Guest post from Suzi
I’ve noticed some of the “smaller living” posts on MoneySavingMom.com lately and wanted to share our story.
We are a homeschooling family of five (plus an 85 lb. German Shepherd) living in a 990 sq. ft. downtown Chicago loft. We relocated four years ago from a 2800 sq. ft. ranch home. Not only did we downsize our living space, but we’ve completely changed the way we now think about our home and what we actually need.
We knew that downsizing would take effort and careful consideration, but having lived it now for four years, we now know that we are a changed family.
Things we used to consider necessary or “worth holding onto,” we now think of in a completely different way. We’ve managed to shift our thinking and boil it down to a few key principles.
Our main philosophy is: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” – William Morris.
Our family’s key principles to living small:
1. Purge everything you don’t need before you attempt to organize your space.
Purge on a regular basis — especially if you are in a purging mood. I get rid of a lot of “stuff” and I can’t say there is one thing I miss or have needed after the purging it. Shocker alert – I even got rid of my crock pot last year because I realized the few things I did use it for, I could make on the stove top!
Be super selective about what you keep and pare down to the absolute minimum. I promise that if at first this seems difficult, you will be so glad you did in the long run. Living with less means less to organize in the future, less to keep clean, less to FIND A PLACE FOR and with all the LESS in your life, you’ll have so much more time for other, MORE important things!
You’re not going to hurt anyone’s feeling if you get rid of something. The card someone sent you last year was thoughtful and meaningful and how nice of that person to think of you. However, in short, it’s paper. Which in turn becomes piles and boxes of paper.
Keep things that are most meaningful, don’t keep everything anyone has ever given to you. We have a “keep box” that is in actuality a drawer. Things that we find meaningful, kids art, notes, and special cards, go into this drawer. At the end of each year we sit down and go through what is inside. We again, revisit each item and purge yet again. The most important items, we place in a large ziptop bag, label it with the year and place it with previous year collections in a bankers box). This helps us not only stay organized but to save what is truly meaningful to our family.
If you buy a new items, commit to getting rid of an old one. We have a pretty bare bone approach to the items we do have. Take the kitchen as an example. We have one spatula, two serving spoons, one set of measuring cups, one set of pots and pans, etc.
I truly ask myself, when do I use this? If it’s a cake pan I use once a year, I likely don’t need it. If, for some reason something breaks, then I can go buy a new one and have a reason to get rid of the item I’m replacing. It’s amazing what spacious kitchen cabinets can do for mood and organization.
Consider not having so many knick-knacks in your home. For us, these are not something we consider useful in our home. Because we don’t have a lot of space to put things, like shelves or nooks, we’ve decided to not have many knick-knacks. They need a place, they need to be dusted regularly, and they don’t always go well with three little ones running around!
2. Make sure your efforts are sustainable.
This seems like an easy solution, but it really is a tough one. It’s tough to get in the habit of keeping something organized that you spent so much time organizing in the first place!
When we organize something, we think about it long term and ask ourselves, is this really an easy and effective way to store something. Will it be easy to put “away” and is it accessible and sustainable? Over the years, we’ve tweaked and made adjustments to areas that were not sustainable and after constant effort, we’ve (for the most part) got it down. The best advice here is stick with it. There is a proper place for everything. Which brings me to my next point…
You don’t need to buy all kinds of fancy organizing “equipment” in order to get organized. If you don’t already have a place or location for something, you might not need it in the first place. Use the space you currently have and work with it. No need to add more stuff to hold all your stuff!
Always take the time to put things away, BEFORE doing anything else. Now, I know as a parent, this one is easy to overlook, but I promise it’s completely doable (even with crying kids at the door, or tantrums in the car making it so you can’t even get in the door)! Been there, done that too.
When it’s 6:00, you’re just walking in the door from hours of kids’ activities or work, you have three little ones that are hungry, cranky and need dinner and baths, it’s super easy to throw down your jackets, shoes, bags, etc. and make a beeline for the kitchen to get the train moving just so you can have some peace and quiet, STAT! However, if you just take the extra 1-2 minutes to hang up the coats, ask the kids to put their shoes away and unpack bags, it prevents a few things from happening.
- It prevents you from having a “catch all” area that contributes to frustration and disorganization later.
- It prevents YOU from having to go back and do it later, when all you really want to do it sit down and relax for the first time today.
- It’s a missed opportunity to show your children an easy way to take responsibility for their belongings and where they should properly be put away when they are finished with them.
