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MarilynW
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Another quote/thought - "he who is faithful with little will also be faithful with much"
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Marilyn
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ekbell
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Our three bedroom house with two rooms on the main level and a semi-finished basement for seven people feels so big!
We have three girls in one room, one boy in another and the youngest girl with us. I'm planning to move the girls to our basement so that their room can become a library/quiet room (we had one at our old place and I miss it). I think that having the four girls share a 'bedroom' with a quiet room available for retreat on a first come, first served basis will work better then having two girls per space.
The basement has become a play area and their bedroom was already a play area so the idea of having only one play area for the girls to clean up rather then two is very appealing.
Our main level rooms are already multi-functional, one is a kitchen at one side and a dining/school/computer room on the other. The living room is also the 'children's library' and music room (no coffee table so that there is enough space to dance in once everything is pushed to the wall).
We have a yard with about as much space as the main floor where we can have lessons and let out my children for play during mild weather (unfortunately there is a fair amount of time when the weather isn't mild).
When my parents were down they gave us a number of ideas for using our space more effectively (such as mounting our brooms and mops along the walls of the stairs to the basement so that we could put shelves in the small broom closet and make it into a pantry). Now we just need to do so (and declutter)
My parents bought two broad squat chests of drawers and mounted one on top of the other for our room when I was a child. That way we could put things on the top away from younger siblings and have a reasonable amount of storage space.
I kept all my most important things in my bed with me as a child  My parents helped by buying me some small stackable bins for keeping small stuff in. My bed had railings around it (upper bunk) so that the bins and larger items didn't fall out. Literally half of my bed was used to store my stuffed animal collection plus my bits and pieces.
It made making my bed a bit of a challenge but I considered it worth it. (pile everything on one end, strip the other end and remake it, pile everything on that end, finish stripping and remaking the bed, put everything back in its place)
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Bookswithtea
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I haven't read through the entire thread, but I wanted to share briefly about personal space and storage. One thing we have invested in is really decent storage. Storage is much less expensive than an addition. We have three girls in one bedroom with a normal sized closet. We invested in a closet divider (Ikea) so that each girl has her own section from the top to the bottom, with the hooks, shelves and hanger bar at the right height for her clothing. This helped immensely.
And under the bunk beds each girl has a clear plastic "under the bed storage bin" that we call the "special boxes." Anything personal they want to save goes in their box. If they can't fit more into it, then something has to go in order to put something else into it. I am often amazed at what gets shoved in those bins (like a gum wrapper collection??? ) but I consider it personal space, so I don't nag about it.
We also bought the cubbies Ikea sells to organize the basement family room area where the vast majority of the toys are (there just isn't room for them in the two bedrooms). I use the same principle. If it doesn't fit within the 25 cubbie holes, something needs to go.
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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Erin
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ekbell wrote:
| We have a yard with about as much space as the main floor where we can have lessons and let out my children for play during mild weather (unfortunately there is a fair amount of time when the weather isn't mild). |
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That's one consultation we have Anne, the weather. I often think of Joanne coping through the winters and wonder how she stays sane. Really, our winters are non-existent. Although some days its so hot the dc are inside from 11-3pm.
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Erin
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4 lads mom
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Anne, I can relate so much! Now that Miss Lily is 2, she wrecks havoc with school time with all of her noise and commotion.....the big teens are always like, "How can she make so much noise?? She is so tiny!!"
Maybe you can make one tiny area "pretty", like a pretty basket...flowers, picture of Our Lady....and when it all seems to be caving in on you, you have a "focal point" like we do in labor I'm sure you have somewhere like that already, but it is nice to have a little space to go recharge for a minute.
My mantra is "have you touched that lately? If not, throw it out!!" Purging is a beautiful thing.
Keep us updated, I am curious as to what works for you!
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julia s.
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Anne,
Real quick before I try and get some sleep again.
Here is a thread about storing extra sheets which I found helpful and I don't have small house problems like yours.
A small idea we had here was to velcro under the edges of the top bunk and add a curtain for the person in the bottom bunk. They had a small lamp attached to the "roof" of their bunk too. This gave my younger son who needed more dark and quiet his own space and my older son could stay up later and read with the bright light on. (It is late if you need a better description let me know)
Next, I grew up in a very small house and shared my small room with two of my sisters. To this day I do not like to sleep in a room alone. Back then I think I just wanted more artistic say in the decorating process. I had an under the bed box like others have mentioned and just a small corner near my bed that was mine, but that was enough.
