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juliana147
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I'm just curious, if you had to re-organize your house, would you attempt it all at once before school starts, or spread it out through the year by doing it room-by-room?
We are in a house that is half the size of our previous one. What worked in our old home now looks very cluttered. I'd also like to make it easier to get things done through the day, so I need to re-think the way I use furniture. Part of the problem is that the old place was a traditional colonial (rooms!) and this place is an open floor plan (uuugh!). Most of our furniture is sentimental hand-me downs, so I'm not likely to get rid of big things...
How do you make small spaces work, after being used to larger ones? Should I look at those small-space organizing books?
I had hoped to address a lot of this while unpacking when we moved in, but I found I was just stashing things in a mad dash to get rid of boxes so that we could continue schooling with minimal interruption. Now, we have been living with this make-do arrangement for longer than I had intended, and I want to make changes and improve things. I guess I need a pep talk! 
Thanks everyone!
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JennGM
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Juliana,
Well, I'm in the middle of a reorganization and major painting project. The two seem to go hand-in-hand. I would do one room at a time, but have the big picture in your mind.
What I'm doing is planning the rearranging of books and toys and shelves. They aren't all in the same room, nor on the same floor, so I'm planning on where the pieces and "stuff" goes, but I'm not moving it all at the same time.
And I'm trying to do most of this before we start school. But if I don't finish, my main goal is to have the "school room" and the book shelf for all the school stuff done.
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juliana147
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Thanks, Jenn. I guess what I am having trouble visualizing is the "big picture." One room at a time would definitely be less overwhelming. But, like you say, we have things spread out.
I'd like an area for school stuff, an area for writing projects, an area for dd's crafts, etc. I seem to be able to clean each of these things up as they happen, but overall, the open floor plan just seems to make our furniture solution for each seem cluttered. With our old Colonial style home, you could have a section of room for each need. We kept lots of things in antique trunks and such, that could be tucked into a corner. In this house, the living, dining, and kitchen areas are all visible together. The trunks look like clutter now.
Maybe the whole idea is unrealistic...  or do I need to put in custom modular units?
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JennGM
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Some practical room dividers? I just bought a used two sided bookshelf. Montessori classrooms use these all the time. IKEA's Expedit (I think that's the name) can be two sided, or you could put baskets on the shelves.
These wouldn't really "divide" the room, but give definition of the space, and then give a place to store things. Instead of trunks (which I love that idea) use the storage squares on the shelves.
Just thinking...
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CrunchyMom
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A while back, I checked out a book from the library called The Megan Method. The book is really about design, but a lot of her worksheets and advice can be useful in knowing where to start in deciding what to "do with" a space.
I do think you need to plan things on paper somewhat before you tackle the physical. This will help you figure out what you will be able to use and what you can get rid
I highly recommend the book for inspiring useful brainstorming, but for starters I would list the things you want to do and "feel" in you home. Then, I would go room by room listing the things you want that space particularly. Are there any gaps? Is there something that could double up?
Also, I would take precise measurements of your floor plan and precise measurements of your furniture and draw it all out to scale (I like Publisher for this, but the old fashioned way works, too). You can then rearrange your furniture, trying out new arrangements before actually moving furniture. This will also allow you to look at the space without certain pieces.
In your case, with sentimental furniture, I would try to "rank" my furniture so that I could figure out what I could bear to part with.
Also, think about how you can repurpose items in unconventional ways. Can you get a cushion for a couple of those chests pushed together to make a bench or window seat? Maybe you like the chest for storage but could bear to part with your end tables or coffee tables and use the chests for that instead? Replace the piano bench?
I'm sentimental about the antique couch that dh and I bought when we were first married. Half the fabric is torn off revealing the original after years of abuse and the intention to reupholster it. It was driving me nuts trying to fit it into the living room, and then I suddenly decided I could try putting it at the dining room table. It is too short and still desperately needs to be rebuilt, but the living room is SO MUCH better, and I'm considering adding taller legs and finding a way to make it dining room friendly so it can be a bench at the table (I've been wanting a bench there, lol). Settees are fashionable in dining rooms right now 
So, maybe you can rethink some sentimental pieces in a similar way? Can some taller pieces be turned or even floated in the middle of a room to act as room dividers like Jenn described, shielding some things for view or helping to create a cozy nook or two?
