunkbeds. We have a dresser with drawers - each child has 2 drawers. The closet has church clothes hung up and out of season clothes in boxes. We keep clothes to a minimum as we do laundry each day.
Kitchen - very few appliances on countertops (BTW - a large kitchen with lots of countertop space and cupboards is something I do covet  ) Only essential pots and pans and storage containers. I have a hall coat cupboard that we converted into a pantry - I keep things like my waffle maker and bread machine and crockpot in here.
Mudroom/laundry room - hooks everywhere for coats, caps and sports stuff. Between machine unit for detergents etc. Shelves for shoes and boots in season (we do not wear shoes in the house)
Family room converted into school room - several sturdy bookcases. Tables, computer desk. Books not being used (eg Math/science etc) taken out and stored in storage containers in the basement. Only few educational toys out for littles - rest in plastic containers in basement
...will continue later - baby up..
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Kristie 4
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Our house is an old turn of the century house with ONE closet, and one of those old fashioned small ones at that!
But we do not feel cramped in here. I try to keep the decluttering up and especially in the winter I try to keep the common spaces (dining room and living room and kitchen) as empty as possible (no coffee tables etc.) as we spend heaps of time in there because it is too cold outside to go out for periods of time!
We have a small garage but no pantry...don't think I could trade though- we need the garage in the winter for the van!!
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guitarnan
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Although we're drowning in clutter (mea culpa!), I am so grateful for my small home. If we'd traded up I would be so, so worried about our mortgage, but we stuck with the little home and have built up enough equity, I think, to ride out this crisis.
So, I will eagerly read your ideas and tips...I need them...
...and I hope some of you will find your small homes to be big blessings, too!
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helene
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My house isn't the smallest I have ever seen, but it is SNUG, and eleven people live here.
I do have a pantry, but it is a very tiny closet. It seems to hold a good deal, though. If you have a basement, you could make your own free-standing pantry out of one of those double-doored tall storage units made of particle-board from one of the big box mart stores. Place it in a corner or something. We have been using one for 11 years and it works great, holds tons of cans and jars.
Another tip to get more space is to get rid of your coffee table! I took mine out of the livingroom and put a sweet little braided rope rug down instead. It transformed the room entirely. I was surprised by how much peace it brought to me. And hooks! Never underestimate the power of a beautiful and sturdy row of hooks! One lovely row my husband made in our bathroom holds all the kids towels so they can find them and I only have to wash them once a week. Another row of galvanized hooks screwed into the side of our deck outside holds all those drying bathing suits when we get back from the town pool.
A table trick that many people don't think about is that a round table holds more people in a smaller space. A round table that seats ten takes up much less space than a traditional rectangular one.
Bunks are great, too. So are low double dressers that can be shared and placed under a window. This way it does not block the window and you can use any other space in the room for other pieces. My children do not have desks, we study in common pretty much. This keeps the bedrooms open for more beds. Toddler sized beds can be used up to age 5 comfortably for many children. My sister's husband even made their own toddler size bunk beds out of thick sturdy pine. I am still coveting them! Teens who share a room can share a sofa bed at night. My sister and I did this for years and we enjoyed the terrific space it afforded us during the day, feeling very "grown-up" to have a sofa in our bedroom!
Donate anything in closets or toy bins that haven't been used in a long time. My children keep a few pairs of pants and matching shirts, one set formal enough for Mass. Sometimes only two sets. That is all they need. Anything more is too bulky, doesn't get enough use here, and should be donated.
Never keep two of anything. If you have 2 coffeemakers for whatever reason, donate one. Don't keep 80 spatulas. How many wooden spoons do you really need? You could be surprised by the number of fat casserole dishes you got for your wedding taking up precious space in the back row of your kitchen cabinets. Give them away to a bachelor brother or someone just starting out without a lot of kitchen items. You will never regret it. My other sister taught me this.....Whenever you are tempted to buy something, use your imagination. Picture the item in 6 months, gray, faded, spat up on, probably smelly, in the way, and unused. Do you really want to PAY for that? Not buying stuff is probably the greatest way to save space and peace for your home, not to mention money for your wallet.
Another way to use your imagination to your advantage is to think of your home as a country getaway, a favorite space, maybe a water-side cottage. Some place endeared to all in spite of or maybe even because of its coziness, its quirkiness and simplicity. You can get real good at this, especially in summer. Before you know it, a larger home can seem like an unmanagable, clutter-collecting waste of space. Blooming where you are planted can be one of life's purest joys.
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helene
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Sarah,
Oops! Just read the post you wrote about this topic on your blog and it seems I have repeated several of your ideas unwittingly (above)!! Sorry about that! I guess we think alike.
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LisaR
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Sarah wrote:
How do you feel blessed to with the simple home you have?
