Our small home - random thoughts and storage solutions

As mentioned in a previous post, we have a lovely small home of about 101 sq m (1087 sq ft) - not including our garage, deck, and porch. And we have no intention of moving or upsizing. It's not that it's new, modern, or in perfect condition (it's none of the above) - it just has a feel about and is in a location that I really feel quite happy and settled in.

While this would be considered a "first home", there isn't a lot of reason for us to go bigger. We have 3 small double bedrooms, two living areas (although not closed off as the house if fairly open-plan), two toilets (one shares with a shower and the other shares with a bathtub), and a decent sized laundry and kitchen. While we don't have a spare room for that "home office", or "study", or "guest bedroom", or "craft/sewing room", I figure that one day we will - two in fact! lol

I love the area we live in. It's in walking distance to a few local shops, beaches, cafes, parks, school, Keas/Cubs, and friends' houses. It's also an older, more established part of town which just gives it so much character and community. Our section is an original Kiwi 1/4 acre with loads of space for the kids to have their outdoor play, trees to climb, and plenty of space for vege and herb gardens and for keeping chickens.

And more in its favour, I have recently found out that our snug little area is tucked into a 'tsunami safe' zone (depending on the size of it I guess) despite being right near the beach.

What more could we want?

Well, for one, storage solutions have always been a bit of a challenge! Fortunately, I am a bit of a declutterer and always have been. So I don't have years of stuff still hanging around and don't tend to accumulate much stuff even when settled in a home for a while (although it still amazes me how I manage to donate a box or two every 3-4mths??). This has still meant it's been tricky finding places for basic things such as: the vacuum cleaner, the freezer, the dog's bed, kids toys, books, books, books, shoes/bags/coats, ironing board (where is that thing?), guest bedding, travel bags, craft/sewing supplies, and generally anything over and above day-to-day living items!

But over the years, and as our needs change, we have found solutions that are both practical as well as not creating an eye-sore.

The kids toys have gone through several transformations. When they were littler, we had most of their toys in a portion of the lounge as I preferred they were out with us playing rather than tucked away in their bedrooms (plus, they just much preferred to be where we were). As they've gotten older, we've been able to reallocate toys to their rooms, where now we really only have the dollshouse and boardgames in a part of the living room behind the couches where we don't have to look at them while relaxing (Nathan's Lego has just moved).

Then there's the laundry. We were able to close off one door from the hallway. On the laundry side it created a space perfect for the upright freezer with the vacuum cleaner squeezed down beside it (and a drying rack slid down the other side). Opposite that in front of the back door we have the dog's bed. I also have a small cabinet squished in there for my herbs and sewing paraphenalia. It really isn't the most practical of rooms, and things certainly need a bit of shuffling around to make it all fit.

On the other side of that laundry/hallway door I have recently hung up a door-mounted hook arrangement to hang coats and bags, and underneath that, a shelf for all our shoes (these were relocated from the messy front door arrangement).

In my hallway I had a large shelf unit with all my sewing fabrics on it - exposed to the world (where the shoe rack now is)! While it was good to have easy access to them and find what I wanted, it really bugged me that they were "all out there". So we also recently managed to get this into one half of Danielle's wardrobe (her wardrobe actually has a bunch of stuff that doesn't belong to her).



A wide hallway makes it possible to use the hallway for storage.

This scotch chest holds other crafting materials, kids crafting materials, stationery and has a few small miscellaneous junk drawers (I need to have one or two of these to store those bits and bobs until they can be reallocated).

Then there's our room. When we bought this place 9yrs ago we remodelled our wardrobe. We had several deep shelves put in up high. These store our camping sleeping bags, guest bedding, travel bags, christmas decorations, and anything else that needs a home!

So it really is a shuffling exercise, but I also think it keeps us on our toes to not accumulate and really assess just what we bring into our home. Fortunately we have a small garage to use as a temporary dumping zone before sorting (it can't stay in here too long as it's used for Simon's bikes and our tools and garden stuff etc).

Twitching fingers ... decluttering time again

This seems to just hit me from out of the blue every now and again (maybe it's been triggered from being laid-low for a few days). And when it does hit, it does so in a big way. I did a huge declutter a couple of years ago and it felt great (not that I'm really a hoarder, just things just seem to accumulate without being shifted out when they could have). I tend to trust that as we need things, that they will find their way to us, and they generally do. I've only regretted a couple of things that I've gotten rid of, and even then, it's more an inconvenience rather than a deep regret.

After watching the kids a few days back pushing their way past (and grumbling about) all the Lego in the lounge to get to the new little table I picked up a few weeks back, I asked Nathan if he had any other ideas on what to do about the Lego situation (it's usually just folded into a large play mat and pushed into the side of the wall unless we (I) feel like picking it completely up). He immediately suggested using a large container from his bedroom that currently holds Marble Run pieces. He said he doesn't play with it anymore (or enough) and to get rid of that and put the Lego in the bin, which can then be stored in his bedroom. I then asked if they wanted to go through all their toys and do a bit of a clear out since it's been a while. Well, the kids whooped and jumped for glee at the thought of doing that and proceeded to ask me when I was ready to get started lol.

So, while it was the addition of the little table in the corner that has caused the change in our needs, I can also recognise that we actually are due to move with the times and that the kids just are that bit older now at 6 and almost 8.

Danielle's room in particular is a bit overwhelming with bags, little bits and pieces, beads, play money and the likes. And a lot of things that don't really get played with or used (but often loaded into the little bags). I know it's going to be me in that case who needs to let go and trust that she knows what she does and doesn't want. She also seems to have more clothes than Nathan (and more than she really needs) - not because I've bought them for her, just that she gets hand-me-downs, which I am grateful for, that I then put into circulation even if they're not required.

Four hours later I emerged from their rooms. There was far less to get rid of that I expected (and mostly donatable), and realised, that what we have has been in our house for so long because a lot of what we have is just so open-ended in use and suitable for ages 2-6+ (with new things coming in as they become age appropriate - they just don't seem to have grown out of a lot of their things). Nathan still plays with his wooden train track and wooden blocks (he got the train track at age 3 and the blocks for his 1st birthday)! Neither are used in the same way they were originally, but still serve many purposes.

Still, it feels good to have gone through it all and given the dust bunnies a good chase out. We also found a few MIA items, so all good.

While we don't live in a minimalist home (and I don't strive for one as I like all my familiar and favourite bits out there to enjoy), I do like for (most) things to have a home and to be returned back there every day. We don't live in an immaculate home by far though! I have had to really think our storage systems over the years since we live in a fairly small home by modern standards with a floor space of approx. 101 sq m (1087 sq ft) with only two small storage cupboards - located in the laundry (one of them contains a few shelves for linen above the hot water cylinder). I like our small home though, and the way it is laid out really makes it seem a decent size, and allows us to use every part efficiently (not much space lost on the hallway for example, and where the hallway starts, it's wide, so can easily take a large scotch chest, coat/shoe/bag storage, and tall bookshelf without looking crowded). I think I might do another post on some of my storage solutions that we've tried out over the years (I'm also a constant rearranger!).

Easter seems to have passed us by this year...we didn't do any specific crafting, and the kids just had some chocolate eggs that we'd saved from an egg hunt a few weeks back (they came home with so many that it just made sense to put some away!) LOL.