3. Be prepared to put forth consistent and continued effort.
It takes constant effort from everyone in the family to assess and reassess their belongings on a regular basis. It takes teamwork and a shared philosophy that together WE can make this work and, therefore, we can enjoy the small, shared space that much more!
We consistently go through things, talk about them, discuss them and make decisions on them. Our children know that 990 sq. ft. can only hold so much, and over the years they’ve become quite the critical thinkers. They ask themselves the questions that my husband and I ask ourselves when it comes to our things. They make difficult decisions and are not only gaining reasoning skills, but learning that “stuff” is exactly that…it’s stuff. And what is truly important in life is not stuff.
This is an invaluable lesson that I did not foresee when we downsized, but one that I am truly thankful for.
4. Get creative!
Play the room switcheroo game. We’ve given our kids the Master Bedroom! It’s true…we gave the kids the room with two closets and the most space. We took the room with ZERO closets and about 12 inches on each side of our queen size bed. It’s crazy, but it works. We figure the kids need the most space and all we do is essentially sleep in our room. So, our girls have the larger room and it works out just perfectly.
Use vertical space. Granted, we live in a loft with 15 ft ceilings, but we utilize the upward space as much as possible. Because we are in a loft, all of our walls are “soft” walls. They only go up about 8 ft. The rest is wide open. However, the only room that is enclosed is our bathroom.
We’ve gotten creative by adding “floor boards” to the top of the bathroom and stacking our bankers boxes that house things like seasonal items, our wedding dishes or those ever important “keep items” that we purge each year.
We’ve also added boards above the girls closets and used the space above to store off season kids’ clothing and items. It works like a charm and looks pretty decent too.
Take off the doors and who said you had to put clothes in closets? We found that in our small space, the bi-fold doors weren’t doing us any favors, we decided to remove all of the bi-fold closet doors (there are only 3 closets, two of which are in the girls room) and add curtains instead. It opens up the space quite a bit and allows easier access for the kids. In the kids closets we’ve designated 1 for toys and the other for books.
So, where do we put their clothes? We opted to use a slender IKEA wardrobe in their room. It takes up less space, blends in, and allows us a place for everything for all 3 kids!
Create a space for everything. One of our highly coveted closet spaces houses ALL of our toys. Everything has a place and is organized with photos so there’s no confusion on where things “live.” The small closet holds our play kitchen, all of our board games and countless buckets of toys, all labeled with photos and sorted by type. It seems a little crazy but it works for us and my kids like that clean up is a breeze.
When we organize, we make sure all things have a home. But some things have unexpected homes. For example, my make up and hair things that you’d find in a bathroom are in boxes below our TV cabinet (because our bathroom is way too small!) I have a small folding mirror that lives there too and I get ready there each morning.
Another “secret” spot is where I homeschool. ALL of my teaching supplies are housed in the cabinets next to our dining room table. They are all hidden so we don’t “live” in the classroom. (We’ve also painted the cabinet doors with magnetic/chalk paint so I can teach here everyday and then close it up at night and have our house back)! Win-win. Seems strange, but again, find what works with what you already have and embrace it!
In closing, I should say that small living is likely not for everyone. And sure, there are days when I think about our old basement that housed so much of our past “stuff!” However, after living small, teaching small, and embracing small, I have absolutely fallen in love with small!
I find joy in the fact that I can plug my vacuum in to an outlet in the center of our loft and vacuum the entire house. I find peace in knowing that I only have one bathroom to clean, and I find excitement in the fact that staying organized and living tiny allows our family so much more time to do the things we want to do…that are fun!
Suzi is a former elementary school teacher turned SAHHM (stay at home homeschooling mom) to three fantastic girls ages 8, 6 and 4. She is extremely lucky to have a wonderful husband that supports her and is just as crazy about organization as she is. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her kids, running, enjoying the city of Chicago and taking way too many pictures.
This is IMPRESSIVE! I’m relocating my family of 4 to a 2 bedroom apartment and freaking out, but this gives me hope!
Love your post. We are a homeschool family of 7 living small and loving it!! Finding the right layout for our home was a huge help for us. Thanks for helping others see the joy.
We have five people (soon to be six!) in 860 square feet, actually less because we have an entire bedroom we don’t use. I love that no one can “escape” relationships with one another. Conflicts must be handled, because you live so intimately with one another.
I love your space. My only question is why do you dedicate a box/storage space for “wedding dishes”? That seems to go against your overall philosophy.
