Input requested: Lacking storage space
I'm seriously behind on posting and answering questions which have been emailed to me in the last few months. My apologies to those of you who I promised answers to and who have been patiently waiting! I'm going to try and tackle some (all?) of these over the next two weeks.
I have a dilemma that I thought you or your readers might be able to help with. I'm a young wife, expecting our first child the end of this year. Our apartment that we were living in recently flooded, and we moved to a little house owned by our church. I'm loving my new house and trying to get organized/moved in, but I'm facing a problem. This new house has VERY FEW cabinets and no closets. Do you have suggestions for storage in this situation? I've already cleaned out a ton, and really can't clean out much more. -Bethany
Bethany, I know somewhat what you are facing. Our first apartment had very little cabinet space and one lonely closet. That was hard enough for me to figure out how to organize everything and still keep the clean and clutter-free look I really love. I can't imagine having no closets at all.
Here's a post I wrote last year on small home organization which might help you, though it really sounds to me like you've done all of that already.
My biggest encouragement to you is to remember that a cheerful attitude can go a long way in less-than-ideal situations. You can either complain about the thorns or you can savor the roses which bloom in the midst of those thorns.
You can choose to joyfully accept your current abode and make it a welcoming haven, in spite of it's inadequacies. Or you can choose to steam over the lack of storage space and pine away yours days hoping to move into something better as soon as possible.
Choose to bloom where God plants you!
Does anyone else have practical suggestions or ideas for Bethany? Please do share!
Graphic from Art.com
Here's a post I wrote last year on small home organization which might help you, though it really sounds to me like you've done all of that already.
My biggest encouragement to you is to remember that a cheerful attitude can go a long way in less-than-ideal situations. You can either complain about the thorns or you can savor the roses which bloom in the midst of those thorns.
You can choose to joyfully accept your current abode and make it a welcoming haven, in spite of it's inadequacies. Or you can choose to steam over the lack of storage space and pine away yours days hoping to move into something better as soon as possible.
Choose to bloom where God plants you!
Does anyone else have practical suggestions or ideas for Bethany? Please do share!
Graphic from Art.com
posted by Crystal Paine at 2:32 PM
38 Comments:
I have used dressers that I have picked up a yard sales or auctions to help store items.
You can often find small cabinets/dressers that people are getting rid of for very little money. I either refinish (if it is wood) the piece of furniture or I have found a can of spray paint can make items look almost new!
I store kitchen items that I dont use every day (extra canned goods, small appliences etc) in the basement on a cabinet or shelf. That way I can "nicely" put away the things I do use on a daily basis and the items in the basement stay better organized as well. I might have to make the extra effort to walk downstairs and dust them off before using them but its worth it.
I also purchased an inexpensive bakers rack for my kitchen. I have my pots and pans hanging from the top of it on hooks and some mixing bowls etc on the visible part. On the below shelving I put some cute wire baskets to organize various kitchen goods-one has snack items, one breakfast foods, one baking type items. Since these arent super pretty I took some fabric and made a skirt for the bottom and attached it with cafe curtain hooks. This adds a pretty fabric to the kitchen while hiding not so pretty items!
You can buy bed risers that increase the height of the bed to allow for storage underneath either in totes or drawers. Also for a baby you can get those boards with pegs and hang clothes from them in baskets or on hangers. Behind the door hangers are also a good option for storage when there is no closet.
blessings
In 4 years of marriage we've lived in 3 tiny places! It can be tough, but here are my suggestions:
1. Rubbermaid tubs can store more than dressers. Make a stack in your bedroom in the corner and stack them about 4 tubs high. One can hold sheets and linens and the rest can hold your clothing.
2. Use every space you possibly can. We have a low, wide rubbermaid tub under our couch where we keep all the hats and gloves. We store things under the beds and crib. Our closets are packed to the gills. We have one of those racks that stands against the wall behind the toliet that holds our towels and T.P. Our pantry is super small, but we've put in two free-standing shelves and loaded them with food.