But, really, I do think you need to begin with what you want to do in the space, brainstorm about what you will need to do it there, and then go shopping in your home for what you will need to do it. Small space organizing books can be helpful, but many of them are focused on architectural and design elements (like roll out pantries and built in hidden storage). I lived in a very small house and now live in a modest one, and I like Sarah Susankah's Not So Big House books. She is an architect, but I think reading her stuff was helpful for wrapping my mind about how we live in spaces and how to use smaller ones.
Also, you might consider Peter Walsh's book, I t's All Too Much. It is about decluttering, but he has exercises for helping you think through how you want to live (and how maintaining too much stuff might be preventing the life you want), much in the same way Megan does in the first book I mentioned. It may sound silly, but I do find that having concrete ideas on paper for all those feelings about my home and the life I want to visualize for our family, it allows me to be much more pragmatic and less overwhelmed feeling about the logistics.
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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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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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stacykay
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Juliana,
I am in the middle of totally clearing out and organizing the worst room/area of our house- the dreaded basement!   I picked this "area," because I plan on turning it into our study area. It is truly frightening! With cobwebs and dust and such...Bleh!
I am going through absolutely every book, paper, box, piece of clothing, toy, you name it. I hope/plan to finish it before September. From that point, I do have a schedule of rooms and such for thorough cleaning, for each year, but those I take one month at a time. The basement is such a huge project, that I am taking two months for it. I'll let you know how it goes. I'd love to hear what all you wind up doing with your home!
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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pumpkinmom
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I don't know, but when I start to organize one room it always leads to the next. Sometimes it is so hard to stop without leaving a big mess somewhere in the house. Good luck!
We are in a small house. We never have enough seating in the living room when people come over. I bought cheap square boxes. The ones with lids and covered in material and can be used for storing stuff inside. I keep blankets in one and scrapbooks in the other and they are pushed out of the way and come out when needed. We recently rearranged our living room and one I use for a (low) table next to the couch for remotes and drinks.
I found a lady locally that helps with this kind of thing. She was reasonable in price too. She was able to come up with a design for a bedroom closet that I couldn't get organized the way I needed to. I know she used an online program that helped with placement . . . . . maybe it is free???
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SallyT
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Oh, I've been there! And to answer one question in particular, yes, I'd try to do as much as I could in the summer, before our school year starts. Most of my reorganizing begins as a prep for the school year -- clearing a space, arranging books, figuring out how to keep people's stuff contained . . . and then the project spreads to engulf the whole house (it particularly did when we were in a much smaller space, but even now . . . ).
I think what Lindsay says is brilliant. Sometimes I think we -- at least, I -- need permission either to get rid of things or to repurpose them in some other room.
One thing which helps me with difficult decisions like this is to think about what I want my house to be *for*. I might begin with a random list:
*hospitality (a welcoming, comfortable place for people to meet and talk)
*learning environment (books, art supplies, imaginative toys, etc, available)
*family life (family dinner a priority, place to pray together, places to read and talk and listen to music, etc)
And so on. I just made that short list off the top of my head, not in order of importance. But that does give me three clear organizing principles to work from, and a kind of standard: I can ask myself, of any piece of furniture or other item, "Does this serve any of those three principles?" If not, out it goes (or at least to the attic!).
And obviously some of these things overlap -- family life and hospitality particularly, since family life is largely about hospitality towards the people who actually live here. I can see clearly from those two things that I'm going to want to arrange furniture in such a way that people can gather comfortably, whether it's to talk at a party or pray before we go to bed. I want tables that people can gather around -- I have one friend who at one point decided that she wanted to view her house as a pub, with little tables where people can sit and talk, and I really see that. Our study/schoolroom is organized around a round table -- even our futon is drawn up to it. The room totally didn't work until I ditched a coffee table (actually repainted it for the front porch) and made the round table the center, where the coffee table had been. This is where I read aloud at night, while kids color, but it will also work brilliantly as a school space.