I’m not judging, just curious. I have WAY too much “stuff”, but one thing I insisted was thay we only have one set of dishes. We have one nice set of white dishes thay goes with everything, and if we want the table to look prettier/fancier, we dress it up with accessories.
Just curious about your reasoning.
My question is how do you entertain/host people? Our home is plenty big enough for our family of 5 but we like to host our friends and family quite often.
Such and inspiration – thanks for sharing your ideas! We will soon be empty nesters and I badly want to downsize. So this summer begins the project of purging and then purging again. I hope you do follow through with your blog idea as I think it would be great and I would definitely be a follower. 🙂
This post was exactly what I needed. We are relocating our family, and to do that, we need to downsize. I, for one, do not mind at all. While I love our beautiful home and back yard, it is so much space to clean and keep organized, especially with 2 small kids. We lived in a condo before we bought our home and I miss it so much. We didn’t have the room to have the amount of stuff we have now. Thank you for your tips and insight!
I agree with you on everything! I do tend to keep lots and lots of cards, letters, and notes in a box though. I just can’t bear to get rid of any of them. They hold so many memories. Other than that, I despise knickknack. It just makes it so much harder to clean the house.
So inspirational! Thank you for sharing.
We gutted and are redoing a mobile home. Your floor plan and ideas are inspiring. Where do you keep yours and your husband’s clothing? Thank you!
I just wanted to comment that your story inspired me so much when it first was posted on MSM in 2015! We have actually downsized once to 1400 sq feet and hoping I can talk my family into downsizing to 900-1000sq feet. It has been the best thing!! I have a chronic illness and can only do so much physically. Having less to clean and stuff to maintain means more time and energy to spend with my girls :). Plus, our medical expenses are very high so downsizing is a win-win. Thank you and would love a follow up article if you have made any changes!
Oh Sandi…what a wonderful comment to read. I’m thrilled that the changes you’ve made have had such a wonderful effect for you and your family.
I’ll keep you and your family in my thoughts and will definitely consider writing a follow up sometime (In all honesty, I’m working on starting a living small blog myself so maybe I can reach back out once I have that ready to go live. It’s been in the works for some time now)!
I love that even though you live in a small space, you have dedicated an entire closet to books!
HI Sarah!
I love that you love the books! I’m obsessed and must admit that I may have slight problem purging those! But I do make an effort from time to time.
I would love to know if those numbers above the TV signify anything?
What do you do with bills? Paperwork? All the stuff!
Hi Cheryl,
Thanks for your question and Happy New Year!
A couple of years ago we began using YNAB (You Need A Budget) and it has changed out lives dramatically with paper pile up. Each day when I check the mail I try to take care of it immediately so it doesn’t become a pile somewhere. I recycle anything that is not needed (which is a lot) and then we’ve switched to electronic billing for things like electric and gas. Surprisingly, we don’t have many more bills than that because we don’t have cable or CC’s (all of which we purged when we began using YNAB and budgeting- YAY)! If we do receive something extra I typically plug the number (payment) into YNAB so that we can pay it and then purge the paper bill.
As far as paperwork, we only keep things we know we’ll need to refer back to (like a receipt for work on our car) and file those into our little file box.
I hope that helps a bit and answers your question. Let me know if I missed something!
Suzi, where is the cabinet with the shoes located in your loft? What type of cabinent is it?
HI Jeanine,
It’s located in the long hallway, across from the hall closet and near the laundry room. We purchased the shoe cabinet from IKEA. I’m not sure they sell them anymore, but this is essentially what it is. http://www.houzz.com/photos/39141477/Simms-Modern-Shoe-Cabinet-White-scandinavian-shoe-storage
We have two side by side which allows space for all of our shoes.
Thanks for your note!
We trash cards as well. What about the actual gifts from family, yhough, that we see as clutter and if we were to put it in a family garage sale would cause some bad feeling ? Our house is overflowing with it.
I LOVE your home. It looks so uncluttered and easy to clean. I am expecting baby #4 and thought our 1800 of space was starting to get cramped! Thanks for showing me that it can be done and done tastefully and beautifully without looking like you are packing a million things in a small space!
What about out of town guests? We rent a small ranch right now. I’m a big proponent of as-small-a-space-as-possible (I grew up in Chicago), but my family visits often from out of town and right now, they just sleep on the couch. I know it bothers my mom’s back and I wish we had an extra bedroom for them (and others) when they stay! Thoughts on small space living + guests?
