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The Loft Style Closet

One of the biggest issues you have to face in living in a small home is the lack of closet space. The obvious solution is to get rid of stuff, but even then you may still find yourself dreaming of a bigger closet. Even before we downsized we did not have walk in closets, but we did each have our own. So when we moved J whipped up some clothing rods for when we lived with my parents because their home, though quite large, does not have any closets because it was built in the 1800’s. 
I am glad he invested in that because we used them again when we stayed in my brother’s basement (no closet there), and again for the world’s longest yard sale (as a display rack), and now we are using them again for our little apartment.
 I use the master bedroom closet, which is quite small, and J uses the pipe closet. He came up with this design on his own so it doesn’t really have a name, but we’ve called it an open closet, the wall-less closet, and for this series I have called it The Loft Style Closet, because it’s urban feel would go perfectly in a studio apartment or an industrial loft. 

If you are feeling handy and want to throw something like this together here are the supplies used 
Materials 

(2) 8 foot 1 1/2 inch threaded plumbing pipe that can be bought at Home Depot or plumbing supply house

(1) 3/4 inch threaded 6 foot plumbing pipe
(2) 1 1/2 X 3/4 T fittings
(2) 1 1/2 floor flanges  
Paint
Screws 
planks of wood  
The first thing you do is screw the 8 foot poles into the 6 foot one using the T fittings. 
Next attach your 8 foot poles to the flanges.
 In our case J welded them, but since welding isn’t the most practical option for everyone you can use flanges that screw on. As shown here. 

The next step is to paint it, but this is optional. J used rust-oleum spray paint to make ours black.
At my parents house he was able to screw the poles right into the wood flooring, but there are a lot of situations where that isn’t an option. In that case you can screw the poles onto a piece of wood to make it stand up on it’s own.
  
Even when we do have our dream closets we will be hanging onto these because they have come in handy on so many occasions. 
What about you? Do you have your dream closet? I’d love to hear from you! 
For more of this series click HERE.
By |2015-05-14T23:15:33+00:00October 30, 2013|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Hope For Homeschooling In Small Spaces

 One of the things I have learned along the way in this journey is how you can homeschool in a very small space. When we had to pull Z out of school last year I just began working with him in the parent lounge in the upper level of SJ’s school, and I was amazed at what we accomplished.

 It made me realize that you can homeschool almost anywhere.

If I had to share one tip for someone homeschooling with limited amount of “classroom” space I would say to become best friends with your local library.

 

I know every library is different, but even the most basic of branches have books, that much I can guarantee. This is a great way to get some free resources and not have to keep them stored. Just use, learn, and return. Our library even had “learning packs” that you check out according to themes like rhyming, manners, music, etc. Each big duffel bag included toys, games, flash cards, books, videos and more that were all focused on that one subject. It was awesome.

Now, I am not a homeschool expert by any means. I just happen to be curious about it and interested in learning more. So I asked some friends of mine to share their input about homeschooling in small spaces.

Jen and her husband have 4 children and have lived in a variety of different apartments and rental properties which all would qualify as small. She is the one that sent me the poem that I posted yesterday and she is the first one I asked to help me share tips on homeschooling in small spaces.

Her number one piece of advice was to keep things simple. When it comes to supplies and curriculum Jen likes to make sure she is using what she has and if not then get rid of it. She also says that their family table is multipurpose. They use it as a dining table, but it is also where they do school.


With three small boys at least one of them has to be running around half naked right? 

Jen not only tolerates having a smaller home, she actually appreciates it. She says “Everyone has varied reasons for homeschooling. However, usually a common denominator regardless of reasons is a desire for togetherness. Small spaces certainly provide that! Yes, some days are hard, but I wouldn’t trade it. I like being able to hear and see what is going on from my perch in the kitchen and I like that it gives us ample reason to choose an intentional lifestyle.”

Lastly Jen pointed me to a great blog resource, Raising Life Long Learners (which has tons of info on homeschooling in small spaces), and Philippians chapter 4 (an encouragement for moms in the thick of this stuff). I will definitely be checking those out.

