My house is too small and i hate it!

[Anonymous]

I have cleaned our porch to create a TON of usable space and I will put up weather proof curtains

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think Parisian apartment, not suburban McMansion. And remember that a smaller house means there is less to clean.

Keep the scale of the furniture appropriate to the scale of your house. As tempting as that huge sectional is, don't get it. A smaller sofa and some chairs will fit better. Furniture that is "lighter" will help, too. Skip the skirts on the sofa and chairs; being able to see the legs will add more visual light and space.

Quality over quantity. This goes for clothing, shoes, toys, kitchen tools and gadgets, etc.

Elfa. You can get a lot more usable storage out of a standard closet if you install Elfa. If you have a garage, get industrial-type shelving units and store as much as you can out there. Depending on the ceiling height, you might be able to do shelving across, too, or hang bicycles, etc.

Can you add more shelves to your kitchen cabinets? If they aren't fixed shelves, but adjustable, you can add more. Measure them and go to Home Depot or Lowes for new ones. Made a big difference in our "pantry" and other cabinets, and not terribly expensive.

Don't shop at Costco, unless you are splitting the goods with another family (or several). Who has the storage space for those quantities?

Underbed storage boxes. LOVE these!

Simplify other things. I've started keeping just one or two rolls of gender-neutral wrapping papers. Easier to swap out the ribbons for different looks for different occasions. Glossy white wrapping paper is really pretty, IMHO.

I come from Paris where 1300 sq feet apartment is considered a large space to raise a family of five. And with an average sq foot price of 850 euros (1100 USD) it is not going to change anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

OP, just move. you would be much happier with a little more space. everyone would get along better. you don't need to move to leesburg, but maybe burke/vienna.

[Anonymous]

If selling and moving isn't really in the near future, here are some ideas to make the place more comfortable in the short term:

- In addition to one PP's idea of looking for more space appropriate furniture, look for dual-purpose furniture. For example instead of a coffee table, get an ottoman that has storage inside. Put the ottoman out like a coffee table. When there are only a few, it can be used to put your feet up, if there are extra people, it can be used for additional seating, and it can be used as a coffee table. If you need to put beverages down, you can get a nice wooden serving tray to put on the ottoman and cups can be stable. Additionally, you have storage inside as needed.

- In a kitchen, get a small butcher cart on wheels. It can be an island on normal days. When company comes, you roll it to the side and it can be a drink station or extra counter space. Put a bar stool next to it and it becomes a homework station for kids.

- I had friends who have a small rowhouse and they're dining room table is a drop-leaf table with a narrow middle and each side is a leaf. For most of the time, they only have one leaf up and move the table against the wall. Perfect for just the 2 of them and then it opens up the dining room (which is in the middle of the first floor). When they need space for 4-8, they can put up the 2nd leaf and center the table in the room. It makes getting from front to back of the house a little tight, but works fine for dinner parties.

- Get loft beds where you can have under bed storage and don't need to have separate dressers.

- In my last house, I got a combined secretary that had a drop-down shelf for the computer and desk-stuff. It had two big drawers on the bottom and then the secretary space. I used the cubby for the computer and desk-top, then the bottom shelf for my office storage and the middle drawer was used for guest storage. I eliminated a dresser and the secretary had a smaller footprint than most desks.

Also, make use of vertical space and space towards the ceiling. Mount a TV on the wall and then instead of an entertainment center or TV stand, have a small cabinet for the electronics (I know someone who also mounted a small two-door cabinet on the wall under the TV and put the electronics there. With clear floor space under it, it made a small living room feel much larger without the TV stand). Use tall bookcases and put less often used things on the high shelves (such as seasonal items). In my last office/guest room, I put two long shelves about 18" from the ceiling and put books and other items up there, and was able to get rid of the bookcase in the room.

Just a few ideas for how to make a small space feel bigger. The biggest thing is to increase the amount of open floor space, so find ways of getting furniture with smaller footprints and moving things up the wall instead of along the wall.

[Anonymous]

these tips are great! loving this thread.

family of 3 in 500ft2--hopefully not for too much longer.

[Anonymous]

Another tip. Get one of those Rubbermaid weather-resistant storage lockers. Put it on the screened in porch and put non-perishable storage in there. You can put paper towels, TP, party supplies, garbage bags, etc there and then free up your pantry or cabinets for more supplies. Then you can use the freed up space to clear things off of your counters. Clear counters in the kitchen and bathrooms make them feel much more spacious. Cluttered counters make the space feel smaller.

[Anonymous]

Declutter.

You have too much stuff.

[Anonymous]

Second vote for apartmenttherapy.com. It's awesome for ideas. As for the porch, make your next house splurge getting it re-screened and painted. We spent about 500 on that this summer and it feels new again. We use it 8 months out of the year and I feel like it doubles our small house sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:these tips are great! loving this thread.

family of 3 in 500ft2--hopefully not for too much longer.

Oh, I hear you pp! We're a family of 3 in 700 sq ft and I don't know if I could last in here much longer (we're hoping to move soon too)!

It's nice to know that there are other people in our position!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of those MoCo brick ramblers and it is fine (bought for $350k in 2003, HHI $92k). I'm a fan of the not-so-big-house.
http://www.notsobighouse.com/

You may find that if the space you have is nicely arranged and decorated that you don't need a 'twice as big' house.

Of course, this is America, so it is easier to put a 1000 sf bigbox addition on the back of the house or buy some 4500 sf McMansion.

I love that site too! I live in 1500 square feet, and I've found that the only solution is to declutter all the time. My poor kids keep asking me why their party favors and old homework assignments are in the garbage, but other than that, decluttering is the only way to be happy in a small place. Also, I've tried to keep things streamlined and easy: only white plates and serving dishes, no extra pots and pans, if I don't use a kitchen gizmo in a year I throw it away. The second my children grow out of their clothing, it is given away. Same with toys. Use one color throughout the home. Built-ins and cabinets. NO KNICKNACKS.

I would love a little more room, but overall I'm happy. I hate McMansions, especially those in suburbia, so this is my "life in the city" trade-off.

[Anonymous]

If you have books around, get rid of them. Cleaning will become easier too.

[Anonymous]

A properly sized sectional with a storage ottoman gives you a lot of seating in a relatively small space, and is easier to clean around than many more legs.

Mostly closed storage. Find a wall to line with BILLY bookshelves from IKEA or cabinets with doors. You leave one section open, decorate it sparely and you will have a TON of crap storage that appears clean and open.

Investigate the attic space. Often it's not usable as living space, but you can put some plywood up there and store seasonal stuff and bulk toilet paper and so on.

Make sure you're using the tops of the closets. Elfa is great but expensive, but there are cheaper options, too. I find it's helpful to mock up permanent storage with sturdy cardboard boxes and broomsticks and live with it a bit before springing for the expensive refit.

Declutter, declutter, declutter, DECLUTTER.

[Anonymous]

What you need to do it tear down the old charm shack and rebuild a 4500 SQFT house on the same lot. You'll love the space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What you need to do it tear down the old charm shack and rebuild a 4500 SQFT house on the same lot. You'll love the space.

'cause I'm sure this is a feasible solution for someone with a HHI of $100K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What you need to do it tear down the old charm shack and rebuild a 4500 SQFT house on the same lot. You'll love the space.

^^^ This.

Love having lots of space and keeping all my son's artwork from years gone by and having rooms for photos and books and plants and pottery.