It’s been a year and you’ve likely found your answer by now. Just in case, though: air up mattresses can be quite comfy and easily stored away when not in use.
Hi Suzi! When I saw this article, I thought this has to be “my Suzi!” Love the loft. We actually lived in an apartment in Baltimore for a year but it wasn’t that organized. Now, we are back in the Bend. Hope all is well with you and the girls! Jen Ricks ?
This is an amazing space! Thank you for taking the time to write in and share it with us, Suzi! We also homeschool and have five children. I love how you were able to incorporate so much school supply and book/toy storage in such creative ways that don’t detract from the aesthetic beauty of your living areas.
Thanks Aimee for your kind comments!
Kudos to you for homeschooling your 5 children! I love hearing from other homeschooling families am glad you enjoyed the post.
I have a boy & girl any ideas or suggestions on how to downsize due to the need for 2 separate rooms for them?
This is my question too. Also for larger familes. Do you have project space? Do you own animals? 🙂
AHHHH! This is what I have been wanting! My husband and I are talking about it but can’t seem to let go of our yard for the children to play in. How did you give that up? How are your girls adjusting? How are you adjusting to not letting them outside to burn off energy?
Thanks for this article!!
HI Adrianne,
Great question and to be completely honest I don’t feel that we don’t miss our yard. For starters, my husband felt like he spent entire weekends doing yard work and missing out on fun things our family could be doing otherwise. Concerning the kids, although the backyard was a nice option, I found that often times they seemed bored with the “same old” backyard and playgrounds in the area were a car drive away.
With all of that being said, the convenience of your own backyard is definitely hard to give up. It’s easy, it’s right there for goodness sake!
On the flip side, in our current living situation, we are extremely fortunate that where we live we have about 15 parks, playgrounds, green spaces, lakefront areas, bike paths, splash pads, etc that are extremely child focused and kid friendly. They are all within 1 block to no more than a mile away. We spend as much time as we can outside, taking advantage of all of these great play areas that far exceed what we had in our old backyard. The city is our backyard during this season of our lives.
I’m not going to lie that sometimes I think about having our own backyard again, but I don’t think we’d do nearly as much as we do now with all that we have at our fingertips in the neighborhood. It’s really fun to look at my kids and say, we’re taking the dog for a walk, which park do you want to visit while we’re out? The options are endless! Plus, we have a HUGE rooftop (community) deck that we can go to w/o having to leave home if it’s cold and we just need to burn off steam!
(On a sidenote: If you want to contact me offline about our neighborhood, feel free to do so at suzimeetup@gmail.com).
Good luck! My husband and I have had those same talks and I’m sure you’ll find what work best for your family and it’ll be perfect.
I want tall ceilings! 😀 Your loft is about the size of our poorly laid out house. In our house everything is very closed off and seems very small (much smaller than yours seems). I want to get a place, but not necessarily go bigger, but to have a better and more open layout.
Carrie,
Yes! The ceilings make all the difference in the space. That and the large windows. I remember when we were first looking for a place to live a few years ago and everything we looked at in our price range was under 1000 sqft. but seemed so closed in and “tight.” Finding our current place with the super tall ceilings was perfect. We couldn’t believe the difference.
Sending you vibes to help find a place with GIANT ceilings and an open layout!
Hi Suzi,Enjoyed your post! Wonderful ideas that I can incorporate into our small space. I think my homeschool items would be the hardest for me to “weed out”. Do you have your own blog where you speak on minimizing your homeschool items? Thank you!
I would love to know where you got your homeschooling cabinets. Thank you!
Hi Lindsay,
The cabinets behind the dining table are for IKEA. However we purchased them about 4 years ago and they no longer sell them. When we purchased them they were all white, and we first painted them with magnetic paint and then chalk paint. That way I can use them as a magnetic board and a chalk board at school. This has been a lifesaver at school and I’ve enjoyed the look of it outside of school hours too! Comes in handy for a lot of things. The same treatment could be done to most any cabinet with doors (although the flip up and slide style is great). I just clean them with a damp cloth at the end of each week.
You don’t happen to remember the name, do you? I was hoping I could look for some used, or google for something similar.
Rebekah,
I’m really sorry, but I cannot think of the name of the school cabinets. I’ve searched online but can’t come across it either. Sorry about that.
If I come across it I’ll post again with an update.
Posted above:
Kate says
September 30, 2017 at 6:21 pm
The cabinets look like they were part of the IKEA ASPVIK Office Storage line. They’ve been discontinued, but the name might help someone search.
