View Full Version : your best small home realy ideas
I am looking at another major downsize, I am both excited and scared of the intense work ahead. I want to lose the yard and that means a lot of tools and gear for that. Meanwhile the house is already smaller than we had, and I have lived very small before. I am thinking of my best ideas from smaller places, and would love to hear yours. Also all the small home info I see does not include room for some of our essentials, like 3 guitars, 3 amps, a keyboard and another large amp for that. Guitar is my son's major in school and I cannot part with this nice keyboard so I am really wonderng how that will work.
But ideas.
* only essential kitchen appliances
* buy and use up even staples in the pantry, rice and flourand sugar, It is also fresher this way
* pack makeup and eye stuff (contacts etc) and hair stuff into travel bags to limit their growth
* smaller packages of everything, 2 rolls of paper towel instead of 12.
* all my silverware is in a caddy on the table to free up a drawer
* ebooks! i have a nook and it has totally saved on book shelf space since I am a nut for books.
* no cookbooks, I have one binder with page protectors, I rip out recipes and save what I will use and toss the rest of the book. Once a year I purge this binder for recipes I have not used,
* double duty furniture like sofa beds and adjustible size tables.
* my odd one is, really like your stuff, if you are going to have a small space there is not room for that chair that is always uncomfortable or the lamp you always hated
Anne
Think up! shelves above head height and over doors. You can use baskets if the idea of lots of visual clutter bothers you as it would me. I really am not bothered by things contained in baskets. I think it is because they are mostly natural?
know what is coming in and going out -- by this i mean, declutter regularly.
also, consider alternative living arrangements. e, my friends home is "every room shared." there is one bedroom with three beds -- queen for mom and dad, double for sisters, single for son. dining room is also library/study space. home's second bedroom is art/craft room. living room is music room. when privacy is wanted you can go to empty room. quiet hours are also observed.
this is how we 3 live in 600 sq ft,
Dont give rooms names like living, dining, etc. Everything is multipurpose. Use the space for what is most efficient. Do you need that round dining room table? Change to a narrow drop leaf table that can be moved out of the way or halved in size. A dresser can be more useful than a buffet set up or end tables. A dining area is better as a study/library room that is occasionally used for meals.
I so agree with dealing with the clutter before it comes into the house. Go thru the mail at the box or right inside. Throw out all ads and excess paper right away. We have a wastebasket right by the front door for this purpose. I store excess bags in the wastebasket right under the one being used currently.
Sort cleaning supplies and only keep what is absolutely necessary. Maybe have one cleaning bucket with all necessary supplies inside. A 5 gallon one from the hardware store works well and even better is an free empty cat litter plastic container with lid. We all seem to buy the giant sized cleaning supplies which last for years but now is not the time to stock up.
Linens can be stored under each bed. Linen closet (often in apartments) can be used for some other kind of storage. Rethink, repurpose. The back of every door can be a storage place with those canvas shoe type bags or even just a row of hooks that hang from the top. Coats, belts, shoes, socks, almost anything can go there. (the clear shoe bags are better since you can see if something is down in the holder and what it is.
One of my all-time favourite philosophies related to the organization of, and utilization of spaces reserved for storage, is making those very spaces as efficient as possible through the process of streamlining and maximizing all workable space to it's fullest.
Proper and efficient folding methods for all things fabric (wearable clothing, etc). What a space saver that is!
Compact (stackable) reusable storage containers for little things. i.e. Kids toys, etc. (Closet shelves serve as an excellent space for such containers).
Multi-purpose storage areas, where more than one family of items (things) can be stored together.
And, let us not forget the golden rule to all this, restraint. You cannot live in a home environment and enjoy a sense of efficiency and organizational mastery, when you attempt to pack that small home with the contents suited to that of a large home.
While I'm not a big fan of IKEA, I do like to check out their tiny home set ups - some as small as 250 sq ft. They really make use of small spaces. So if there is one near you check it out for ideas. I'm a very hard core minimalist by most people's standards (I'm "normal" by my own :-)!) and have found that most people don't need half of the stuff they have for day to day living.