I also want to introduce you to another friend of mine. 
Andrea is the lady I called up when I began teaching Z. She has tons of helpful advice, especially when it comes to homeschooling boys, because she has 6 of them.
That’s right, SIX! 
Andrea and her husband made do with 1,600 square feet for the longest time. They did eventually add on, but she said there is still not a ton of room to work with. I can imagine. When I asked her advice about homeschooling in small spaces she talked about using the dining room table too.
She likes to buy educational place mats (including the ASL alphabet, which makes me grin), she then covers the table with a clear table cloth she buys by the yard at Hobby Lobby.
Andrea has lots of little organizational tips like keeping art/school supplies in an over the door shoe pouch hanger, or having a “locker’ for each child which she uses crates for.
One thing I thought was neat about both ladies is that they are not trying to duplicate the traditional school environment. If you want to have a desk or a locker in your home then that might be fun, but I like the idea of learning in the home environment and just embracing that.
Let’s talk about one more friend. Ashley and her family are always on the move because of her husbands job. 
This pic of Ashley has nothing to do with homeschooling. I just wanted to show it because it’s cute.
This means small and temporary living quarters. 
It would be difficult, or impossible to switch school districts non stop, so they have chosen to homeschool on the go and it’s worked out extremely well. They use an online program called k12 which brings the virtual classroom to the student, and because it is a charter school it is completely free!

Her boys have been able to learn about the world while traveling through it!

If you are waiting for the ideal space and the perfect situation to start taking charge of your children’s education then consider some of these stories. Homeschooling isn’t for everybody, but if it is something you desire then be encouraged that there is lots HOPE, even for the littlest homeschool.
Check out my index page for more of this series
By |2015-05-25T23:15:56+00:00October 29, 2013|Lifestyle, Schooling, Simple Living|35 Comments
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Sunday Quote

The following poem was sent to me by a friend after we moved into our little apartment and these photos are little glimpses of our life here. 

Love grows best in little houses


With fewer walls to separate


Where you eat and sleep so close together

You can’t help but communicate

If we had more room between us

think of all we’d miss
Love grows best, in houses just like this


By |2015-05-14T23:15:33+00:00October 28, 2013|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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Christmas In Small Spaces

Christmas is 2 months away! Just thinking about it makes me reflect on some of my all time favorite Christmas celebrations. Coincidentally they all took place in small and unusual circumstances. I remember spending our first Christmas as newly weds at a hotel because we were visiting my parents who were not in their new house yet.

I remember another Christmas in a hotel when we spent the holidays helping out after hurricane Katrina down in New Orleans.

 Our last Christmas in our Texas home was really special too. We had to keep everything simple because of our house being on the market, but we still managed to pull out the little Christmas tree that we’ve had forever, which adorns a silly little aluminum foil star. We opened a few presents with the kids before heading off to church and that was that.

 All three of these Christmases were beautiful and I will never ever forget them, but my favorite Christmas was spent in a hospital.

*The following paragraphs were taken from a blog post I wrote 5 years ago. 

I have shared before that my little brother had Luekemia and for years he was in and out of the hospital getting treatments.  This particular winter he was there exclusively. When it snowed we brought it to him in a Tupperware container so that he could enjoy some of it too. For Christmas that year our family of six piled into the tiny hospital room full of presents and our attempts at decorations. I remember getting a life size doll that year. By life size I mean she was probably 3 feet tall. When you are young, good things do not come in small packages no matter what anyone tries to convince you. So you can image I was thrilled to see this gigantic present all wrapped up with my name on it! 

It might not seem like the picture perfect Christmas. My parents finances were stretched to the limits, we were away from home, our youngest family member had a terminal illness, but somehow that is the Christmas that we all look back on and agree was our favorite. We had the gift of time, precious time as a family. It didn’t matter if there were fluorescent lights instead of a fireplace, or doctors and nurses instead of grandparents and cousins. It was our last family Christmas altogether and there were no disappointments because we cherished it in that moment not knowing what the future would bring and we still cherish it today.