Suzi you NEVER cease to amaze me!!!!! You are an incredible woman and Mom to those 3 girlies (oh and wife…lol).
Love you!
Can you tell me more about the wardrobe in the girls room? What type of ikea system is it and what are the dimensions? Baby #5 is almost here and I need to find more space for clothes! Thx.
Firstly, I love everything about this post. It is infinitely clear with examples, pictures and practical tips.
I also really value your #2 tip. I struggle with terrible twos stopping me in my tracks and it was just what I needed to hear – that it only takes two minutes to put it away and then resume damage control with the kiddos.
Thanks for sharing your space and tips!
Help! I love what you did with your homeschool storage and have been looking for something similar. Where did you find the shelves with pull down doors?
i am also curious as to where those school cabinets came from. Would work perfect in my homeschool room
Hi Ryanna & Jennifer,
The cabinets behind the dining table are for IKEA. However we purchased them about 4 years ago and they no longer sell them. When we purchased them they were all white, and we first painted them with magnetic paint and then chalk paint. That way I can use them as a magnetic board and a chalk board at school. This has been a lifesaver at school and I’ve enjoyed the look of it outside of school hours too! Comes in handy for a lot of things. The same treatment could be done to most any cabinet with doors (although the flip up and slide style is great). I just clean them with a damp cloth at the end of each week.
Please tell me what kind of carpet you have? And do you love it?
Hi Stacy,
IN the bedrooms we have berber carpeting and yes…we do really like it. It always looks nice and the low pile, woven pile is easy to clean and keep clean. In the living room, we have an area rug…also berber. We purchase is off the roll at Lowe’s/Home Depot and have it bound around the edges. It’s a great money saver and can be cut to fit whatever space it is needed for!
Thanks for your comment!
The cabinets look like they were part of the IKEA ASPVIK Office Storage line. They’ve been discontinued, but the name might help someone search.
There are so many things I love about this post. First, I love Chicago, and this loft looks EXACTLY like one my friends lived in years ago. Secondly, I love your organizational skills and tips. I also have three kids and fight a constant battle with clutter. It also reassures me that we don’t really need a bigger house – we have 1700 square feet and 3 bedrooms, and that is enough, even though everyone tries to convince you it isn’t. And lastly, money saving blogs tend to skew toward suburban and rural living. Love to see someone doing this successfully in the big city, because I think cities have so much to offer. Great way to raise a family – they will be exposed to so much and have rich experiences. Oh, I guess I wasn’t done. I LOVE that you have prioritized time together – small space plus no commute is so much better than huge space and hours of commuting each day. Blessings to you and your family!
Great great post:) your article looks like an ikea commercial! in our house, we have a special needs son, who can be quite destructive… I’ve learned to not have attachment to stuff through a different path, but i’m so glad I’ve learned it. Stuff is just stuff, and the less of it around, the less things that get broken. Ha! this past year, i’m learning a lot about minimalism and being content with less…keeping things clean and having less around, also keeps my son less overwhelmed. Thanks for giving us pics of how your closets are organized. Great inspiration!!
Do you have a blog? I didn’t catch a link in the article, but maybe I missed it!
Wow, you are a fantastic photographer! I am really impressed by all of your photos in this post. Creating nice images is one of my biggest blogging challenges, so I definitely have something to shoot for! Do you have any training, or are you self-taught? By the way, your home looks lovely and ever-so-clean. It’s an inspiration to us all 🙂
What a great post! Love all the tips and photos. Lovely home.
Wow! Awesome post! Awesome organization!
Awesome inspiration!
Thank you!
So this is completely off topic, but since you live there… I’m taking 9 high school students to a conference in Chicago the end of June-beginning of July. We’re staying downtown (at the Palmer House Hilton) and would love suggestions of fun, inexpensive- or free!- things to do and places to eat.
This is hands-down my favorite of the recent small-space living posts. So many practical tips for all of us to use!
I never realized that loft apartments didn’t have walls that went all the way up to the ceiling. Not sure that would work for us, but it sounds like it works fine for your family.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful space!
Oh so sad that Ikea does not sell that shelving unit. Anyone know of any that are similar? I really like that the doors swing up instead of out like many mdf cabinets do at home improvement stores. I am thinking her idea for storage for homeschooling items, also works for storage for dishes and linens for the table and my books for scripture study in the mornings. Hope to find something similar…Thanks so much for sharing your home with us MSM readers.