Does your son already have the wall mounts for the guitars? I love them because I can now vacuum up to the wall where my husband's and son's guitars are. Makes nice wall art in the process. Do your amps and such need to be in the main 'living area'? I've wondered about constructing a 'box' on wheels for some of our various amps, because our upstairs 'gathering/music' room needs to function as a sitting area as well. I could cover the amps boxes on wheeles with fabric for those times I need them to function as end tables or whatnot. I know guys think theirs amps are stand alone art pieces in themselves but sometimes I just don't want to see 5 various amps when I get to the top of the stairs.
It's funny, when I first read "no cookbooks" I freaked out and thought, OMG, how can you not have cookbooks to browse through and get inspired. Then I started to think about how I actually live today, instead of how I lived 15 years ago, and realized that I normally just go to epicurious to find new recipes, especially if I have a particular ingredient from our CSA that I want to use or something. And any new cookbooks that have come through my life have been borrowed from the library and the 2 or 3 recipes that I liked from them copied out of it before returning. But yet I can't imagine getting rid of the 2/3 of a shelf of cookbooks that I own, the same ones I had 15 years ago from which I cook maybe 3 or 4 recipes from each on any kind of regular basis...
ZG, sounds like you need to find a place with a basement - and let that be the "music room"!
I have found that it saves just a bit of space to hang pants under tops and switch them around to wear at least twice. Some people might find this unacceptable, but my work is not dirty as a rule and I can get by with it. I keep my shoes under the bed because I need the floor space in my closet. I have sliding doors, so I can't use hanging storage there. I don't like to see it on the back of my bedroom door. But doors are potential storage targets, especially in bathrooms.
You can use the computer for so many things, including recipe searching and storing.
I would use the computer to pay as many bills as possible, but DH doesn't want me to, so I keep a 3 ring binder with bills, checks, pens, stamps, paper, a calendar, and other necessary paper work. I could use the computer for a lot of it, but since I have the binder, it works well to just keep tabbed dividers and work from it. This is in a table by my desk with the printer on top. But paperless could certainly work for you.
I really do think that you need to carve out a small nook to read, think, or just chill. To me the use of space it totally worth it. 4' x 4' is enough for a chair and small table. I use the corner of my dining room. I moved my small desk to the corner of my living room which looks out through the patio doors and there is a beautiful view all year 'round. I do keep these areas clutter free since they do take up space. In my case, both areas went into rather awkward corners that would have not been used.
Well, this ended up being about me didn't it? Just some random thoughts.................
Originally posted by Sissy.
I have found that it saves just a bit of space to hang pants under tops and switch them around to wear at least twice.I do this with the kids winter gear. (Waterproof snow pants under jackets). Same hanger. Works awesome!
I agree with FloatOn: The guitar mounts are so easy to install, and as she said, they make "art" out of the guitar! Also, good idea about the amp! As for the keyboard, maybe install a shelf that's desk height with just a couple of brackets and a piece of wood that's just as deep as the keyboard--or up to 24".
And the double-duty furniture is essential: an ottoman that doubles as footstool, extra seat and storage. One table that does dining and deskwork.
Peg-hooks along the wall, like the Amish do, keep clothes from being dropped on chairs etc, and also allow you to keep stuff off the floor.
I'm interested in these ideas, so keep them coming!
I have nursery (baby) rooms on my mind this morning.
Our house is tiny, so space is at a premium as one could expect, and I really struggled with setting up a workable nursery (baby room) for our last two. Although I don't care for things/stuff stacked or stored on dresser tops and floors, it does have it's benefits when one is short on valuable space.
Anyhow, I was queen of storing diapers on the dresser top. (A dozen and a half or so on good days). With (give or take) a couple dozen diapers neatly out of the way (top of dresser), it freed up a little more drawer space for other needy baby things, and, as an added bonus, it made for speedy changes!
Another helpful/useful item I used was a diaper stacker. I hung mine on the inside door knob of the baby's room when the kids were baby/babies (little), then transferred it to the closet when they got older and more active. I didn't use it as a daily utilitarian baby nursery item per se, but it sure made for a great place to store extra diapers.