3. I know this sounds like I'm majorly promoting plastic, but I've enjoyed using the 3 drawer, large plastic organizers and you can find them at yard sales for hardly anything. These keep my papers and art/craft supplies well organized, but they hardly take up any space and can be stacked 6 drawers high.
4. Make your own little cubbies by hanging baskets in the kitchen. They make baskets with one flat side and hooks so that you can hang them on the wall with a pushpin and use them to hold potholders or kitchen utensils.
5. It sounds like you've already gotten rid of a lot and de-cluttered but try rotating things if you happen to have a storage space somewhere, a shed, or a parent's home nearby with some available storage. Because our space is much to small to have all the kids things in their room at once, I rotate toys and large items. If the exersaucer is out then the little mini rocking chair goes into the shed. If my exercise bike is in the living room, our gliding rocker is moved to the Kid's room. When I was done with our changing table (which isn't necessary to have but was a gift) I moved it into the kid's closet and now use it as shelves for shoes and clothes so that they have more space in their bedroom.
Create storage in as many ways as you can. Use the space between mattresses to store blankets, extra sheets. Or roll those up in sets and put it in one of it's pillowcases, then toss on your bed. Rethink packaging. Do we really need a large container when less than half of a product remains in it? Install shelves in your closet and under your sink to double your usable space. Sell things that you can borrow elsewhere. Check your library or local video store for copies of books, movies, cds that you own. Check garage sales for storage options- baskets hold a lot of things decoratively. Sterilite or Rubbermaid stacking drawers (dresser style) optimize verticle space. Create a closet in a portion of a room you do not use. Maybe hang a curtain over a window then install a shower curtain rod as a closet rod. Perhaps try setting up a room divider in your living room and use the space you have created for storage. Think outside the box- does your bathroom have extra cabinets that the kitchen does not have? Move some less used items to these. Check out home organization books or websites for ideas. Good luck!
We are all too familiar with this one in my apartment. It's university married housing that was built more than thirty years ago. The only real closet is now filled with a furnace when they changed the heating systems 20 years ago.
In the bathroom, we managed to squeeze two tiny Rubbermaid drawer containers under the sink (no cabinet). We bought an over-the-toilet organizer from Bed, Bath & Beyond with a 20% off coupon in the mail, although that prevents the toilet lid from going down or the seat going up because of our oblong toilet.
We have closet rods in tiny alcoves in both bedrooms, so we use shoe and sweater organizers for our folded clothes and underwear (and baby's clothes--outfits get sorted making it easy to dress him) instead of dressers.
No baby changing table, instead I keep his diapers and wipes in a basket and change him on a dishtowel in the living room.
The bed goes on risers, and that's my pantry/food storage. In the kitchen, the only appliance on the counter is my toaster. I'm a kitchen gadget junkie, but simply have no space so I save money on the purchases do everything pretty much by hand.
My best rule? Everything that comes in must replace something going out.
You can purchase inexpensive racks and shelving units of all sorts. Sometimes the wood ones are pricey but you can also watch at garage sales and thrift stores for that sort of thing. Covering them with a homemade curtain and a cheap tension rod can hide all the storage items that you don't want people to see in any of your rooms. They even make portable/temporary closets and things like that.....if you do a little research you'd be surprised what's out there in the way of temporary storage and if you are thrifty, you can usually find a way to purchase them cheap.
When I was a young wife like you, I also had little space with babies on the way....I learned to store nothing....not even wrapping paper. If we needed wrapping paper, we went and bought it for that one gift. Keep up what you've already started with throwing things out (even if it's to the goodwill regularly).
Also, take advantage of containers. If you have a garage of some sort you can store things in rubber containers (lable whats in them) and you can easily access these things. I still use this even though we live in a larger home now. Also, they make so many shapes and sizes. Some will even fit well under your bed and couches (depending on how high up your couch sits).