My mom's attitude about the mess in the house affected me more then the mess itself -- something I always try to remember. And my mom was always purging.
I knew others had more, but I never felt deprived. Some will move out as others grow big in the space so there is a little give in the future although sad to think about too.
I was the youngest and yes you can train little ones to keep down the noise, but let there be times when noise from them is encouraged -- I grew up I think too sensitive to being quiet.
Finally, and I am without a doubt sure that you are already doing this, pray for grace to deal with the unique pressures of your life. I am not overly happy with my house for several reasons which are not important here, but I pray and sometimes I can see the blessings of my situation here. I'll offer up all my house issues for the coming week for your renewed contentment with your home.
Blessing sweet lady. Now I'm going to try to get some sleep again.
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julia
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melanie
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You ladies are awesome! 
We are pregnant with our fifth, and the thing I have heard most from people is "Where are you going to put another child?" Really, I don't feel like our house is that small at all, it's 2200 square feet! Granted, it is starting to feel that way as our family grows, , and it is small compared with the McMansions so many people around here live in, but it's the biggest house *I've* ever lived in anyway. My grandmother raised five kids in a very tiny 2 bedroom townhouse...the three girls shared a room, the two boys shared the other, and she and my grandfather slept on a sleeper sofa in the living room! Ironically, she's the first one to say we are running out of space, . To me, it's more that the space is awkwardly used. It's an old house that has been added on to by a rather creative do-it-yourselfer, so it's...interesting, lol. Our master bedroom is huge, while the kid's bedrooms are tiny. We can't switch because there's an outside door in the master bedroom and that makes me uncomfortable putting the kids in there. The living room and dining room are tiny...we can barely squeeze our dining room table in the dining room! But we have a huge fourth bedroom that we use as a schoolroom/playroom....can't use this room as a kids bedroom either because it *also* has an outside door. There's a really big laundry room that we also use as an arts and crafts room...I can fit lots of storage in there, as well as an easel, sewing table, kids craft desk, plus an upright freezer! But there's almost no closet space, except in that weird master bedroom which has this looong waist high-closet running the length of the room, lol. We are blessed with a double lot, so we have a huge yard and an outbuilding that I have visions of someday cleaning up and putting in a pingpong table and other fun stuff.
Anyway, since the master bedroom is so big, we keep the baby, soon to be babies, upstairs with us. She sleeps up there anyway, so I put a dresser and changing table up there too. I will move her in with her sister when she's 2 or 3 I think. That will be interesting. My other girl is 13 and has never had to share a room before. I am planning to put a loft bed in there with a curtain around the bed so she can stay up and read and such, and she can have more space underneath the loft bed too.
The two boys share the smallest bedroom. This has been tricky. It's tight. We have their two beds, two tiny nightstands, and a tall, narrow dresser in there. Basically, they do nothing but sleep and store their clothes in it. All the toys and such are in the playroom. They keep a few stuffed animals and books on their nightstands. They each have a box that slides under their bed for keeping "special stuff", and I have also been surprised to find mostly rocks, kids meal toys, and trash in there. I leave it alone,,,,as long as they can get the lid on, and as long as they keep no food in there,,,
My biggest problem is noise. The living room is small, heavily used, and holds a computer, tv, stereo, and piano. It is always *loud*. I would love to put the tv somewhere else. Maybe when I have no more little children, we can turn the playroom/schoolroom into a family room or something. That looks to be a ways off though. I like the idea of headphones! I do wish the piano had an off switch,
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
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AnaB
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I wanted to respond to Mimi a while back. I too live in South Florida. I have 4 children. 13yod, 11yo twin boys, 5yod. The boys share a room and the girls share a room.
My children's birthdays are in Dec (the girls) and Jan (the boys). I can relate very much.
Making use of under the bed storage is really helpful. My children don't have alot of toys. I am thinking for Christmas or birthday to maybe do special trips versus more stuff? Even Disney if we have to!
As my children have gotten older, they are easier to please: a DVD, a CD, or money are all they are asking for as far as gifts. I'm thinking board games for presents as well.
We all do school at the dining room table, even when they each had a desk--so we eliminated the desks. We have bookshelves EVERYWHERE.