I can see how storage in a more open space could be a problem -- more discrete rooms usually = more closets, for one thing. Bookcases with bins can work, and also be space-defining. I love the idea of storage space that also doubles as seating, a la Cassie's sit-upon storage cubes. A filing cabinet in some cool, funky color/finish could also be a very useful piece in an open space. In my much-smaller former house, where our main living space was an open kitchen-den arrangement, I tried to tuck bookcases wherever I could (like under the kitchen island, where stools would normally go, and on the hearth to one side of the fireplace) . . . Now I can't remember what we did with all the "stuff" of school . . . I'll have to go back and look at old pictures. It wound up being very cute, but certainly not in a spacious, minimalist, cool kind of way . . .
Sally
PS: Okay, this may be kind of tiresome, but I found a number of old blog posts which had pictures of how I'd arranged the very limited space in our old house. And I LOVED that house. I still miss it. Anyway . . .
Here's a post with pics of our bookshelves in that house.
Another one showing our little kitchen corner, with shelves.
And yet another, which seems to show how our limited kitchen space evolved.
This was in a 1500-sq-foot 1960 ranch house, by the way -- not the smallest house on the planet by a long shot, but definitely not huge. We used both our den/kitchen and our dining room as school space. The house had a formal living room, but we had co-opted it as a bedroom, with doors to shut it off. So what we had to work with, in terms of common living/dining/schooling areas was this fairly limited space where no matter where you stood, you could see most of the rest of it, and the *feeling* of being cluttered was definitely an issue.
But as I say, I still miss that house. I love the house we're in now, which is about twice the size, but there was something about that house, and our family life in it, which I still find myself homesick for. In some ways, the limitations made it easier to consider what we wanted our life in that house to be about, and to arrange things accordingly -- though it was always a process, and it's really in hindsight that I fully appreciate it!
Happy organizing!
Sally
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JodieLyn
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you might consider floating the seating type of furniture out in the room more thus giving you wall space for things like the trunks so they don't look like clutter.
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juliana147
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Oh my goodness, everyone, thank you. Sally, you have hit upon the real heart of the matter- I miss our old home terribly. It was a *home*, and it fit my style. This house we're in now is really very lovely. I fell in love with the wood and the Western feel as soon as I saw it. Thing is, I'm a Southern girl, and all of our stuff definitely has a Southern feel. Homesickness could be a big part of my difficulty. I probably need to adapt my style.
Anyhow... I am determined to make this work, because now that I've experienced a smaller home, I love it! The upkeep is so much more manageable. I just need an organizational plan. Jenn, I love the idea of the room divider.
Lindsay, I'm off to find those books. Thank you for giving me the titles.
Stacy, maybe you and I can egg each other on. I don't have a basement, but I can imagine one... hooray for making it a study room!
Cassie, I love the box/seat idea. We have limited space for entertaining, now. That is one of the drawbacks.
Jodie, I guess I'll need to skootch things around, and see how that could work. It sounds like a good solution.
And Sally, thanks for the links to your blog posts. Seeing your old home made me immediately homesick, because we had the same brick fireplace, the same dark wooden chair rails, etc... We even had the same under-the-island-overhang bookshelf! Your home looked lovely, like a real, lived in home should look.
I keep reminding myself that the Lord brought us to this place, and I am so grateful to Him. A lot of good has happened here, too. I think we will always feel that tug of homesickness this side of Heaven. Nothing in family life ever stays the same, right?
I am so grateful to all of you for giving me such great ideas! Sometimes, I can look around and just feel  . I need the grounding only other homeschool moms can provide.
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juliana147
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Another question: has anyone fashioned a library out of a non-traditional space? I'm wondering if there is a place in here that I could use for floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, or something modular, like Jenn suggested.
I'm really eyeing the garage. The summers are very hot here, but they don't last very long. I wonder if I would regret putting books out there.
