How small is your house?

[dreamsandshadows]

We bought a very smalll house in july--it is 718 sf it is very easy to heat and maintain, but really small! We bought it with the idea of easy care and low cost maintanance. It is just the 2 of us, so we do not need alot of space but it is still challenging, especially when we have company. There is no dining room and the kitchen is too small to have more than 2 people eating in it. Anyone else live in a small house? Any storage ideas?

[Ms. Ferret]

If I were living in a very small space, I'd take a cue from my childhood furnishings (folding tables and zabuton cushions) and nix the dining room set. We used to have 15-20 people over for Thanksgiving dinner this way -- three or four large folding tables, everyone sitting on zabuton (or these weird padded folding chairs with no legs, I don't know what they're called). After dinner, the tables would get re-folded and stored, and the zabuton would go into a pile in the corner. It does depend on your own preferences though, since most people I know who did not grow up sitting on the floor are not comfortable doing so.

[trustno1]

my house is 4x that size and I live alone. Not exactly the poster boy for frugal living, eh...lol. It is because I have so many tools/art supplies. I am a "project" person, always experimenting or building something.

I did live in a two room log cabin at the base of PikesPeak for 3yrs. Storage???? Built 6" risers for bed posts to store things under bed. Lots of "MurphyBed" type furnishings...(tables dropped down from wall (like an ironing board), built a "sundeck" on the roof, I had a tiny "vaulted" ceiling in one room, which I framed with open rafters for storage, several "bunk bed" type little covered sheds I built in "backyard" and used cheap tents to keep bugs/wildlife/bears out of them. I also had fireplace, but installed a wood/coal stove...I spent $0 on heat, as I stopped by the local lumber company and hauled oak pallets home, then cut them up for fuel.

If I go "small" again...I would just buy a motorhome (not a "trailer") and live in it. More fun.

[gt0163c]

Originally Posted by trustno1

my house is 4x that size and I live alone. Not exactly the poster boy for frugal living, eh...lol.

I'm not the poster kid for small living anymore either. I currently have an 1865 square foot house all to myself (well, me and two cats). It's more than I really need, but I can readily afford it, like having the extra space and love that it's easy for me to host events at my house. I recently had friends over and we played croquet in the foyer/living room/kitchen. Not quite a regulation field, but it was a lot of fun and, with it being rainy and nasty outside, better than not playing.

But in college I lived in my share of small dorms and apartments and I lived in a couple of small apartments when I first got out of school. For storage solutions, think vertical. All of my clothing closets had a shelf or two along the floor and multiple shelves above the clothes rack. Milk crates and plastic bins kept things organized. I didn't hang things from the center of the ceiling in the closet, but I do that now. I installed a couple of hooks, hung pulleys off those hooks and suspend my sleeping bag and a bag with comforters/bulky linens in my master closet.
I made space under beds, couches, tables and desks for shelves or buckets/baskets. Bed and table skirts helped to hide things. I also wasn't above storing things in unusual places. Books sometimes ended up in unused dresser drawers. Stockpiled canned goods got stored in bathroom drawers.

[Ms. Ferret]

One thing about my current apartment is a lack of closet space (more important to girls than guys, probably). My bedroom closet has a water heater in it that takes up maybe 25-30% of the total space, meaning very limited rod and shelf storage.

I've gotten around this by getting some hanging shelves (like these. Drawers are added for small items like socks and underwear. T-shirts and trousers get tightly rolled and stored on the shelves cubbyhole-style (not flat like in the picture). Smaller items that don't merit their own hangers (tights, long underwear, tank tops, scarves, etc) get rolled and shoved into one of those narrower hanging shelves they make for shoes. This is how I'm able to get away with not having a dresser.

I make the most of the rest of the short closet rod by using plastic hangers with the little hooks that let you "monkey hang" them from each other -- skirts and blouses can share the same space instead of having to be hung next to each other on the rod. I also installed an extra shelf above the water heater to hold light, bulky items - big wooly hats and gloves and sweaters and such.

[CheapZilla]

Originally Posted by dreamsandshadows

We bought a very smalll house in july--it is 718 sf it is very easy to heat and maintain, but really small! We bought it with the idea of easy care and low cost maintanance. It is just the 2 of us, so we do not need alot of space but it is still challenging, especially when we have company. There is no dining room and the kitchen is too small to have more than 2 people eating in it. Anyone else live in a small house? Any storage ideas?

Yeah, that is certainly small even for 2 people in my opinion (with my messy lifestyle in mind). Our family of 6 lived in a 1200 sq foot apartment for many years. We made do with what we had. We now live in a 2500 sq ft place which I think is still small for 6 people. Time for some of us to move out!!!
Agree with you, 718 sq ft may be enough for 2 with normal people. Not somebody like me!!! But the guests thing would be a bit of a problem. You might have to rent a place for extra storage. Or if you have a back year, perhaps a shed??

[trustno1]

When I was newly divorced and of course..."broke", I had a one bedroom apt. for awhile with my (then 3yr old) daughter.

It was actually fun to try and invent ways to cram all of my stuff into such a small place. I framed a wall (including door opening) across the living room to create a bedroom for my daughter (which I tore down at move-out). I built loft beds...sleep on bed on top, and underneath is office set up or playroom.

Desk drawers and cabinets became work benches and storage bins. Nothing was really used for the purpose it was manufactured for...lol It was fun...well, for awhile anyway.

[SouthShoreGirl]

I am not sure how big it is, but we have a smallish 3 bedroom-1 bath extended ranch/cape. It's big enough for our family I think. We also live in an area with really high COL so when I think how much "house" we can get elsewhere for what we are paying in our monthly mortgage and taxes where we live............it can be quite upsetting.

[JohnD4980]

I live in a 600sqft wheelchair accessible home with a disabled wife. It is amazing we built it last year.

I do not understand why 2 to 3 people need a huge home. In our area, the push is for cheap homes that are huge. I guess it is up to you what you want, but we love it...

[lucille]

We were renting a very small house a few years ago. What made it so miserable was the layout. The hallways, bathroom & kitchen were so narrow you could not bend or squat to reach anything and I am not a huge person. If they had made most of the home an open floor plan or altered how rooms went together It wouldn't have been so bad. Layout and use of space makes a big difference.