Miss Cellane
10-7-11, 1:01pm
My best suggestion for living in a really small space is not a frugal one, apart from the fact that smaller spaces are usually less expensive to buy/rent. My advice is to take a good long look at how RVs and boats are fitted up to provide both the maximum storage space and a livable living space. To successfully live in a very small space, you have to alter the space to fit your needs.
The times I've tried to make existing furniture fit in a small space, or existing storage (like shelving) have only half-worked. I was always frustrated by not being able to access things I needed on a daily or weekly basis. Getting things out of cupboards or closets was a hassle; putting things back was a jigsaw puzzle.
The day I realized that it wasn't 100% me, but partly me and partly the inadequate, poorly designed storage in my apartment was an eye-opener. Yes, I had huge kitchen cabinets. But if I filled them full, I could only reach the stuff at the front. Anything else, I had to pull tons of stuff out of the cabinet to get to, then put it all back when I was through. One small closet in the place could be made to hold all my clothes, but then where did the linens go? the vacuum cleaner? Winter coats, hats, mittens? There was a huge hallway that took up lots of floor space, but did nothing but let you walk from the living room to the kitchen.
Putting a set of shelves in the hallway put some of that floor space to good use and took the burden off the kitchen cabinets. Suddenly, I was cooking and baking more, because it wasn't such a hassle just getting the right pan out. Then I got an armoire for the living room. Presto! A coat closet and a place for the vacuum. And space for out of season clothing. And on top, I put baskets for all the cat supplies and all my board games. Total, the shelves (Salvation Army) and the armoire (unfinished furniture store) cost about $150. But the benefits they provided far outweighed that cost.
I tend to move a lot. I now budget about $200-$300 to outfit the new place with storage and organizational tools like bins and hooks and lazy susans in kitchen cabinets. My stuff is pretty minimal, except for the book collection. But even so, there's a fair amount of kitchen stuff, because I cook most of my meals at home and I enjoy baking. Once you've decluttered all you can, you need to look for new ways to store it all.
So what I do when I move into a new space is to unpack everything and live with it for a month or two. The problem areas will become apparent. First, see if there's anything left to declutter. Then research ways to store the items. How much space do they need? Get it all together--all the books, all the DVDs, all the guitars. Where does it need to be stored? You might have tons of room for the DVDs in one of the bedrooms, but that's not practical if the DVD player is in the living room. You need to store things where they are used as much as possible, otherwise you'll have piles of DVDs and their cases all over the living room. What are my options for storing them? A prefab DVD storage unit. A book case. Notebooks with pages for DVDs. A wicker basket. The storage area in the TV stand. In my case, after decluttering all my CDs and DVDs, I couldn't find a good way to store them, until one day I was browsing in a second hand furniture store, looking for a dining table. I stumbled on a odd little narrow cabinet, that was a nice little cut-down mahogany cabinet with a homemade little mirrored curio shelf on top. It was exactly the size I needed and just holds the entire collection.
My opinion is that the smaller the space, the more you need to tailor it to your needs. Get the furniture that fits and does what you need it to do. Get built-ins if they will help (save up for them if necessary). Decluttering will only take you so far. Shoving stuff under your bed will only take you so far. Your storage needs to be neat, tidy, easier accessible and easy to return things to. It needs to be conveniently placed. And most of all, it needs to work for the way you live your life in your home.
Yes, what to do with the vacuum, coats, brooms. I really don't have a convenient place for them that is out of sight. I might just have room for an amoire in the dining area ( I hesitate to call it a dining room, lol) I don't have the cash now, but will look into it. I have to use the shelf over my small closet for linens. It works pretty well, except that I am short and sometimes toss stuff up there and it rains sheets and blankets, lol!!! I need a stool to get them up there, too. And, I hate those sliding doors !!!!!
Isn't life so hard???? >8)
Miss Cellane I totally agree with you that it's more important to customize smaller spaces. That is really key to living in a small space, I think.
