Little Tricky.

..fitting our Florence house into our Charlotte apartment.

Decreased 1600 sq. feet.

Had 3 yard sales.

Truck loads to charities.

Threw away...16 garbage bags

and still. it wouldn't all fit.

Until we discovered tinyhouseblog.com, apartment therapy blog and a little store called IKEA. All have excellent ideas for small space living.

Among the things I've discovered:

1. walls are excellent places to keep things

2. 75% of our stuff was put away, that is now out in the open

3. everything really can be a "station" in your house.

here is a picture of the boys in the living room, opening a party favor from Catherine Canfield's birthday. They loves these, Charissa and Wyatt sleeps with his. :)

our coffee table in the living room. Now arrayed with puzzles and games. The game station, as I like to call it. :)

above our couches in the living room are these shelves (IKEA) with storage boxes. In these, I have "the things I didn't know what else to do with." Photos that haven't made it to an album, old Christmas cards, potpouri, youth ministry binders, dvds, the children's artwork, cds, all of which are labeled on the little white tab in front.

inside the living room looking into the dining area. the arches make it feel more open, which I appreciate. :)
coming in from the front door - the "foyer" looking into the living room.

I've also discovered that we can't have enough bookshelves. We had smaller ones and swapped those out for these (IKEA). One was 50% off because it was used.

laundry room - which is inside the boys' bathroom. Here I keep my ironing board, iron, storm station (red object), cleaning supplies, sheets, humidifier, rags, etc.

one of my favorite "stations". This is clearly a desk. Oh, but not just any desk. It has shelves, drawers and dividers you could never imagine.
it becomes the "home office station" in a matter of seconds. I keep the bills, stationary, my scrapbooking stuff, Wyatt's 'school' stuff, even our computer stored inside this thing, many of my albums, paints, even a battery and lightbulb drawer!

This is in our hallway going to the boys' room. This is their artwork, hung on wire with cute little wire clips. ($4 at IKEA for the whole kit)

Our eating area - looking into the kitchen.

The left wall of the kitchen. The stainless shelves come from IKEA - also the hooks that hold all of our pots and pans, grilling utensils, oven mits and pot lids. On top of the shelf we have well everything. Its in a more convenient place than ever before.

There is a stainless rod ($3 at IKEA) hanging over the window - all of our cooking utensils (most of them) are hanging from it. Never knew I'd like this. But I do. The amount of counter space it frees up is really nice.

3 stainless shelves were mounted by Wes on the side of the normal apartment cabinet. Has been great for quickly grabbing olive oil, garlic pepper, or any easy-reach cooking ingredient.

(IKEA)
Again, a favorite station. Our coffee station. Another $3 rod with hooks to hold our favorite mugs. Also a paper towel holder hanging from the rod to free up counter space.

little magnet boxes that hold pens, business cards, etc. Again, that store I keep mentioning. We have four on our fridge. One for pens, invitations, lists and important numbers. I feel that my fridge has become less stressful.

So its actually been a treat to be able to have quicker, easier access to all of our stuff. I am enjoying it and really appreciate other wiser people who've done this before and can offer their help and suggestions.

Here's to you and your small space.

You can make it work!