Reminiscing about that time in our lives reminds me in some ways of this place that we are at now. It doesn’t feel like the ideal situation, but this Christmas is one that I look forward to and am expecting great things (and I don’t mean presents, although those are nice too). 
Maybe you are planning on a simple Christmas this year, or maybe you are having Christmas away from home. No matter what the circumstances are, just know that the true spirit of Christmas can be found in a hospital, or a hotel room, or a tiny apartment. No place is too small or too simple, not even a humble stable. 

This post is a part of a 31 day series. You can find the rest on my index page. Thank you for stopping by. 
By |2015-05-14T23:15:33+00:00October 25, 2013|Uncategorized|3 Comments
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One Happy Camper Party

Yesterday I showed part 1 of Ezie’s birthday party and today I am going to share 10 party details that made this event in our little home so special!

1. I already posted the invitations

2. And the party favors for the kids

3. This banner was really special because it was made by my sister in law and sent all the way from Texas to Ohio just for us!

4. . We downloaded a campfire video with audio (found on youtube) and had it playing on our TV during the party. We also had camping chairs to sit in, which were both practical and decorative.

5. I found this camping cake idea online and put my own spin on it.

6. I had these one year photos of Ezie along with one year photos of his siblings, parents, grandfathers, and one great grandfather (1929)! The poem says
I’m a year old and looking real cute
 sitting on a log in my flannel and boots
because because baby pictures are so much fun
Here’s more of my family when they were all ONE!

 

and here is me, Z, and my dad pointing to our photos.

 

7. The kids room was transfomed into a “Fort Building Station” Most of the printables I used are form here.

8. The kitchen counter became a trail mix bar

8. The mason jars had thank you notes and photos of the birthday boy for the guest’s party favors.

9. The birthday cake candle was a part of the campfire flame, it was really cool to see it have real fire and smoke!

 

10. Outside was a camping set for presents and drinks, but since it DID rain (thank goodness I nixed the original outdoor camping idea) we moved most of these items inside.

 

I hope this list is helpful to anyone looking for camping party ideas and that it is inspirational for those living in small spaces. You can decorate and celebrate in a little home!
This post is part of my 31 day series. Find more HERE.
By |2017-01-06T14:33:03+00:00October 24, 2013|Uncategorized|4 Comments
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A BIG Milestone in a Small Space

This post is part of a 31 day series. You can find my index page here. 

I love throwing parties for my kids, and this month we had a big birthday, but I wasn’t sure how to do it with such limited space. I knew I wanted Ezie’s theme to be One Happy Camper. I had been dreaming it up for a while. That’s what I do when I can’t sleep. I just plan parties in my head. However my idea of actually going camping was making me nervous because the last three weather related activities I planned got rained out.

If you are planning an event and have a small home you pretty much have two options. You can keep your guest list relatively small or you can take your party elsewhere. For Ezie’s birthday we did both.

I only invited my immediate family. My parents and both of my brother’s families. There are 13 of us altogether.

This minimal guest list allowed me to get more creative with the invitations.

I had the birthday boy put orange and yellow hand prints on blank cards and glued painted popsicle sticks to look like a camp fire. It was really sweet, but it would have been difficult to pull off if we had to make any more.

The party began with dinner at a local restaurant. While we were there I gave the kids their party favors to keep our campers happy during meal time.

 

The party bags had a camping scene with the recipients picture inside a tent and were each full of camp themed goodies. (scroll to the end for exact dimensions and more details)

Watching the kids light up as they saw their pictures and pulled out their prizes made my heart overflow with joy! I was thrilled with how it all turned out.

After the restaurant we headed back to the apartment for cake, presents, and a little fort building. I will share about that half tomorrow.

For now here is a “how to” for my camping party favor bags.

 You will need:
1 Brown paper lunch bag for each guest
yellow/white paper or a small print out of a sun or moon
green paper (half an 8×11 sheet for each guest)
blue paper (half an 8 x11 sheet for each guest)
a small photo of each ‘camper’
camping party favors *I’ve got plenty of ideas to choose from

Most paper bags are going to be about 5.5″ X 11″. I just cut sporadically and guesstimated on all of these (and it shows). For those that are more precise here are some measurments that I took from one of the bags I pulled apart.

