How do I make my house a home?

[messyhousewoman]

Hi wondering if anybody can tell me which places to start in trying to get a home again. We live in a very small two bed terrace that only has one small cupboard in it and a kitchen with only six cupboards and three drawers in. There are two adults and two dc's. We seem to constantly be throwing stuff away but never seem to get places to put stuff away.

Downstairs we have open plan kitchen/lounge and downstairs toilet. Upstairs is bedrooms and bathroom. We have partitioned one room in two so two sections one 6 foot 6 x 6 foot 7 and the other 6 foot 7 x 7 foot 5 so very tiny. How can I store all our stuff e.g clothes, books, cd's, toys, and bloody paperwork and still have a nice house? We have thrown over 70 bin bags of unwanted stuff in last two months which has helped but we still don't seem to be winning. Also our walls are rubbish and not strong enough to hold any furniture. :-(

People always say how lovely and cosy our house is and never seem to want to lead but it is getting on my nerves just clutter everywhere.

Our house is always clean but never tidy :-(

sorry, in the same boat!

maybe we should hold hands together then

No advice but very depressed at our cluttery house. I need to throw stuff out [dh a hoarder of even cardboard bloody boxes]. Piles of stuff/ clothes etc. Our bedroom an embarrassing no go zone which I prefer not to sleep in]. I await your advisers op!

You will have to get creative with space.
underbed storage boxes on castors (made of MDF)
shelves over doorways
hooks on backs of doors
drawers in the plinths under the kitchen cupboards (you will be amazed at how much you can fit in these)
a bath panel with an integral cupboard for loo rolls etc
A good chippy will be able to help with all of these.

You only need to keep bills etc for 12 months (unless you are self employed of course), so be ruthless with new paperwork and throw away the oldest when the newest arrives.

It is very tiring and difficult to have limited space I know, esp if your not naturally tidy - I find it tough (only have 3 cupboards in kitchen and 3 drawers too). Can you build a shed? I have a big shed for all the stuff we would have had in the loft before conversion, xmas trees etc).

Hi Paula thanks for reply. How do you get drawers under kitchen cupboards? (sorry probably me being bit thick)

Like the sound of that bath panel idea.

Unfortunately storing stuff under beds does not work dd1 has special needs so pulls everything out all the time.

I am self employed I am a childminder which makes things worse as we also have to store pushchairs, highchairs, cots etc on top.

Oh, I hear you! I live in a 1-bed appartment with my 3 kids! It's horrendous :-(

I do have a small loft (not connected to the flat - it's up on the top floor of our appartment building), where I store out-of-season clothes, camping stuff etc, but it's no bigger than a garden shed.

My flat is cluttered and constantly messy, because there just isn't room for everything and I can't afford to move anywhere bigger. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed with it right now, to be honest :(

Could you buy some magnetic locks for cupboards/ drawers like this www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000NUV3V2/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1329078131&sr=8-1?

No loft either :-(

little pebble she is 10 so would work them out easily knowing her would use one of her magnetix to open them

bump

Hi OP, could you vacuum pack out of season clothes and then store in suitcase or similar in bottom of wardrobe. I've been meaning to do this for a while, and it would free up a lot of space for us.
Books lines up on window sill and games on top of dds wardrobe. Two big toy boxes from ikea for stupid barbies and other shite with loads of bits tiny toys.
We're in a tiny 2 bed apartment, constantly fighting clutter, though I am a terrible hoarder and shopper (not a great combination, though finances have curtailed that recently, thankfully!) so I know what you mean.

Can you hang things on walls from pegs shaker style?
www.apartmenttherapy.com/hanging-spare-chairs-from-the-87952
This can really work in houses with high ceilings.
Agree with previous note about shelves over doors etc. do you have an IKEA near you they often come up with really good storage for tiny spaces?

I would have a look on the ikea website.

On each of the room sections they have a list of options on the left hand side of the screen, the top one gives you tips and ideas on how to make a room work. I have used this loads of times for ideas for the hallway and the kitchen. Going to use it soon on the bedroom and the storage areas. And you dont have to use ikea stuff, it just makes you think how to use the space better and see if you can find the stuff somewhere else.

They have drawers that can fit under shelves in cupboards. They have rails that go in the bathroom and kitchen that you can hang things off of, such as hooked buckets for putting things in to keep off the sides (tidy and clear sides can make a house look tidy.)

ikea hallway click on stylish hallway ideas.

it has really helped in our hallway and the bathroom and kitchen.

Under bed storage is really good, but also use the walls for shelves and rails where you can.

Thank you have been working way through Ikea website and there are a few things we could definitely use. Unfortunately our walls don't hold anything even picture frames sometimes are too heavy. No loft either. But the good news is I have tackled my dd's room over the last two days and now everything in there has a home and we have moved her into the smaller side of the partition so ds2 who is much better at leaving stuff in cupboards and drawers can store a few extra bits too. Definitely need a but one room done and our hallway has also been sorted including finding a new home for three pushchairs and ten car seats as myself and dp both need them for our jobs and dp's need moving in and out of minibus twice a day so 10 car seats in the hallway for last year has been very depressing but now they all have a home. It has really inspired me to tackle next room now so ds2's has been emptied ready for me to start again

Ikea all the way!!!

Do you have a garden? If so you can get plastic storage "sheds" which are great for toys/bikes/scooters etc

Becarooo I have shame I have a terrace of sheds. We have three of them one for our household stuff one for spare childminding toys as not hardly any space indoors and one for bikes and scooters

I had a rifle through the Scotts of Stowe catalogue, and they have all sorts of bathroom and shoe tidies, and I've just found this place, too.
www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk/

Hope it helps!

Can I just say thank you blue2, that website is bloody marvellous!

those under shelf baskets on that website are brilliant blue2 have been trying to find some online for ages but never seem to find them reasonably priced. Will have a proper look through later

marthastewart.com has some ace organising tips.

ooh more great ideas thanks boffinmum