When baby comes, you can also "rotate" toys and such by keeping some in the garage....that cuts down on the amount of toys in your house. I also kept a large basket of toys in our family room so that clean up was quick and easy and the toys didn't require closet space....
Those are my random thoughts. Hope some of that helps.
Blessings,
Jen
Crystal,
No input really, just a request! I was wondering if you could post some pictures of how your home looks. I would love to see how a simple and uncluttered home looks! I really struggle to keep my home this way.
Thanks!
Keli
That is tough! Here are a few little ideas...
One thing I suggest to do if you haven't already is make sure you use the empty space under your beds.
If you have some smaller things that need homes you could try getting some of those photo boxes they sell at craft stores. I know if I hang in there they go on sale 2 for $3 around here. I use them for photos, craft stuff, desk stuff, etc. They come in an assortment of colors & patterns. (They fit nicely under my bed or on shelves)
I have seen ottomans & footstools that are hollow inside for storage.
If you have an entry way with some extra wall space you can get hooks for jackets, purse, etc...
Good luck!
I can understand this situation. We are a family of 5 going on 6 with very, very little storage space. Things that have worked well for us are:
-use the expandable, peg hanging racks to hang clothing on
-Store things under the beds in pull out containers
-Use shelves whenever possible. Walmart sells some bookshelves that can really hold a LOT of stuff and they don't take up much room.
-Don't keep anything that isn't absoutly necessary. As much as I would have loved to store my children's outgrown clothing I gave it away instead and just keep what I know 100% I will need. We shop yardsales for what we need when we need it.
Think double duty for items. Instead of a regular coffee table, use a trunk that can store blanket or out of season clothing. The cheap 3-legged round tables/nightstands make great storage areas when covered with a tablecloth or piece of fabric. I have 3 "put-together" bookshelves along one wall in our living room. These look great but also hold books, baskets of toys and children's books(on the lower shelves)and baskets of videos and DVD's. Baskets can create a uniform and charming look even if they do not all match(all of mine are from yard sales and thrift stores; I just look for rectangular and square ones that are more space-efficient; fabric-covered boxes can also be used. My husband and I share one dresser; the two closets are very small and don't go all the way to the floor. Yet, I still keep my gift box and a few other boxes of storage items in there. I keep very few decorative items that are only for looks, but rather display pretty bowls, vases, copper molds, etc. that are also useful. Of course, that is a personal preference. Once the baby comes, you can store stuff in baskets under the crib. Use a dresser for a changing table or put a towel on your bed or the floor. Tote bags and backpacks are hung up anyways, store certain items in them. I store a few things in the car trunk-my grocery bags, a small ice chest and our two lawn chairs. This way they are right where we use them most and they don't have to be put somewhere in the house!
Hope this helps!
For your pots and pans, you can go to Lowes or Home Depot and get those very big hooks (that look like a question mark) and screw them into the ceiling of your kitchen to hang pots and pans to create a more clutter-free enviornment. Also try to get bins and rotate seasonal clothing for closet space and shoe space. Space Saver bags are MIRACULOUS, they actually do work, especially for comforters and sheets you can find them in walgreens or walmart or google them and order online for a discount. hope this helps, i have two kids and live in a 987sft apartment.
Many great tips were already given... just a little something from me:
Vacuum bags for our bedclothes and winter clothes we don't currently use work great: saves space AND keeps the linens fresh!
My husband and I are on our way to being missionaries to Brazil. In Brazil they don't have any closets anywhere they think it is a waste of space. Our plan is to get some armoires made. I know they can get expensive here in the states, but down in Brazil you can get them made for very cheap. If I were you I'd keep my eyes open at yard sales and places like that. I know I saw a pretty one for a baby's room at Kmart that wasn't too awful expensive. It may be worth it to invest in it, if you don't want tote boxes stacked up everywhere and you want it to look like a nice home.