I would also echo the sentiment that it's important to keep an open mind about spaces. I don't live in a small house, but I live in a house occupied by a lot of people. In May it will be eight people. To make more space in the bedrooms we did away with dressers and built a dressing room set-up in the laundry area. People's clothes stay in one spot and an otherwise awkward space is put to good use. We got bins from IKEA that go from floor to cieling and use all of the up space and got a step stool to reach the top. Clothes are organized with the youngest kid's stuff on the bottom, the second youngest after that and so on so that things are at the appropriate height for the children. The top bins store out of season items.
The children have come up with a good plan for their bedrooms. As we were discussing with the older two, ages 7 and 6, ideas for their room they came up with the idea of moving all of the children into their (huge!) room for the next couple of years or so and using the smaller room as a play room. The room will have two bunkbeds. The girls, who are older, will be on the top bunk and the boys, who are younger, will be on the bottom bunks. The new baby will be in our room first, in a pack and play in the toy room next and eventually, when he/she is sleeping steadily, in a toddler bed in the "bunkhouse" as the kids are calling it. When the kids are older and need gender separated rooms, Zach and I might take the small room and give our room, which is also quite large, to one of the sets of kids.
Mrs. M I have been thinking about baby stuff too, for obvious reasons. We have decided to get rid of the crib all together, since it takes up so much space. We're going to get a baby hammock (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E37XTE/ref=asc_df_B005E37XTE1732419?smid=AFGZXAOQ6C9AJ&tag=pgmp-161-95-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395109&creativeASIN=B005E37XTE) similar to the one in the link for our room and use the pack n play for an extra sleeping area when we need it. Both are easily collapsed and stored and the hammock functions as both a sleeping place and a swing-like contraption, but not as ugly and space hogging. We have moved to just having a diaper basket in the living room and a drawer in the nightstand with diapers instead of a changing table. I got rid of the baby bathtub with #3 and just bathe the kiddos in the sink. I also got rid of the high chair recently and Zach feeds T on his lap. Eventually we'll probably get a booster seat. The kids sit on a bench against the wall, so they aren't in the high chair for too long. It's a pretty sturdy bench. James started sitting there, sandwiched between sisters so he wouldn't fall, at about 1 year old. Actually the bench was another space saver. It seats more people in a smaller space than chairs do.
first, we borrow the vacuum from our neighbors once a week -- usually a different neighbor each week, with a rotation of 4-5 neighbors. This means once a month. We use it for half an hour to an hour, and then give it back. We also borrow gardening tools, blenders, and several other items that we only use on occasion. We sometimes borrow cars even. LOL
so, no need to store that stuff.
Second, I store a lot of things "out in the open" in our laundry room. there's a small shelf in there that has our 1. all purpose soap; 2. whitening powder; 3. laundry detergent (that's under the shelf, technically), and our roll of trash bags. next to it there are some hooks on the door (it's next to the door) that has our broom, our dustpan and small brush-broom, and my two scrubbing brushes (one is a long handled one for toilets and anything that requires a reach, and the other is a hand-held scrubber). i don't mind if people see what i have there. i also disinfect them there in my laundry room (which is a mudroom/passage to the back yard which has recycling and the future home of the worm bin).
Off season stuff goes in a suitcase where the suitcases are stored in the closet. it's such efficient storage of off-season stuff. and they are in compression bags, so if i have to use the suitcase, I can just pull them out and put them on that shelf -- still organized. i also put lavender in the bags so that the clothes smell nice when they come out. :D
Miss Cellane. Great post! I love armories and would fancy having two really large ones downstairs, that, or a bank of built-in shelves (with doors) that encompasses an entire wall. This in itself would free-up and ease-up space and provide me with all kinds of options.
Sissy. I feel so graced with having an actual workable linen closet. Such a saving grace it is! There's just enough room at the bottom of mine to store the vacuum and a small step-stool. So nice being able to have those two things neatly tucked away and out of sight.
Stella. I love the baby hammock! So cute and comfy looking! When I was settling in the two boys (beginning stages) I looked at the room I was working with and said to myself, "no problem, two cribs will fit into this room and still allow me room for navigating", but it wasn't until I actually had the two cribs in the same room together that it was clearly apparent that I'd have to come up with alternative ideas for storage and things. (Tiny little baby in a big crib)! So right you are, super space hogs large baby cribs are!!!