We are moving to Stuart (from Miami) and are realizing that for our price range, we might end up with a smaller house and yard than what we are leaving!! So, we are going to pay to have closet organizers made in our new place to eliminate dressers. My husband, in our previous house, turned one of our garages into a spare room which became our gameboard/lego/lincoln log/play kitchen room. That was very nice. Hopefully he can do the same thing in whatever new house we get.
We also have two towels per person and two sheets per bed. Actually our master bedroom only has one set of sheets. We have bunkbeds.
I have not found a way to deal with the noise. We do have a front porch swing that I use often if the mosquitoes aren't too bad. I also try to get up before the kids get up to get some quiet time with the Lord.
Hope this helps,
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His By Grace, AnaB blessed WIFE to Jeff and mama to 4 blessings!
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JodieLyn
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Melanie, with a large master bedroom.. have you considered a sitting area and moving the TV into there? That would ease pressure on the living room but might be difficult depending on how you use the tv.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Lisbet
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We are 12, almost 13, in just under 1500 square feet. It's crazy crowded and cramped. In less than two months we will be moving into a 3000 square foot house - I'm sure it will feel like a mansion - and yes, I cannot WAIT! Does it sound selfish to say that I am REALLY looking forward to my own bathroom? (really, there will be one right off my bedroom!!) Oh, and the kitchen, it's twice the size of the one we have now!!!!
Funny thing though, the folks we are renting the new house from have 5 children - she keeps saying she can't imagine us fitting 11 children in it!
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
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Henry, 7
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Maddie
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We have 2800 sq. feet and it is too big for me! I long for my 1500 sq.ft home that was so easy to clean. We just seem to keep accumulating more and more stuff in a larger home.  I think having some land can make a small home more bearable as there is another place for everyone to be in nice weather.
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CrunchyMom
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You ladies are so wise and have so many wonderful words of wisdom from the practical to the spiritual.
I had a really long post typed up, and I was wishing I could easily include pictures, and well, I decided I would just blog my answer. So, Anne, you are the inspiration for this post!
Our Not So Big Home
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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melanie
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Jodie,
Yes, actually, we have a tiny tv up there. I originally put it there thinking I would use exercise dvd's up there. Haha! Silly me! There is no cable or anything hooked up to it, but sometimes it is used for dvd's. There's no sitting space up there though, just my bed.
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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Kristie 4
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I think purging is the most important thing. We have 6 people in about 1500 square feet- 3 boys in the same room, daughter has her own room, and we have ours. Our basement is unfinished. The biggest bear is storage space- we have ONE closet in the whole house and it is one of those tiny old house closets, about 3 feet by 2 feet. It has EVERYTHING in it right now- vaccuum, wrapping paper, sewing, church clothes, rain clothes, snow pants, husbands clothes, linen, sweaters, luggage, screens etc. It is orderly, believe it or not, but definitely cramped!
The biggest thing I need room for is books! Oh, and all those kid's projects- sculpey, microscopes, masks etc.
One of the big benefits I find, as I don't have a mudroom or closet anywhere on the main floor, is that I am RUTHLESS with what goes where. (Did I mention that I have no drawers in my kitchen cupboards- not even a junk drawer). We have lots of hooks, probably in every room, and that helps with the clothes and coats.
I am however dreaming of a mudroom (there used to be one off the end of our house in days gone by- we hope to add one on instead of the deck that is there now).
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Waverley
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I agree with the ladies who have said that living in a small house can be a blessing. It can be a challenge but it can also be a blessing.
Living in a small house makes us very aware of what we own and purchase. I have saved a lot of money not buying things! Before I put an item in my cart I ask "Where am I going to store this after Thanksgiving, Easter, etc is over?" Most of the time I don't miss not having the item anyway.
Having little space also makes us examine our toy and entertainment choices. We now tend to purchase fewer, higher quality toys that have multiple uses. For example, instead of a play kitchen we purchased a wooden martketplace with a cook-top that can be removed. Now, its a kitchen, a restaurant take-out counter, a marketplace, a bookstore, a shoe store, a post office, etc.
As for toys that come in as gifts, before Christmas each year we go through all the toys and donate a great deal. Giving toys away is easier for the children when they can participate and know where the toys are going. Locally, we have a free store where the very poor are able to shop for what they need at no cost. I take the children with me quite often to donate household items and outgrown clothes. When we do our toy purge the children know where the toys are going and children who will be receiving them. I also have the children "package" the toys themselves. For example, I will give the girls a box of holiday ziplocs and they will put together sets of toys to donate (one Polly Pocket with 2 outfits, several bottles of nail polish, etc). The big girls also repair items before they go. One year they knit small Christmas sweaters for the stuffed animals we were donating. They were invested in the donation and looked forward to delivering their donations to the store. Doing a purge like this before Christmas allows the toys to be given to other children and prepares us for incoming toys.