If the church will allow you to put nails in the wall (perhaps with the promise that you will patch and repaint the holes upon move-out), I recommend installing shelving. We recently did this in our bathroom and office. The lumber, nails, and brackets for six shelves cost us $25. (We went to a builder's outlet [HOBO, if you have one nearby] instead of a retail DIY store like Home Depot.)
Another thing I did was to watch the "free" section of craisglist.org for dressers, wardrobes, bookshelves, etc. (I've also seen leftover construction lumber there, too, so ugh, I didn't have to buy it! too late now) I have gotten four wooden storage items (small dressers, one large bookshelf) so far, and it just took a can of white paint ($20) to make them match and look fresh. There's also freecycle.com -- see if there's a group in your area -- for other free storage furniture.
These options will get you the space to put things, but of course reduce, reduce, reduce the things you have. The fewer things to store, the less stress and mess!
It is hard without closets, not because it is clutter that goes in closets, but because that means that your clothes, winter boots, winter coats, everything is out where it is visable.
One thing my husband did in one of the bedrooms was build a wall of shelves. It really helps!
Then I use plastic tubs for storage of winter stuff, the underneath of the beds is organized with tubs under the bed of things like mittens, hats, gloves etc.
We have three closets, 2 of which are very small. I have shelves in them and extra dressers. Under our bed we have 6 drawers we use for storage of clothes.
Yes, you have to cut down on stuff, but some stuff you have to have! I use hooks too to hang things up by the back door, even though there is no closet.
Potracks! Whether they hang from the ceiling or the wall, they save tons of space in the kitchen. You can either make one one your own (www.wisebread.com/the-ten-dollar-pot-rack) or grab one online (potracks.com).
When my husband and I got married, we were combining my 3-br, 1400-sq-ft home with his 900-sq-ft apartment into a 1000-sq-ft condo. Storage was at a premium, let me tell you...especially when, two months after getting married, we discovered that our "junk" room was going to become a baby's room! So this is what we've done:
1) DONATE and TRASH! I got rid of lots before my stuff moved in, we got rid of lots more when we got married, and we got rid of even more when we cleaned out the 2nd bedroom for baby. Looks like you've already done this.
2) CLOSET ORGANIZERS!!! Especially if your home is an older one, it probably only has a single shelf above the closet bar, with lots of wasted space above the shelf and on either end of the closet. Get rid of that and replace it with Closetmaid or some other organization system that makes the most use out of all the nooks and crannies (including all the way up to the ceiling) and gives you more shelving space. We keep extra kitchen appliances and water bottles in our hall closet since it's got so many shelves now.
3) SPACEBAGS!!!! I can't tell you enough about these. They are amazing. They're not great about keeping their integrity, but once they're stuffed into a spot, that doesn't really matter much. Pillows, blankets, even king-sized comforters can be sucked down to half (or less) of their normal size.
4) DON'T FORGET THE SPACE UNDER AND BEHIND THINGS!!! Between the two of us, we have a LOT of pictures, etc. that we don't want to get rid of, but just don't have wall space for right now. Many of these flat things are safely stored away under dressers that nothing other than dust bunnies would normally fit under. This works well for table leaves too. There's usually space for large, flat things behind couches as well.
5) UNDER THE BED!! I second the recommendation of bed risers and under-bed storage. We even modified our futon so that it fit on risers. Spacebags make under-bed storage bins too, but we haven't tried those since we mostly had unsquishable stuff under the bed and futon (like the cat carrier). We've got plastic bins for stuff under the beds, in some cases they're even stacked two high. There's lots of space under a crib too!
6) GET RID OF OLD MEDIA!!! This one could cost some money, but could be worth it. We happened to already have a DVD burner/VCR combo, so we've been systematically copying our VHS tapes onto DVD. Since we purchased the VHS, this is LEGAL as long as we don't sell the DVD. Some of the VHS wouldn't copy, so we've had to keep a few, but the number has been greatly reduced. We also got the 2-DVD cases, so we can put what used to be on two VHS tapes into the box for one DVD! The same works for any cassette tapes you might have. Put those on CD and lose the tapes. If you don't want to purchase the electronics to do all this yourself, there are many companies out there that will do it for you.