I love your diaper basket idea! If I were planning around another baby again I definitely could see myself doing something along the same lines. (Two decorative baskets tucked under the crib). Sounds like something straight out of a designer magazine. And so functional/practical too!
Zoebird. I've been waiting for finishing touches to be applied to my laundry room so I can finally, after many years, organize a long list of things into that room! What a pleasure that will be. Having my iron, my ironing board, shelving for the detergent and bleach, and a few spare shelves for extra linens and rags and things. All in one place!!! My dream. OMG do I ever love your lavender sachet idea!!! Thanks for that!
So many great ideas everybody!!!
WOW we are definitely diametrically opposed on this one. My biggest priorities are my yard, my kitchen and my books. Everything else (except the husband, cats and bed) can go as far as I am concerned.
You won't get much useful advice from me. LOL
enota
Bastelmutti
10-11-11, 8:17pm
It's funny, when I first read "no cookbooks" I freaked out and thought, OMG, how can you not have cookbooks to browse through and get inspired. Then I started to think about how I actually live today, instead of how I lived 15 years ago, and realized that I normally just go to epicurious to find new recipes, especially if I have a particular ingredient from our CSA that I want to use or something. And any new cookbooks that have come through my life have been borrowed from the library and the 2 or 3 recipes that I liked from them copied out of it before returning. But yet I can't imagine getting rid of the 2/3 of a shelf of cookbooks that I own, the same ones I had 15 years ago from which I cook maybe 3 or 4 recipes from each on any kind of regular basis...
OMG, yes! My thoughts exactly. I keep *meaning* to declutter cookbooks, but just can't yet. Everyone has different priorities.
Our apt. isn't tiny, but one of my tips is keeping a set space for clothing and weeding out stuff every season - we live in a 4-season climate that ranges from -50 to 110 degrees at the extremes. We keep off-season clothing in the basement in bins, but over time I am keeping less in the basement. I do like to have enough of each piece (t-shirt, socks, whatever) so I don't have to do laundry constantly. It's a trade-off. This is interesting, though:
http://www.theproject333.com/getting-started/ (project to whittle down your wardrobe to 33 items)
When my DD2 was little, we kept her baby clothes in a over-the-door hanging set of shelves made of canvas. Now that hanging shelf is holding PJs and extra clothes (uniforms and special school shirts) in the girls' closet. I recently put a set of over-the-door hooks on their bedroom door to hold jackets, which has been working well since there is not much room in the back pantry where we come in from outside.
I also find the under-the-bed bins to be useful. Baskets are also great. We keep some toys in the living room in a storage bench and some baskets of small stuff scooted under that.
getting rid of books wasn't that painful, and i currently have them stored in the US, and we keep going -- wow, when we go back, we'll probably be able to let go of so many of them. I think -- honestly -- i'm only going to keep my harry potter collection and our lord of the rings, and anything out of print that we can't get on a kindle.
i hear that about weeding the clothing every season! I do it too! and then, oddly enough, i hardly ever replace anything. figures. I know I have more than 33 items, but I think i could do ok with 33 items. My uniform is pretty simple (and honestly, pretty fashionable. LOL
we do ok, i think.
Aqua Blue
10-12-11, 3:23pm
Late to the discussion as usual! Haha! Being a very visual person, the small spaces I like best are ones with a theme. The cozy cabin. The beach shack. I find it visually upsetting when there is too much going on and when those things don't carry over the theme. I think it takes really scaling back on stuff. Visually attrative storage for the things you need. Can you tell I am visual?
happystuff
10-12-11, 6:03pm
I really like the ideas in this thread. I am actually trying to "live small" in a house that I think is way too big except for all the junk!
i saw a campervan yesterday. it's cute. tiny kitchen (stove/oven runs on gas), little closet, couch that folds into a double bed and the bench on one side of the kitchen/table that is a twin-sized bed.
i have a friend who owns land and has a "bathhouse" -- solar showers and sinks -- and then also composting toilets (they are apart from each other), and I was like -- with a little solar panel to manage computers/etc -- we could be totally comfortable in there.