We too use lots of shelves. Go into any room and stand there and look at the walls. Shelves can fit into a lot of unused space and store those special things. The advantage is that the shelves can often be hung up high enough to be out of reach to little kids but accessible to bigger kids.
Finally, consider using the ends of the beds for storage. My sister sewed a set of pockets that are tied onto and hang off the end of the beds. The pockets are actually attached to a rod so they hold their shape nicely. My kids keep any number of things in their pockets. They all keep their slippers in one pocket (away from the dog) but they also store treasures, books, journals, dolls, stuffed animals, etc.
I hope this helps! I have enjoyed everyone else's suggestions and look forward to hearing more.
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Waverley
wife to Dh for 19 years, dd (16), dd (11), dd (8), ds (6), dd (4), dd (9-13-1996)
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SusanJ
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I have a question about how square footage is measured. We have never owned so we don't ever have access to the "official" docs on our properties. Is it the outside footprint of the house that is measured or the sum of each room? Are hallways included? Closets? Basements? Attics? Does it just depend? This is so helpful to read everything here and we are looking to buy in 2-5 years but we have no idea what "square footage" is referring to.
We lived in a "890" square foot home with two kids and I could not for the life of me find more than 550 in it. The realtor who brokered our current rental told it was almost 1500 and while it certainly feels huge compared to what we had it is really, really hard for me to conceive of 10 kids in a house like this (not that I don't believe you, Lisa!).
This is one of my favorite topics, though. Last night I was nursing the baby in our "master" bedroom. That room has the only two closets in our house and since it's the "master" bedroom we just assumed "his and hers." One close is itty bitty but the other (mine) is probably 9-12 square feet and really high. Yesterday it suddenly occurred to me that dh and I have very small "active" wardrobes and that we could easily fit both of them in his very tiny closet. All the rest of the clothes got hung on the back bar of mine and now we have a huge storage closet I can use for the bins of kids clothes (the size they're in and the next one up). This change didn't give us any more space but it did allow me to make things easier. Storing bins in the basement meant that I never got around to carting summer clothes down and a couple times now I've bought something for the baby because I didn't think to check the basement bins.
This is a small and rather lame example but I do just encourage you to think outside the box and not assume things need to be used a certain way.
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Mom to Joseph-8, Margaret-6, William-4, Gregory-2, and new little one due 11/1
Life Together
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JodieLyn
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generally you measure the outside of the house length times width.. accounting for jut outs or cut ins.. garage and unheated spaces not included.. like an unfinished attic or basement. (so closets and hallways are included)
So much depends on how it's set up. We have 10 in 1096sq ft. but it's very useable space with reasonable storage areas.
And I agree very much with Susan, use space how it will work, not by how someone else set it up.
I have a very small kitchen.. there's cupboards that I keep locked in teh garage over my washer.. I keep all cleaners etc in the locked cupboard and keep my big roasting pans and cookie sheets and 9x13's and such (store on edge with dividers) in my under the sink cupboards.
My "office" is in the dining area attached to the kitchen.. it's way to small for us.. so my dining table is at one end of the living room.. and the ends of the kitchen has been extended with some dressers and shelves and blended into my office space (like my metal file cabinet is next to the small dresser that's part of my kitchen.. but my big electric roaster sits on top of the file cabinet
I put all the medicines and things that you'd normally find under the sink or in the medicine cupboard in the bathroom.. in the higher shelves in the hall closet and that frees up space for putting towels under the sink in the bathroom so they're stored right handy.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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aussieannie
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I'm just about to print up all the posts and read at lesuire in the bath! I am so grateful for all that has been shared so far and look forward to reading and commenting soon.
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Under Her Starry Mantle
Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
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aussieannie
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Lindsay, I've just read your blog post, very good reading! 
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Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
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MarilynW
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Lindsay - that is a lovely post. I too have a blog post I want to publish - I just want to make sure that I am happy it gives a good witness to large families and smaller houses - and that my dh will never feel that I am in any way ungrateful for the beautiful house we do have in a safe and lovely area.
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Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: How do big families live in small homes?