The sky is going to be 5.5 x 7.25 inches
The grass is 5.5 X 4.5 inches
The tent is about 4 inches high and 4.25 inches wide.

To make the tent begin by cutting a 4 inch wide (approximately 8 inches long) strip of paper. Then fold each side diagnolly to make a triangle (it will have points hanging down that you will cut off).
.

You will end up cutting the each flap two times. Sorry, the only picture I have is this crumpled up one that I pulled off of one of the kids bags. Hopefully I will have a chance to update this later.

I printed the sun and moon out on white paper, but you could make one yourself. Mine were 2×2 inches.

The photo inside is 2 inches high as well.

I think it goes without saying, but glue all the pieces on your bag to make a camping scene. I ran out of blue paper which is why half of my campers are in the dark.

I liked both version. I might have used a dark navy for the night sky if I had planned it ahead.

Equally as fun was the contents inside.

 Here are some ideas along with where you can find them

Clif Kids fruit rope (Kroger organice setion )
Honey Maid s’mores Grahamfuls (Kroger cookie section)
Compass (8 pack at the Dollar Tree)
Magnifying glass (Party City 33 cents each )
Mini Camera that shows pictures when you click the shutter (Party City 48 cents each)

I also thought about doing Pop Rocks, but couldn’t find any and later on  I saw these Keebler snacks and thought they were adorable.

If you had a lot of guests and you wanted to keep it simple you could just send the kids home with some Bug Bites!

I think that’s it for my ONE Happy Camper party favor set. More camping party ideas coming tomorrow!

By |2015-05-14T23:15:33+00:00October 23, 2013|Uncategorized|3 Comments
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Three Life Lessons That Forced Me To Simplify

When we lived in 1,800 square feet and had only one child we were already feeling cramped. Imagine that? We were stuffed with stuff. I found this video (which was a messy mom video series I did EXACTLY 5 years ago called Mystery of the Missing Shoe). I had just emptied out Z’s closet which was chock full of every baby item from boppy to bumbo.

Then we had our second child and the clutter grew.

And when she was a little older this shipment of hand-me-downs came in.

And we were so grateful and I loved and used all of this stuff, but 
our hoarding ways could only hold up for so long. Luckily life would intervene and teach us some valuable lessons about living with less. 
Lesson #1 Living In A House That Is For Sale

In 2011 when we put our house on the market I knew enough about real estate to know that over flowing closets and cupboards are not appealing. So I started to reduce the clutter. We sold A LOT and packed up all the baby items that we wouldn’t be needing for a long long time. Showing a house with small children is difficult of course, because real life isn’t staged, but there were some aspects of it I loved. I loved having more space in my closet and seeing my counter tops. This was my first lesson in decluttering.

Lesson #2 Having A Baby When Your Baby Items Are In Storage 

After we sold our house we found out we did need the baby stuff after all (surprise!), but most of it was tucked away and not retrievable. We were able to access some of it, but there are a lot of items I still don’t know what happened to. This was lesson #2, having a baby without all the baby stuff. When I participated in the world’s longest yard sale I was reluctant to get rid of the baby baggage because what if we have more kids? But then I reminded myself that I did have another baby and without any of that STUFF. If I did it once I could do it again. We still have some special things, but no more walker, exercauser, snoogie, or tubs and tubs of clothes. I learned that a baby doesn’t need much. It’s great if you have those items and you have a place for them, but if not, don’t sweat it. Your baby will be just as happy wearing a sleeper and playing with a plastic measuring cup.

Lesson #3 Moving Into An Apartment

The final stage in gradually learning to live with less was moving to the third story of an apartment building. I mention the floor we moved to because of the stairs. Carrying everything up three flights of stairs makes you really consider how much you need it. Then again moving 3 times in less than two years makes you think about letting go a little too. If someone had told me 5 years ago when I recorded the video of Z’s closet that we would have two more kids and have less than half of the amount of space I would say they were crazy! Yet, here we are. I am glad it happened in the order it did so that we could warm up to the idea.

I just hope that when we do have a house of our own again we will have learned our lesson. Less is more. Right Ludwig?

