Possible move to smaller house - storage !

[ginorwine]

We have a 4 storey terrace and to be mortgage free are looking at a much smaller terrace .
Eg or kitchen is 22 foot lower ground floor other kitchen 6 foot galley .
There is no where for coats - walk into room , no cupboard for mops etc . It's a cottage feel .
There is space on one wall for a cupboard .
Has anyone moved to a much smaller property ? And does anyone have any clever storage ideas ?
Under stairs is no no - it's been taken out to make a recess to make room bigger .

Im sorry to break the news but its really going to be a matter of a huge declutter and live with essentials, if you can. ( if you want!)

I read the Marie Kondo book & got rid of 75% of 'stuff' as I moved house.

The idea I had in my head, was to have a similar amount of stuff you would be able to live with, for a week if you rented a holiday home.

With a toddler I have probably a little bit more than bare minimum, but its working.

Sorry if Im not much help, but its less tidying, less stress.

I agree with pp - most of us don't need more storage, we need less stuff.
I now have empty drawers and cupboards in my kitchen, really, who needs 28 mugs? 25 drinking tumblers?
So, I would start with a totally ruthless de-clutter before you even think about storage, then you might find you can hang coats in the wardrobes for example. If there are wooden floors perhaps you don't need a vacuum cleaner, that kind of thing.

How do the people living there now manage & keep their stuff.
How many coats & mops do you need?

Thanks folks - makes sense !
I have two teens and I'm not sure how they wd do it - but their rooms can be full I guess !
I'm aware we fill the space with stuff - we have hundreds of books for eg with book shelves in four rooms !
I think one of the things for me is visual space as I'm used to a big kitchen .
It's a question of mortgage free and small or big with mortgage .
I kno you are both right ! 😄

We've just me bed from a massive house to a tiny one. We had to get rid of lots and lots if things.

It's more things like kitchen appliances and things. Before I had my pasta maker set up on the bench the whole time for example. Now it's on top of the kitchen cupboards in a box because there is not even any room in the cupboard, never mind the bench.

My dc's have Stuva shelves from ikea right up to the ceiling.

That
How does it feel being in a smaller house to you ?

Come and join our Marie Kondo thread - it's just as good as being mortgage free. You can achieve BOTH!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/2564756-Kondo-thread-10

I'm in the painful process of clearing up my parents' house now that they have both died. The house is very large with plenty of storage. My mother firmly believed they needed a large house. However, when I open cupboards and drawers they are full of useless worn out stuff. There is far too much furniture (four sets of formal dining chairs, all at least 100 years old and very uncomfortable! Endless enormous chests of drawers, full of miscellany! Kitchen cupboards whose primary function seems to be as storage for other forms of unused storage!).

Less is more!

Clearing someone's house is a sad but salutary experience. There's very often not only little that you wish to keep but little that can usefully be sold or given to charity.

'Less stuff' is a good motto for living.

I'm not loving it. I never had to give since a thought. I could have another family over for dinner for example and everyone could sit around the table easily. My dd could leave her toy farm set out for a week and it wouldn't be in the way.

Now I can't buy kitchen spray on a bogof as I couldn't fit two in the cupboard! It's inly been a few months so I suppose I'll get used to thinking in a different way.

Nearly two years since I moved from a spacious home to a much smaller two bed. I too did it to be mortgage free and that benefit alone has made the move worth it. The removal van was wider than the house! I decluttered prior to moving but each room was stacked full of boxes and excess furniture. It took me months to sort out so do try and really declutter prior to moving. I am lucky I have built in wardrobes and I have had shelving put in my sons room. I have just finished decorating the whole house and finally feel settled. Quite a bit went in the loft as I wanted to keep sentimental items. I have become very organised and everything now has a place rather than spread around.

When I lived in a very small space, I had one rule. Everything had to have a purpose, so for example if something held a candle (I had power cuts!) then it stayed, if it was to look at then sadly it had to go. My life was sooooo easy with no clutter!!

We downsized 6 years ago and we are still surrounded by too much stuff so I have joined the kondoing gang - wish I had done it before we moved. Ours was a difficult move though as the house we are in had to be renovated throughout, took 4 years to do it all so have only felt able to get organised during the past year. I wish we didn't have to do it as 2xdc still living at home and previous house was so much more spacious but finances dictated what we had to do.

We moved from a three bed with big kitchen to a two bed and tiny kitchen. The kitchen problem is mainly about appliances. I was ruthless before the move about what I actually use (goodbye pasta maker, toasty maker, bread maker, juicer, microwave, wine decanters), what I could stop using (see ya toaster, electric kettle, coffee machine) and replace with something smaller (hello stove top kettle, stove top mokka, grill) and seriously culled everything else (I owned twenty shot classes, I kept 2, owned two sets of 6 plate settings, kept 1 set, owned 15 wine glasses, kept 6, etc...) Now I actually like my small kitchen, it is more practical and we spend just as much time in there and I cook twice a day, every day.
Bedrooms, I just culled clothes. But I now need to cull baby stuff and toys because O find them harder.

We didn't move but had our loft converted so lost our storage. I prefer it now I'm getting used to it. In the past I would bag up outgrown clothes and shove in the loft but now I very quickly pass on/eBay/charity shop as otherwise stuff sits in my living space. We went through every single wardrobe and cupboard and have so much away - we had enough bedding for a hotel! My DC had so many clothes but as they're both at school and wear uniform 90% of the time they just didn't need so many options.

I still have a natural tendency to keep stuff but I've realised I'm so much happier with less stuff in the house and that keeps me going.

We moved from a large 3 bed detached with extended living spaces to a teeny tiny 2 bed cottage. I'm a natural hoarder but this has really made me focus on what we actually want and actually need. I do a cull every so often and it is manageable, you just have to be pretty ruthless with 'stuff' and the solution is definitely decluttering and not extra storage.