7) LOSE THE CD CASES!!! My husband came into our marriage with about 100 CDs, I came into it with closer to 200. Those jewel cases take up a _LOT_ of space. Get rid of them and put the CDs and CD covers/booklets into one of those CD storage notebooks.
8) ETAGIERE (or whatever they're called) OVER TOILET!! Our bathroom has one small cabinet with only a couple of drawers. There was absolutely no space for extra TP in addition to spares of shampoos, etc. and all the other stuff that goes into bathrooms. So we got one of those cheap over-the-toilet things (I think from Walmart). It stores plenty of TP, leaving the cabinet for things that I don't necessarily want to be out in plain sight.
9) REMODEL!!! This one, of course, is pricey. We were helped out of our miserable little kitchen (with about 8 sq-ft of counter space, _one_ drawer!!, and five cabinets) by my husband working at a plumbing distributor (who also does cabinets, etc.), so we got a good discount (plus hubs did the work himself). But not only does it look great, it also gave us almost four times the counter space, three extra cabinets, a pull-out pantry (LOVE IT!!!), and a lazy susan-style trash area.
10) HELP OTHERS AND ASK FOR HELP!!! See if there's anyone in your church or among your friends who would love to use large pieces of furniture temporarily. Once that avenue's been exhausted, see if friends or family will allow you to use their basements/attics/garages temporarily. It never hurts to ask, and most of the time, they'll be glad to help you out!
11) DON'T LET PEOPLE GIVE YOU MORE STUFF!!! My mother is THE WORST for this. She LOVES shopping at dollar stores and is constantly buying useless little things that she's sure we'd love...and they're things that we might love if we had space for them, but we just don't. But also, when we got married, we were both bringing together complete households - we didn't need the STUFF. So we registered for minimal stuff and just made it known that we'd much rather have help paying for our wedding than a third crock pot. People were usually happy to oblige. When people ask what to give you for the holidays, tell them frankly that you just don't have room for more stuff, but a nice dinner out with your husband would be great (believe me - do this as often as you can before baby comes!! The opportunities afterward will be few and far between!). Or, if it's someone that's closer to you, mention that most grocery stores have gift cards now.
12) GET BABY FURNITURE THAT DOES DOUBLE DUTY!! Don't have a separate changing table and dresser, buy a dresser and put a changing pad on top of it. Don't buy a bassinet AND a play yard, buy a play yard (that folds up nicely) WITH a bassinet.
13) USE YOUR WALLS!!! When we only had one drawer in our kitchen, we used one of the walls to store our frying pans. We just put nails in the wall so that the various-sized pans could all fit, and we were good to go. Works well for pot holders too.
Sorry for the length, but we've had to move mountains to get our household manageable...and it's still not quite there yet. But I'd _LOVE_ to keep someone from the angst we've had over stuff and no storage!
I hope this helps!
We are living in a small apartment right now, so I have this problem too! One thing my mom did is cut down cardboard boxes so they were only a few inches tall, and she slid them under our couch (under beds would work too). They pull in and out very easily. We used them for library books, but they would for pretty much anything!
If the owners of the house are ok with it, see if you can't hang a pot rack. That will save a LOT of room that would be taken up by your pots and pans and maybe even some of their lids. It's been a lifesaver in out tiny house.
I agree with Mrs. Jo, those Rubbermaids have helped me enormously with our tiny place and little storage. I'd also like to add bookshelves...you can find them for cheap, and they can act as shelves for more than books. Also, if you dislike the look of rubbermaid plastic ;) you can "store" a sheet on top to make it look like a covered table. I've hidden ours in all sorts of pleasing ways. Two of the drawer ones go together for an end table, a big tub doubles as a coffee table. :)
Amen on the bed risers/Rubbermaid containers. A pretty free standing room divider can hide stuff in plain sight.