I love this post! Did you ever consider building a loft for the kids stuff/storage since your ceilings are so high?
HI Diana,
We did consider building a loft space in our tiny room with the thought of lofting the bed and having an office/desk space below (something we do wish we had). However, then our lofted bed would look directly into our girls room/bunk bed which didn’t seem ideal (talk about no privacy). So we tabled the idea for the short term. I do think lofting in some capacity could work for us in the future. Great idea…thank you!
I love these ideas. Especially switching the rooms and using the closet as a bookshelf. Very creative. Just curious, what do you do with seasonal decorations or winter gears? Thanks.
Beautiful! I love seeing the way you organize & reading your maintenance routines, especially as a homeschooler with young kids. I love, love, love seeing these small spaces for families!
Thank you for sharing! I’ve loved all of these small home posts, and find yours especially inspiring.
We’re trying to pare down and simplify in order to make our small house continue to work for us as our family grows. Seeing how other people do this is very helpful and inspiring. I’m writing about our efforts weekly here: http://everydaymindfulliving.com/simplify-saturday/
I love it! Your style and organization….however as I read, I was having trouble envisioning staying sane in that space with our three boys….then I saw the key word GIRLS! Ha!!
Sorry- one more comment! How much space to do you use for food storage? That seems to be an issue for us! Do you use your kitchen cabinets for food storage? Thank you 🙂
I love your home!! Thank you for your wonderful article and inspiration! We have just downsized from 2000 sq feet to 1400. I would love to go smaller but we are taking one step at a time. I am already loving the smaller house living 🙂
I love everything about this!! We live in a 1,000SF condo in a near NW suburb (with 3 kids!) and are contemplating a move toward downtown Chicago. I’d love to find a great loft space like yours. It definitely takes some creativity and diligence, but we really love small space living. I’m inspired to narrow down which neighborhoods we’d like to consider and just go for it!! People think we are a little nutty to do this with kids—I think I may have to share this post. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your home!
Your home is incredibly well organized and gorgeous.
Does your condo have a separate storage locker in the basement where parking is? The building’s I’ve lived in had one and it helps quite a bit with things like bikes. Right now mine is full of rubbermaid totes!
I really love your home and how you have worked your organisational pieces in , and i really liked your homeschool shelving. I would so love to live in your apartment haha.
Your post + high real estate taxes have me drooling over small houses!!! 🙂
I’m inspired. Thank you for sharing!
You have a beautiful home and done a fabulous job with organizing!
So clean and cozy. You made this place work great. What would we do without IKEA, right?
Enjoyed the post. Thanks.
I agree with all the others who have already said this: I think your home is gorgeous and full of brilliant ideas I want to copy! And I want to thank you for being generous with pictures and explanations, too.
The only remaining thing I’m curious about now is
what caused such a change for your family—was it to eliminate a lengthy commute for your husband and have a whole lot more family time?
Thank you again for sharing!
HI Kimberly,
Thanks for your kind comments and question.
The change for our family originally took place when my husband took a new job in Chicago. We previously lived in another (much cheaper COL) state. Upon moving to the city, we realized we had to downsize considerably in order to afford to live here. We come from the Dave Ramsey school of thought and wanted to be able to still save monthly. In addition, living close to my husband’s job saves us in travel expenses (like tolls, gas, and parking) and MOST importantly the commute that would drastically change the family time we all enjoy. The sacrifice of downsizing is worth the extra two hours of having my husband home at a decent time as well as the money we are saving each month by changing our lifestyle.
How do you deal with noise in a place with such tall ceilings, especially without walls between rooms? Also, how do you and your husband have any privacy if there’s no bedroom ceiling? I was also wondering where you store cleaning supplies and seasonal items. Having lived in Chicago for five years, I know the need for a wide range of outerwear.
Hi Jessica,
Great question! I have to be honest, moving here 4 years ago (when my children were younger and still napping) I was on pins and needles each day at nap time when 2 would be napping and one was awake. It made for some serious quiet time and well thought out ideas of things to do. Thankfully though (and I’m only speaking for myself), my kids seemed to adapt pretty well after about 6 months. The storage above the girls closet, that houses seasonal clothing also doubles as a sound and light barrier to the kitchen/living area. During the week, once the kids go to bed we can have normal conversation in the LR without disturbance to them. They sleep SUPER soundly at night which allows us to watch movies at night too. Hooray! As far as privacy, we’ve just learned to be creative and value that time when everyone is sleeping!