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this is a topic near and dear to my heart!! I am SO glad that our utilities are low!! WIth this small square footage, it does not take much to heat and cool it. so that is something that we think about often, especially with the rising costs of fuel now, that we are really being the best stewards by living in a small space...
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LisaR
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amyable wrote:
I *do* wonder how first world countries do it, like the British. Are thier houses set up better? What do we own that they do not, and do not need? How, practically, do they do it? I'm guessing it's not just the same amount of stuff crammed in a smaller house. |
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yeah, just go into the "342 sq ft home" or the "586 sq ft home" examples at IKEA. VERY efficient use of space. I know, I know, they only show the examples for two kid family, but add on an extra bedroom and two more sets of bunks, and it is still VERY small, and VERY doable for a family of 8!!
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
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Kathryn UK
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amyable wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
And it is relative - as my husband tells me - our house is HUGE by British standards - and for most of the third world!!!
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(warning, I'm having trouble wording this correctly - please read it with all charity!)
While I don't think I want to compare myself to the third world, I *do* wonder how first world countries do it, like the British. Are thier houses set up better? What do we own that they do not, and do not need? How, practically, do they do it? I'm guessing it's not just the same amount of stuff crammed in a smaller house. |
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I always find it hard to compare American and British house sizes because you think in square footage and we don't. I found a statistic that says the average American house size is 2300 sq.ft. I did a rough calculation and think our house is about 1200-1300 sq.ft. As it is larger than average, I would guess the average British house is about 1000 sq.ft. We only have three children, but would have no difficulty fitting in a couple more. The previous owners had four; the owners before them had six and moved because they wanted somewhere larger.
British houses rarely have much in the way of built in storage. Pantries are rare, laundry rooms (or utility rooms as we call them) are a luxury, and mud rooms unheard of. The "typical" British house has either a large living/dining room or two smaller separate rooms, three bedrooms (two typically 10 to 12 feet square, one smaller and only suitable for a single bed), a smallish kitchen and a single bathroom.
We have a largish living room (originally built as a living room / diner, and probably about 20 by 15 feet, though slightly L shaped), 11 ft x 7 ft kitchen, dining room, four bedrooms (largest 16 x 12, smallest 11 x 6 ft 6 inches) and two very small bathrooms. The dining room and the largest bedroom were added by the family with six children, and the second bathroom was squeezed out of a small toilet room and the main bedroom. Our only built in storage is a cupboard under the stairs and built in closets in the main bedroom.
My biggest storage problem is the kitchen, where there simply isn't enough. All the cupboards are crammed and there is nothing I can do about it. I have the added complication of having two separate sets of crockery and cutlery to store as dh is Jewish and we use separate sets for milk and meat meals. My fridge is simply too small for a family of five. I would love an American style fridge, but there is nowhere I could put it except in the garage, and while I have a freezer in the garage I want my fridge in the kitchen! I have a small cooker (oven) and dishwasher because there is no room for larger ones. Food storage is minimal, so there is no way I can buy anything in bulk. I have to shop week by week.
I think we probably sacrifice floor space and furniture size. We have a British size double bed (4 ft 6 inches wide) because there is no space in our room for anything larger - the only way to get larger would be to get rid of the built in storage space  . Our dining room is crammed because in addition to the table and chairs (seats 6 to 8, 8 to 10 if extended), there is a dresser, a piano, and three large IKEA bookcases. There is room to walk around the table - just - and that is it.
I already do many of the things Sarah suggests - underbed storage, vertical storage, keeping kitchen appliances to a minimum, avoiding duplication and keeping towels and bedding to a minimum. We still have clutter. Our tiny (maybe 4 feet square?) entrance hall is a shoe disaster zone. I would say that as a generalisation most British homes with children are crammed and cluttered even for small families.
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Kathryn UK
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LisaR wrote:
yeah, just go into the "342 sq ft home" or the "586 sq ft home" examples at IKEA. VERY efficient use of space. I know, I know, they only show the examples for two kid family, but add on an extra bedroom and two more sets of bunks, and it is still VERY small, and VERY doable for a family of 8!! |
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A friend and I were looking at the "mini-home" examples in our local IKEA a couple of weeks ago. She pointed out that the unrealistically high store ceiling makes them look much less poky and claustrophic. I guess the photography has the same effect. In real-life, they would seem far more cramped. They are great for giving space saving storage ideas, though
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Kathryn UK
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I just wanted to add ... for me, adding extra children would not make a huge difference to the storage / clutter situation. It would just be a matter of them having somewhere to sleep, and it would be easy to double up rooms. Currently all three girls have their own room, but the largest could at fairly easily sleep four (would lose storage, though!) and the second largest would be very comfortable for two. Adding children would not mean needing to add much "stuff" - all the basics we already have, ranging from kitchen items to toys, would be enough. Going beyond six children would be crisis point as far as our living space is concerned, I think.
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Small Homes