Hang some shelves, and in baby's room you can use netting hung "hammock style" on the wall. If you have pedestal sinks, you can put skirting around them and keep tissue, towels, etc. under there, same with coffee and end tables. Chic!
I have no input on this subject because I have the same problem coming up! We're about to move into a house that, though it has one more room than the house we've moved out of, it has hardly any of the the closet/storage space I had been used to. The kitchen is tiny, and there are only three VERY small closets! I'm going to have to learn to clear out and store things differently myself. I tend to be a pack-rat(ex: keeping things back from highschool!! Yikes that was nearly ten years ago now!) so all this de-cluttering is new to me. I'm so looking forward to doing it though! I want to have a clean, neat home that is welcoming and comfortable, so I'm motivated to learn these new things and put them into practice.
Thank you to all the ladies who are sending out ideas! We "younger women" need and appreciate the help.
Just wanted to thank you for allowing me to use your link on my blog. May the Lord bless you. And again thanks for sharing!
if you have a little money to spend, IKEA has a lot of unique storage options that you can keep with you as you either stay in small spaces or end up in larger homes throughout life. if there's not one near you, they have a website. they are very inexpensive and if there's one near you, you can always check out the clearance room for great deals. (if you're not familiar with ikea, check out the website to see the kind of stuf f they offer.) - side note - i don't work for ikea :) just like their stuff!
My current apartment is small and I have to make do with the space I have as well. My kitchen has one drawer (enough for eating utensils). So I use plastic bins to store the rest of my kitchen utensils in. We also found some hand-me-down shelves which we put other kitchen items on (crockpot, microwave, etc.), which saves our kitchen counter space. You can also get inexpensive racks to hang clothing on.
In the end though, you might just have to accept that you'll need to stack up some bins for storage until you get a bigger place. What a blessing that your church had a place for you to stay.
A friend of mine didn't have much in the way of cupboard space, but her grandmother gave her a dozen or two old wooden fruit crates. She stacked them on their sides in various configurations to become portable shelving.
I only had a couple of crates myself, but stacked the long way on top of each other, they held my sweaters and pants.
They can be found fairly cheaply at rummage sales or garage sales, sometimes. They have a rustic charm of their own, although my grandma suggested covering them in wrapping paper or wallpaper for a different look.
Hello,
I've lived in a small space with no storage too; it is challenging to say the least.
I "made" a closet. I hung a very large wide shelf in the bedroom. Built right underneath the shelf support, was a rod for hanging clothes. I used the shelf just as you would a closet shelf and hung up all my clothes. On the floor all my shoes and boots were lined up. Since this is right out in the open neatness is pretty important.
Another handy, inexpensive thing was free or very cheaply aquired bookcases. I filled these with as neatly as possible and using pretty thumbtacks tacked up "curtains" to cover the contents. I still have these same long "curtains" today. One is a runner on top of the entertainment unit in the living room.
Happy Nesting!
Trixie
I have found plastic tubs very helpful for storing clothes and baskets for storing kitchen and desk items. Blessings to you!
The first thing that came to mind was using an armoire (sp?). You could use if for storing just about anything and use in every room I could think of. It could even be used as a pantry in the kitchen/dining area. If you found one that usually houses a TV and is hollow in the back you could stack smaller boxes/rubbermaid in it to keep craft supplies organized or smaller baby items/clothes. I see them often at Goodwill and yardsales. Some do need a little paint or refinishing.
Also, when we were in a house with no closets in two of the bedrooms, I bought a metal clothes rack at Lowes that came with an off white cover. I ended up using it as a pattern to make a printed cover, but you could even print or stencil on the off-white one if you wanted more pizazz. You could do the same, making a cover for metal metro shelving. Enough of my rambling...I need to get to organizing some more myself ;0)
Erica
Most of the ideas I can think of have already been mentioned, but I did have a couple that I wanted to add. One thing that you could do is put up several shelves around. This could work in the kitchen, as you could put cookbooks on a shelf, or you could have jars to hold baking goods and put that a shelf - shelves provide extra space with lots of possibilities. A shelf in the living room or bedroom could hold a few decorative things, along with a basket or box to store other things in. Shelves in the bathroom could hold a basket of hand towels or toilet paper. In our bathroom, we have a small shelf above the sink below the mirror with a small jar that holds q-tips, and you could line up small jars to hold other things, too.