Our cleaning supplies live in our Laundry room. It is a tight space but on one wall we’ve installed three, shallow shelves that hold everything. Our broom, mop and vacuum are squeezed in that space as well.
Seasonal items for my girls are kept in the cubes above their closet space. My husband and I have an extremely slim wardrobe and we’ve managed to make having 2 jackets each (one heavy and one light) work for us by layering, because yes….Chicago weather is a complete roller coaster!
I forgot to mention, the exposed ducting is like a built in noise machine every time it cuts on! That helps too!
What fantastic ideas! I must ask – where did you get that awesome shoe cabinet?
I’m curious as well. We live in a small space also and I’m always looking for smarter ways to store our things. Right now we have very limited closet space so our shoes live all jumbled up in a large basket but I would love to use something like those shoe cabinets.
HI Kelly & Patty!
The shoe cabinets are from IKEA. Here is a link to exactly what they are. We have 2 installed, side by side. They are truly a lifesaver!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80169561/#/50178091
While I love this post, as someone who has lived in major cities like Paris and New York, I can attest that loft-style living, while modern and chic, can often be not as cost effective as living in a ranch home. Often you are paying double the amount for utilities, groceries, and transportation in order to maintain the lifestyle choice of moving to an up-and-coming artsy neighborhood, while loosing valuable square footage, and for those whom are not currently homeschooling, may be forced to be dependent on waiting lists to have their children attend public schools of choice. Also, while it may seem easier to use the stove top if it is not as ecologically sound, for accordingly to the EPA, a slow cooker uses on average 0.7kWh in an eight hour period, less power than a light bulb, whereas a stove consumes 3-3.2kWh for the same time used; a crockpot will actually save you time and money in the long run. While the city may be chic, it may not be the cheapest!
How did you do that with the shoes? Are those inserts in the drawers? I feel like I’m always trying to figure out what to do with shoes, and this like a great idea! Thanks, I’m inspired!
I am so inspired by this post! I’m loving seeing how people live with less and it’s so beautiful and functional. I’m in the middle of a big purge so this post (and the recent ones along the same lines) is really motivating me! Thank you!
I think we are twins separated at birth! We live a very, very similar like style and I impliment every single one of your rules in our tiny home with a fam of six. It can be done, it can look pretty, it can be functional and orderly! Love, love love it! Thank you for taking the time to share.
So you’re basically living in a real version of one of those tiny apartments Ikea has on their show floor. That is SO appealing!
We just became debt free, including a house, and I really think this is making it easier for me to purge stuff. After 12 years of struggling, knowing we could not afford to “just buy another one”, grabbing deals at thrift stores “in case we need it”, often not able to just get what we need, we can finally relax and get rid of this mess!
What an amazing, beautiful and inspiring home! Thanks for the tour.
I love this post, and I”m loving all these small living posts lately! Great ideas!
This is so inspiring! We used to live in about 900 square ft space as a family of four, but due to a move (and a huge rent discount from family) we live in a much bigger space now as a family of 5. We still try to keep things minimal, and as much as I’m thankful for where we live, this post makes me miss our smaller space! Thank you so much for sharing how you organize everything!
You have created a beautiful home space. You can tell that you love what you have and it is a joy to see things so well taken care of. You are an inspiration to me!
Suzi- Love the cabinets that you have behind the dining room table (the ones with the chalk board paint). Where did you get them?
Yes, I must know where those white cabinets came from!
Wow, this is one of the most inspirational home organizing posts I’ve seen. Thank you! Great ideas, and great to see how much you’ve purged and how little we really need. And how good it can look!
I agree! I just love your home and your organizing.
What do those numbers mean above the tv?
I wondered the same thing!
HI everyone!
Thank you so much for all of the kind thoughts and comments! I wanted to answer a few of the questions people have posted.
– Our youngest does sleep on the trundle that pulls out beneath the bunk beds.
– The sign beside the ax is a type specimen poster my husband designed. And the ax…so funny, but it was a gift I gave to my husband. It’s from Best made Company
– As far as a daily routine, I think we do a few things that help with accumulation. I make sure that before I head to bed at night I’ve “prepped” the house for the next day. In the morning, my kiddos run the vacuum and help put away dishes, etc. Then, during the school day I try to find tiny bits of time to play catch up. Whether that be a quick laundry transfer, pick up school materials and put them in their proper places, etc. In the smaller space, a few minutes goes a long way.