Particularly if i get down to 33, and get son and DH down to 33! We would also need to insulate it. But i was like, DUDE, i could totally live in 1/3 the space i'm living in now. LOL
My son uses wall mounted guitar clamps to hold his guitars. This keeps them up off the floor and they become more like wall art and they are up and out of they way. You can buy them at most guitar center and music stores.
Miss Cellane
10-13-11, 1:02pm
This is going to sound like a silly question for all those who know about electric guitars, but do you need three amps? Can't you downsize to one amp and just plug in the guitar that needs to be played right then?
If you have to keep all three amps, I'd look into building or buying a shelving unit that would hold all the amps, and perhaps have room on the sides for hanging the guitars. Put it on casters so you can roll it out of the way when necessary.
Think outside the box for storing all this music equipment. Can one of the guitars and an amp live at the house of one of your son's friends, if they play there a lot? Is there secure space at his school for storing any of the equipment? Could he rent a space at the school or elsewhere, like your church, maybe in return for playing music at church events?
Can the keyboard go under a bed or a sofa or a table when not in use?
One thing to realize is that by "protecting" all the music equipment and insisting that it remain in the house, you may have to make some tough choices about the other things that stay. Keeping the music stuff only works if you have space for all the necessary things for your every day activities. There are 4 people living in this house, correct? Do the other two get a say in what stays or goes? (I'm having flashbacks to my childhood when my father threw out some of my books, because I had "too many books," but didn't do anything with the huge pile of sports equipment that my brothers had for all the various sports that they played, which took up far more room than my books--5 brothers playing an average of 3 sports apiece equals a lot of hockey sticks and bats and footballs and baseball gloves and associated protective gear.)
If the kids' bedrooms are small, think about getting a loft bed, with room for a desk or dresser or both underneath it. Sofa beds only work if they are as comfortable as a regular bed, and if the person sleeping there is willing to fold the thing up each and every morning, stash the sleeping pillows somewhere and put all the sofa cushions back on. They're great for the occasional guest, not so much for every day use.
Aqua Blue
10-13-11, 7:24pm
One thing about the musical instruments, is it really right for your neighbors to have to listen to all that noise? I find it annoying when the neighbor 2 houses down practices his drums over and over and over. I don't know too much about it, but is there a way around the amplifiers and use ear phones instead, so that others aren't bothered?
they need to get him drum-buffers. my friend's son plays drums -- including professionally now (yes, he gets paid! and he's only 15!) -- and he practices A LOT. she got him buffers, because no one could live with him. LOL now, he can practice, and most people don't need to listen.
we have started Project 33 at our house. DH loves the idea.
and we are talking about moving into an even smaller space, possibly on some land or shared land. no forward motion, but talking about it. :D
happystuff
10-14-11, 7:47am
I must have missed something somewhere... what is Project 33? TIA.
Bastelmutti
10-14-11, 10:28am
happy, see page 2 or here:
http://www.theproject333.com/getting-started/
I posted it because it is an idea I have been toying with, but then I love to read about minimalism - I'm just not there yet!
we are definitely doing it as we head forward.
much of our clothing is worn out or wearing out, and so we will have to replace it. but we can now replace it with less items and higher quality.
---
to wit, it's pretty darn amazing what you can do without.
i spent the weekend leading teacher training in Nelson, and i took with me this:
1. toothbrush;
2. notebook;
3. pen;
4. text book;
5. cd player with cd and headphones (for brain entrainment meditation)
6. wallet (travel -- key, passport, drivers license, cash, plane tickets, debit card)
7. PJs.
all in one small tote.
I wore: yoga pants, yoga tank, long-sleeved t, skirt, scarf, zipper, fleece hoody, and vibram five-fingers.
Sweet.
I have been reading and some of these I totally forgot, like the wall mounts for guitars, duh. My son goes to an art school on a guitar major and all 3 kids play something so getting rid of any musical gear is not on the list of options. We can have some funky space in the end. Tyler plays about 3 hours a day on a good day, 1-2 hours if he is sick. Right now the neighbors cannot hear in a house, but he does have a pocket amp that is good for practice but not very loud.