Bookshelves, too can be a great storage tool that holds more than just books. A pile of blankets could go on one shelf, or you could store miscellaneous things in decorative boxes or baskets that can go on one of the shelves.
I have several baskets sitting around in my living room that hold various things. A couple of open baskets hold yarn and library books, while one with a lid is a place for miscellaneous things I don't have a place for.
Take advantage of over-the-door hooks. You can find them with several hooks that could store extra bath towels in the bathroom. Or you could hang up coats in the bed room.
If you happen to have an Ikea store nearby, check them out. They have lots of great storage ideas, and really great prices!
Having one area (plus the bathroom) always company ready can help, particularly with all the visitors wanting to see the new baby!
I would suggest buying smaller furniture if you have any room in your budget so that there is more room for wardrobes, etc. Over-sized lazy-boy recliners and fluffy couches make for a crowded space. Look for furniture that is small or maybe just have one couch or love-seat in your living-room. Instead of a king or queen bed try a double. Instead of a full sized crib get a portable one. Another idea is that you could put up shelves along one wall and then hang a curtain to cover the shelves to make a closet. Check out www.ikea.com for many ideas, plus their furniture is smaller than the "normal sized" American furniture.
use hallways for storage, stacking bins of sorts... but be sure they are not a fire hazzard if you had to get out quick! lable the bins
You can turn a small bookcase into a kids dresser by picking up dishpans at the dollar store. Label each pan with what you want in it i.e. socks, underwear, tshirts, etc. then slide them on the shelves. Trunks can be used at the end of beds or for a coffee table. Look throught the IKEA website for storage ideas to copy on the cheap. Or perhaps look through the "As is" section at the IKEA store if you have one nearby.
I've heard about making a small storage table by using a large, new trash can and putting a round top cut from plywood and covering it with a cloth.
I know how you feel! I have lived in one of those houses built many years ago that had closets that stored practically NOTHING!
One thing that helped tremendously is having a storage shed outside.
If you don't have one, I am sure the owners would be sympathetic to the cause. It also helped that we could have our washer/dryer outside!
Let us know how it goes!
God bless,
Elaine
The store IKEA (and probably others too!) have inexpensive, tall wardrobes that you can put in a corner of a room in lieu of a closet.
When I lived in a tiny place so much of our storage was under the beds. We bought those flat boxes that fit under and had one for out of season bedding, one for electronics we don't use all the time, one each for out of season clothes. And we also used our suitcases to hold all our backpacks and my purses.
I sell Tupperware and one of my favorite things to offer people in tight spaces are flat out containers because the bowls fold flight during storage so they take up less space in your cabinets.
It wasn't the prettiest thing, but another thing that was functional was we put small shelfs in the kitchen under the cabinets/above the counters to hold things like spices or dish soap... It freed up the countertop while still keeping those quick needs nearby.
Having to be thrifty I still kept my Costco membership, but I always went with a friend or family member so we could split everything up and then I wasn't bringing as much home, but was still getting that savings.
We also had a small patio when we lived in a little place. We had no place to put garage and garden type things so we bought a seating bench from the hardware store that has storage under the seat. It's been so practical, even now.
We also got small bookcases that we kept behind the couch to store things like seasonal decorations and such. It was actually pretty handy because it gave us a shelf behind the couch to put things like the remote caddy and current books and such. It was a little work to have to move the couch when we needed something from back there, but it also worked for us.
I think I may have more tips eventually, but those are what come to mind top of mind.
Post a Comment
<< Home