Clever decluttering and storage ideas?

[pastaNcheese]

Hi everyone :)
Myself, my partner and our baby girl (10 weeks) are moving house in just under a month 22 days.
We're downsizing from a large 2 bedroom flat with unbelievable storage (5 large cupboards in our hall and built in wardrobes in both bedrooms), to a small one bedroom flat which is basically just 3 rooms. Bedroom, bathroom and kitchen/living area.
At the moment we have one regular chest of drawers which isn't full (have been using it for baby stuff (nappies etc.). We have another large one which is being used mainly for baby clothes.
The new bedroom is large but we already have to fit a double bed, cot, small wardrobe and full size tumble dryer as week as both sets of drawers. There is a smallish cupboard in the bedroom but I think this houses the boiler so not too much room in there.
All I can really think of is to get 2 more chests of drawers and squeeze them into the bedroom and living room. Also a large plastic container to go on top of the wardrobe maybe?
Oh the bed also has drawers built in so these will be very useful for clothes.
I am panicking a bit about where to put clothes as the wardrobe is about a third of the size.

We haven't gone mad with baby stuff. Main bulky items we have - pram, playmat (foldaway), Moses basket (will probably get rid of/store), bouncy chair. Most of this should be able to live in the living room.

I'm going to try to cut down as much as I possibly can before me move. I do have a fair amount of 'sentimental' items but I suppose these could be stored in my mum's loft (along with some other stuff if necessary).
Unsure where to store towels, extra bedding, spare quilt and pillows off the top of my head!

Sorry for going into so much (boring) detail, just want to give a clear picture.

Any tips for clever storage, cutting down before moving etc?

P.s. Both rented, moving as will save us a fair bit each month which we can put towards clearing debts.

We plan to stay here for 6 months min, hopefully for no more than a year. Possibly up to 2 years depending on how we manage with DD sharing the bedroom this long and just living in general. Any advice on sharing with DC until more than 6 months (without a spare room for refuge) would be much appreciated too!

Thanks!

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Looking for advice on keeping things organised or making the most of a small space? Check out our round-up of Mumsnetters’ life-changing storage boxes, space-saving tips, and decluttering hacks. MNHQ.

I would use under bed storage as much as you can. You csn buy boxes on wheels or canvas bsgs. I would also look at buying some vacuum plastic storage bags that you csn storetat your mum's house for all the baby clothes that are too small. I have created a photo book of things that the kids have made and plan to ditch the items themselves. I still have more to make though !

I live in one bed flat with 2 DC and have moved from living in a crowded ugly place where I kept loads of crap (I had hoarding tendencies and my Mum is a hoarder) to turning the place around into a lovely space that is double the size and is a fab place to live. I put a lot of time and research into my situation and the process has taken me about 14 months.

my top tips:
Get.Rid.Of.Stuff. - value space over stuff. Seriously declutter. Start to read minimalist blogs etc - there is lots of inspiring people./writings out there. You will start to release what you actually need/want. Release stuff the charity shops. Ebay only if you can turn it around quickly. Beware the Ebay obligation/blockage. Sometimes you need to accept you just need it out of the house.

Reduce Incomings - Buy Nothing - this will help with debt too. Unless you absolutely LOVE it or NEED it don't buy it.

Make sure all the furniture works hard - I had a collection of stuff I ahd brought because it was cheap or was given etc. I ahve replaced most of it with stuff that works hard.

I use these MUJI drawers for all our clothes etc. They stack, hold loads and look great.

I also have invested in Expedit pieces from IKEA - they can be used to hold anything and you can put cloth boxes in the &£2.50 each) for clothes storage etc.

Suitcases etc all the to hold things - out of season clothes perhaps? They keep well under the bed.

Look at your linen with a different eye - I have 2 towels each now, plus face cloths and 2 hand towels. I have 2 sets of bed linen for each bed. Hopefully MinimilistMommie will be along soon - I think she has one set of each per person!!

Hooks hook hooks!!! You can get cheap over the door hook racks - get one of every door.

Come and join us on the GH Minimalist thread and read the old ones.

I keep clothes from DD2 (from DD1). I have a limit of one large bag now and only keep the best and most expensive bits. You don't need to keep everything for DC2. Remember to value your space. Keeping the IKEA highchair might make alot of sense but when you can buy a new one for £15, maybe the space it would take to store it for X years is worth £15? Keep things moving.

Yes many people keep things for DC2, but not everyone is so compromised for space. maybe you are better off letting stuff go.

Minimalism and reducing debt

ZEN HABITS You will already be doing lots of this but it is an inspiring article I never tire of reading.

Take photos of sentimental stuff then declutter. Dont keep things you don't use or love.

the drawers in the bed use for bed linen, towels etc rather than clothes
as someone said use suitcases or clear boxes for out of season clothes that you dont want to get rid off
if its a house you are moving to is there any loft space for things, if i was short on space i'd get those vaccumm pack bags and put out of season or unneeded baby clothes in them

the cupboard that houses the boiler may have room to store things

im buying this tomorrow www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60219595/ with the matching storage boxes to hang in my wardrobe to keep things like tights and leggings in as they get messed up in my drawers so maybe something like this would work

Clutter Free With Kids Kindle book - good read

Our last flat was like that, no cupboards at all. We lined all the space around the walls with a whole load of tall Ikea Billy bookcases and filled them full of storage boxes. There was very little wall space but it kept everything tidy and preserved the floor space.
We also had storage boxes under the couches, the bed and the cot and on top of the freezer and the wardrobe.
Vacuum bags were great as was getting everything that was irregular shaped into a box so it could be stacked.

It should be illegal to build houses with out cupboards.

It should be illegal to build houses with out cupboards. Indeed :)
And flats without balconies.

RE putting stuff under the bed just be aware that if you do this it seems to collect/attract even more dust. So you need to drag everything out from time to time and get rid of the dust.