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CrunchyMom
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My husband built shelves similar to these for the hallway in our old home. It was a good use of space.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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kristinannie
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I am in a similar situation. I am planning on spending 1 full day in each room doing massive decluttering and donating. I think you can accomplish a lot in a day. Then I will go room by room and do a really nice job.
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SallyT
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Oh, I love those shelves!
Do you have a discrete dining-room space at all? That can be a good place for a wall of bookshelves. And I agree with Jody -- if you *can* float furniture out from walls, that frees up space for shelves and other storage.
I have, at times, even co-opted kitchen cabinet space for books and school supplies -- this was when we did the bulk of our schooling at the kitchen table.
I don't know what furniture you have or what fits with your room layout/s, but one thing that worked for me was to flank our couch with a little chest of drawers (had been in one child's bedroom, is now in another child's bedroom, but did time in the den/living area) as an end table. It's not a big chest, but still gave me several fairly roomy drawers for school-supply storage, right next to the couch where we did our reading.
We also at one point had a footlocker for a coffee table: again, storage. Eventually we replaced that with a coffee table my brother made us, which is higher than the average coffee table and has a shelf underneath, where we have kept books. Smaller kids could even work around it. If I had to do it again, I might consider topping a footlocker with a cushion and using it as seating/storage.
I can really relate to that feeling of not having gotten things organized on the front end -- you think you're going to set it all up right, but then the reality of moving is that all this stuff just gets dumped, and you have to put it SOMEWHERE. We lived in our old house for only two years (having moved around a lot and rented for 16 years, which is why I'm still so sentimental about it, I'm sure), and I spent a lot of that time feeling that I was digging my way out -- we had a really fast closing on that house and had two days to move, because our lease on our rental house was running out, and I didn't even have time to clean the house we'd bought properly before all the boxes and furniture filled it up. I rearranged things obsessively for a long time before I was remotely happy with how it all fit -- and just when I was, we moved! And I've spent four years in my current house figuring things out . . . even in a much bigger house with distinct rooms, I've had to do a good bit of reshuffling to find good arrangements, especially with regards to school space, which has migrated all around as I sought the most workable solution.
It's a process for sure. Here I do work more room-by-room; in the old house my rearranging did tend to encompass a lot more of the house at a time, and would be more a matter of an intense weekend here and there. I always tend to "nest" in the run-up to the start of our school year, too -- school preparations always seem to involve moving large items of furniture.
Here's a link to a pretty cool blog post/photo collection (not mine!) dedicated to learning spaces. I haven't looked at all of them, but maybe you'll find some further inspiration.
Sally
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mamaslearning
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I can't seem to accomplish anything major while schooling, so I'd vote for doing it before you start (or take a week off every so often to devote solely to home organization).
One thing that makes my house feel better is to have a clean/organized kitchen and a living space for my husband. When he sits down to relax, he doesn't want to be surrounded by chaos, so as long as the mess is out of sight from the living room chairs, then we are good to go! There might be piles behind the sitting area, but you can't see that from the chairs so it doesn't clutter his vision. Does that make sense?
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Amber-v
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I've done both - all at once and throughout the year. Frankly, both make me crazy! Right now I am doing a big project in the school room and stuff is displaced throughout the downstairs. I am really hoping to finish before school starts. I have an open floor plan too and it is tough to make little cozy spaces for thing without having it look cluttered overall. I am still struggling with that. Unifying the overall color schemes seems to help, but when I look at pictures I still cringe. But is nice to be able to quickly rearrange the furniture and seat 30 for dinner!
Sometimes I wish I could just be done with all the rearranging and reorganizing... But it seems a necessary part of family life with growing kids and changing needs.
Amber
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juliana147
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Thank you, everyone, for all the support and ideas.  I am going to try to incorporate a little of all of these- using a big block of time before school starts, and then more time during the year for mini-projects, as Lara suggested.
Amber, I want to be done with this, too! I guess it's unrealistic to expect it to be finished!
Thanks again. I may be back with more questions!
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: big reorganizing project