For more of this series check out the index page


By |2015-05-14T23:15:34+00:00October 22, 2013|Uncategorized|2 Comments
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Hang It!

One way to create extra storage and make use of the space that you have is by hanging things.

First off, you can always add an extra floating shelves for practical or decorative purposes. The obvious choice here is Ikea. How can I do a series about living in small spaces without talking about Ikea? We got these from the clearance section for $2. They were just a little banged up but you can’t see the dings at all and did I mention they were two bucks?

 

We have a lot of Ikea stuff in our bathroom too,

 
like these simple shelves for our toothbrushes (photo above) and towels (photo below).


The eyesore spots on the wall are from where there used to be a towel rod.

Then inside the shower we have even more things hanging (which we bought at a thrift store).

We also put hooks (from the dollar tree) on all of our doors because it’s so easy peasy to hang things like towels, hats, or a jacket.

 

My favorite hanging thing of all though  is my fruit basket!

We had this awkward empty space over the sink that was just sitting there doing nothing. I searched online to see if I could find a cute hanging fruit basket, but then it occurred to me that anything that could hold fruit and be hung up could serve this purpose.

 

J found this bin at the thrift store and I have just loved it ever since. 

There is actually still a lot of unfinished work for our apartment. I have Zero photos hanging on the wall (CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?) and I bought some Ikea hooks to hang the kid’s backpacks when they aren’t at school, but they are still in the package. It’s all a work in progress. Still, the idea is use your wall space to open up your floors and counter space a little more. A little can go a long way.
What do you have hangin’ around in your house? Leave a comment, I love hearing from you!

For more of this series click HERE.

By |2015-05-14T23:15:34+00:00October 21, 2013|Uncategorized|5 Comments
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Less Is More

We’ve all heard the saying “Less is More” even if it was in the Charmin Ultra commercial. But does anyone know where it came from? 

Even though phrase dates back to a poem written in 1855, it was made popular by  furniture designer Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe who was one of the founders of the modern simplistic style that we are all familiar with today. 
I really admire his work. What’s ironic to me though is how the man who was famous for saying “less more” had a name that was longer than the quote he itself (25 letters vs 12). Maybe Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe’s was so tired of saying his name that he finally decided to make a declaration that less is more. Who knows? 

By |2015-05-14T23:15:34+00:00October 20, 2013|Uncategorized|3 Comments
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Sharing a Bathroom

Check out my index page for the rest of this series.

Yesterday I talked about bedroom sharing and today I want to touch on bathroom sharing. As you can imagine our 800 square foot apartment only has one bathroom, which also seconds as an indoor pool.

The baby doesn’t use the toilet, but he does bathe so that makes 4.5 peeps sharing one bathroom. Most of my childhood was spent in a home where the 6 of us shared one bathroom and I never thought anything of it. My mom grew up in a family of 8 and they shared one bathroom. My mother in law grew up in a family of 8 as well and they didn’t even have a bathroom. They used an out house and warm water from the kitchen was used to fill a wash tub for bath time. Statistics form the U.S. Census bureau show that the average home had one bathroom all the way from the 1960’s to as late as 1991. Then it increased to one and a half bathrooms. The 2011 Survey showed that for the first time ever the median residence was found to have 2 or more bathrooms and that is still the average today. 

I have nothing against having multiple bathrooms, but it’s not the necessity that most Americans see it as. These days so many of our modern day conveniences solve one problem while creating another. 

Cars and elevators mean we have to make more of a conscious effort to exercise our bodies via gym memberships and exercise equipment.  

Social networking and cell phones present a new struggle in being focused on the people that are in front of us live and in the flesh. 

Families used to have to share a TV, a phone, and a bathroom, and now we have to go to counseling to figure out why our families are so disconnected.

 Of course families in the 1950’s had problems too. I am not saying the good old days were perfect, but there are some aspects of simpler times that we can certainly learn from and apply to our lives today. That or we might as well watch our society go down the toilet! Just kidding. 

How many bathrooms did you have in you childhood home? How many do you have now? I’d love to hear more perspectives. 

By |2015-05-14T23:15:34+00:00October 18, 2013|Uncategorized|6 Comments
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