Continuing on with our little tour, today I'll show you the kids' areas in our new 896-sq.-foot home.
In our last home, Girl 1's enormous bedroom was nearly the size of this house (it was actually designed to be a family room), so the kids have definitely downsized A LOT.
There's no room for the laundry basket in the bathroom or their bedroom! But this little corner is a pretty good spot for it.
An over-the-toilet rack creates a place for towels and hair-fixins in the kids' bathroom. The under-sink cabinet is just one big hole, so a plastic drawer unit helps make better use of that space.
So, this room is really only large enough for the furniture you see here. Yep. They are all three piled into this room. Now, before you go feeling too sorry for them:
1. This is temporary.
2. Have you seen their playhouse? Or soccer field? Or basketball court? Or trails to explore? Or pond to fish? Or . . .
Pretty much all they do in here is sleep.
This room actually reminds me of my dorm room my freshman year. My suitemates and I moved both sets of bunk beds into one dorm room and set the other room, connected by a bathroom, up as a living area. The "sleeping room" as we called it, pretty much stayed dark at all times. If you'd pulled an all-nighter studying for a test and needed to crash mid-afternoon, you could do so in the sleeping room, even as your suitemates were busy playing Duck Hunt in the next room. Sorry. Random memory. But, that's what the kids' space reminds me of. ;)
Notice the quilts? Instead of storing the meaningful quilts handed down by my grandmothers, we've put them into use as the kids' bedspreads. Little Boy gets the top bunk -- he's the only one who can sit up without hitting his head on the ceiling!
In an effort to make use of vertical space above Girl 1's bed, we put up a shelf that is high enough to be out of the way and just low enough to make use of those storage cubes. Her bed is also on risers so that I can stow things underneath in under-the-bed boxes. What things? Well, I happen to know that my casserole tote that I use for church potlucks is down there as well as the extra sets of sheets.
A shoe tower tucked behind the closet door gets shoes off the floor. Hooks corral necklaces, "explorer's vests," belts, and more. A mirror creates the illusion of more space.
Plastic storage drawers tucked into the corner of the closet serve as their dresser and house undies, pajamas, and socks. Everything else is hanging, with Little Boy's things on the bottom of the double rod so that his items are within reach.
I definitely would not call the kids' bathroom or bedroom "spacious." These are tight spaces that house pretty much only the necessities. Living this tightly with the brood brings us to tip #2 for living in small spaces.
Tip #2 for Living in Small Spaces:
Only attempt living in a small space with people that you love.
And I do mean people. Girl 2 asked whether we could let one of the cats live inside, and I asked her if she thought she might accidentally bump the litter box that lived at the foot of the bed while she was sleeping because I couldn't think of any other place in here that it might go. She dropped it.
Also, in our house, no Furbies are allowed. I definitely do not have loving feelings toward the Furbies. And this house is just too small! (If you are "lucky" enough to have a Furby at your house, you know what I'm talking about.) Furbies have been banished to the playhouse.
Even living with people you love, you're bound to step on a few toes and need a little space from time to time. I've spent time talking to the kids about this. About mid-day Girl 2 starts to act like she needs a little time alone. We've had to talk about how that time can't be spent in the bedroom with the door closed because that's space that belongs to other people, too. Now, when she needs a little alone time, she heads to the goat field or the basketball court or for a little walk in her explorer's vest. It's not long before she comes back excited about some new outdoor discovery, gathers up her siblings, and they all head out together.