So today Erica is moving into her apartment!! Her siblings are helping with it all and I am just cleaning up after them all. I think this will make a big difference. I haven't found a smaller place to live that is within transportation distance of Tyler's school yet but I am looking. So we have some time. Meanwhile I had a lightbulb moment about the kitchen table that seats 6 and has leaves to go to 10. I have another smaller table that needs a little work from a carpenter and that is great for 4, sides go down to store super small as needed.
Ok,
First, a couple of questions to the OP:
How many people live in the space?
What size is the space you are living in now?
Besides music, what other hobbies or activities do you normally do every week?
* only essential kitchen appliances
* all my silverware is in a caddy on the table to free up a drawer
DH and I live in a 240 square foot fifth wheel, that has more space than we need. Of this space, only 206 square feet is "living space". So, how do we do it:
The number of people times two - is the amount of silverware that we have. True silver because it is nice to eat off of.
Steak knives (4) not just for steak of course, I use them for cutting apples and oranges, etc.
One large bread knife for more than just bread.
Mandoline (French Slicer/grater) for cutting up coleslaw and other things (Very sharp),
manual can opener,
peeler,
scissors for food prep,
chopsticks,
wine opener (plus other openers),
tongs,
large slotted spoon,
large spoon,
spatulas,
wooden hammer (cracking crabs and other shellfish!)
We have two drawers for the allotment of these items with one of the drawers having two plastic holders for the regular silverware and the sharp tools (knives & other sharp stuff) in the other one. We never have to worry about getting stabbed when grabbing stuff, because the second drawer we know, has sharp stuff in it.
* buy and use up even staples in the pantry, rice and flourand sugar, It is also fresher this way
We do not do this. We usually have ~ 6 months of food supplies for us. Most of the food is dried food stuff which is stored in different containers.
We have one full cabinet for just breakfast stuff, in bulk containers.
One long cabinet is for vitamins, coffee, sugar, hot chocolate, peanut butter, extra bags of popcorn, vinegar, salt & pepper, spices, and other things.
One cabinet is for lunch/dinner items such as beans, lentils, rice, chips, nuts, chocolate (it is its own food group you know), pasta, dried tomatoes, dried veggies.
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/CabsOverSink_small.jpg
We also have a very large under the sink space that does not have too much cleaning supplies. All of the cleaning supplies are in space holders so that they do not move around. Then we have more food under there. Usually extra olive oil, oatmeal, jams, tomato sauce, etc. There is also our storage containers (tupperware stuff), large bowl with lid, strainer, another shredder (four sides), salad spinner (also used as a bowl), crockpot, Large soup pot, small grinder, dehydrator, small fan, and small space heater.
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/UnderSinkStorage_small.jpg
The oven is not used for an oven, but instead holds our frying pan, main pot with cover, and kettle.
* pack makeup and eye stuff (contacts etc) and hair stuff into travel bags to limit their growth
* smaller packages of everything, 2 rolls of paper towel instead of 12.
I would put this as toiletries: and we do have a bunch, however, we have two drawers, and then a large long bottom cabinet that holds a ton of stuff:
The two drawers are for DH and I, he has one with his stuff and I have one with my stuff.
Then the medicine cabinet has every day useful stuff in it, again using space savers and stackable containers.
Then in the long cabinet, we have at least 4 containers for stuff like medicines, extra soaps, tooth/mouth equipment.
And again, under the sink: At least 6 rolls of tp, several rolls of paper towels, larger sized shampoo, conditioner, baby wipes (good for everything especially when there is not much water) vitamins, plus a lidded container for other items. The under the sink area has two shelves to make stacking easier.
(we had so many soaps at one point, I had a couple of containers to hold them all, but now we are down to a smaller amount. :0! )
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/BathStorage_small.jpg
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/LargeMedicineCab_small.jpg
* ebooks! i have a nook and it has totally saved on book shelf space since I am a nut for books.
* no cookbooks, I have one binder with page protectors, I rip out recipes and save what I will use and toss the rest of the book. Once a year I purge this binder for recipes I have not used,
We are book and map hoarders, but we realize that we can not be constantly carrying all that extra weight. So we have only a couple of bookshelves:
One is above our refrigerator, that has the cookbooks and health books.