– The numbers above the TV are antique, metal gas station (price) numbers. We thought they were fun and would look nice in the space. The order of numbers has no particular meaning.
– The cabinets behind the dining table are for IKEA. However we purchased them about 4 years ago and they no longer sell them. When we purchased them they were all white, and we first painted them with magnetic paint and then chalk paint. That way I can use them as a magnetic board and a chalk board at school. This has been a lifesaver at school and I’ve enjoyed the look of it outside of school hours too! Comes in handy for a lot of things. The same treatment could be done to most any cabinet with doors. I just clean them with a damp cloth at the end of each week.
Hi!! Thanks so much for answering questions 🙂 here is mine as we are considering downsizing bedroom space for 4 kids…where did the bunk beds come from? Ikea? The ones we have right now have great storage drawers underneath, but the ladder hangs off the side and takes up way too much floor space.
Thanks!! Do you have a blog or Instagram?
HI Kristin,
Thanks for leaving a comment. Our bunk beds came from a place called bed king (online). We have been SUPER impressed with the quality & durability and loved the price tag too! A link to our exact bed is here: http://www.bedzking.com/bunk-beds-tall-twin-mission-white-bk
We purchased the trundle to go beneath and it comes in colors other than white. They also have great customer service and quick shipping. If you end up going this route, maybe search for this company on amazon too, they have a storefront there and we found the bed to be a bit cheaper through amazon when we purchased ours.
On a sidenote, before we had 3 kids, we had this captain bed from the same company. http://www.bedzking.com/captains-twin-bed-white-bk
I was thinking 2 of them “may” allow you decent space still, plus the bonus of the drawers. We loved this bed when we had it.
Unfortunately I’m not on instagram, but have a tumblr site that is really just “family” type stuff and our daily goings-on that probably wouldn’t be too exciting to most people! If you’re interested though, feel free to send me an email and I’ll pass along the link. suzimeetup@gmail.com.
Thanks!
Hi Kristin,
I just sent a lengthy reply, did you happen to see it/get it?
If not, I’ll retype and send shortly.
Thanks!
I thought for sure the numbers had something to do with the last time the Cubs made it to the World Series. Lol
Love this post! There are so many great ideas here, and all of the pictures help to visualize. Yet, where does the third little girl sleep? I see bunk beds, but that little cabinet next to the bunk beds isn’t another bed, is it?
I initially wondered the same thing, but when I looked more closely at the photo showing the bunk beds, I saw a trundle underneath (on the floor), so my guess is it pulls out at bedtime for the third daughter.
Thanks for the tour! What a cool space you have!
Genius post–really appreciated it as we prepare to downsize with 3 kids! I’ve done it before with 1-2 children, but not with 3 and not while homeschooling. Love the function and style of your home!
This might have been asked already, but I can’t seem to find where you got the homeschool cabinets from?? I need these so badly for our home school and craft stuff.
Gorgeous place, Suzie! I love your style! Good encouragement.
This is one of the best minimalist/downsizing blog I have seen and read in a long time! Suzi you implemented all the usual organization tips offered by the professional organizers. Not only is your home pared down, it is also very visually appealing. I have a question , do you have a daily routine (or several throughout the day) that you have developed that prevents clutter accumulating from the things you have already have and use daily ?
I’m curious what the sign says next to axe on top of the homeschooling cabinet…. An axe… You don’t see that a lot with art work. Lol… But I absolutely love everything they have done… I just want to know where they found the cool cabinets.. I know the bedroom one was ikea.. And all those beautiful storage bins. I want to go buy them right now. Beautiful
Wow, such a beautiful and organized space! It does inspire me to purge a little (or a lot) and utilize my space better. I’ve got 2700 sq ft of house that seems too small, lol! It’s ridiculous ?
These are all fantastic ideas that anyone can use, small home or large! Suzi, you have inspired me!
Suzi! This is Jenny, Hamilton’s mom. How cool to visit MSM and see your article. I saw the first picture and recognized your place. So glad that you posted – I learned so much from visiting you and am glad you are sharing your wisdom with so many others.
Hope you all are well.
HI Jenny!
How funny that you ran across this post. I hope all is well out east. I think of you often and wish you were closer for some homeschool collaboration.
I’d love to catch up sometime through email or a phone call! Enjoy your summer at the beach!
Beautiful! You certainly have a knack for organizing (and decorating)!
I love how you have organized your home. The homeschooling area is especially creative. Your home is just beautiful.