Then there is another nook area (meant for a TV!) that we use for larger sized books and notebooks.
And then there is a shelf above our closet, totally enclosed, that has the smaller sized books and maps in it.
We got rid of a bunch of books before we left, we had accumulated quite a few.
* double duty furniture like sofa beds and adjustible size tables.
We don't really have double duty furniture, we just have used the space differently.
There is lots of space above the cabinets in the kitchen, so we put coolers, stacking plastic storage containers with interlocking tops (large size to store more food).
We have utilized the under the sink area by cleaning it completely and using it for food storage (but you could use it differently!)
Our bed lifts up, and we store winter or summer linens, and extra clothes (using space savers, the kind you suck out all the air!).
We have a hanging shoe rack (cloth) that is not just for shoes but for hats, gloves, scarfs, etc.
Our dinette has storage space under the seats and our couch has a small storage space under one seat for a blanket. We have small cabinets over the dinette and couch for everything from food to desk supplies.
The bedroom has a large long closet that is shared by both of us. This also has another shelf, which is used for extra items. Shoes either go underneath clothes or on the shoe rack or in the garage. I wear uniforms for work, and when not in use, they go to the back of the closet. We each have two drawers: one for underclothes and one for socks (we have a lot of socks!) And then I have a large double cabinet for shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, shorts, turtlenecks, etc. And there is another cabinet for longer hanging stuff like jackets.
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/BedroomCloset_small.jpg
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/LotsofStorage2_small.jpg
All in 206 square feet. This does not include the garage space (88 square feet) which holds two motorcycles plus garage stuff.
my odd one is, really like your stuff, if you are going to have a small space there is not room for that chair that is always uncomfortable or the lamp you always hated
We got rid of the couch the rig came with, because we hated it. Got a new one that works well for us. We have to get new cushions for the dinette, sometime this winter. No lamps for us, just lights on the ceiling, walls, and under cabinets. I usually work at the dinette, DH on the couch.
Here is a page from the website when we first got the rig - I have opened the cabinets and all so that you can see some of the containers. Granted this is in 2009, and some things are different, like that is the old couch and some of the storage containers are different, but you get the idea: http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/Norm&Lou2009.html
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/GoodHeight_small.jpg
http://www.laura-n-sasha.com/img/RoadTrip2009/TheRig/CabsOverCouch_small.jpg
I think you get the idea!
I guess we have to update the pictures in 2012, as the rig has some differences.
I love, love, love this thread!!!
Ljevtich. Awesome post!!! :)
I remember those travel trailer days and I think they were some of the best of my life. 30 minutes tops and I had the place clean and had all day to do as I pleased! This was in the 70's and they have come a long way with storage in RV's.
LOVE your pics Laura!!! I posted a few "small space" idea photos (murphy bed systems) of what I'd like in a small space on the 12 x 12 cabin thread. Lots of cool ideas out there. Most of the murphy-style wall units hold much more than I would ever need - I'm one of those "2 plates, two forks, one pot, one pan" kind of people and own very little. A few maps, some clothes, a box of photos and important papers and that's about it. Oh yeah, and a mountain bike, and some other sports "toys" like tennis racket, rollerblades, volleyball, etc... All small stuff. Not much else. But i do like those wall units as you can have everything including a bed and couch and storage all in one out of the way area even if, like me, you don't have much stuff. One of these days (once I sell my house - furnishing included with the sale) then I'll do a "Fawn" and count my stuff to see how many things I have.
I'll have to do some updating to the pictures, as those were in 2009, when we first got the rig. A few more changes since then, but storage-wise, we usually can get in ~ 6 months worth of living, that way we just buy fresh food.
We are now in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, ready to do our 32 hours a week total (so each of us doing only 16 hours a week) for free living. We hike the trails, talk to people and give talks and programs. And we have a water view right outside of our rig.
Stuff is just stuff, non-sentimental. Getting rid of most of the stuff freed us from a house.
Laura, I noticed that your shelves had unused space above the items you store in them. You could expand your storage by making extra shelves for not so tall items such as pasta, spices etc. Love your pictures.
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