small house issues

[twocultures]

Anyone live in a small house? How do you arrange it to save space and what do you do to keep it decluttered?
We live in a tiny cottage, upstairs isn't an issue however downstairs we have a small kitchen which is where the front door is so lack of room for shoes and coats etc. and we have a small lounge. There is nothing else downstairs. the washing machine is also built in the kitchen.
We try our best to keep it neat but usually end up with lots of clutter everywhere, toys, clothes, coats on the back of kitchen chairs as there's no rack which drives me crazy, shoes on the stairs as no room to put them by the door etc.
A friend of mine said she always keeps a spare wicker basket in each room to chuck random bits in.

Any other suggestions?

Sadly no garden or outside space at all! Tempted to just dangle it out of the window in the rain though...

Just a quick update. I've decided that the first thing to do is to make sure each room in the house has a box for all the spare bits that always end up cluttering the place.
We're on a budget so instead of buying wicker baskets (which are expensive btw!) I'm using cardboard boxes we have from the nappies and wipes we buy in bulk. My DP let me borrow a hot glue gun from his office and I've found a great tutorial on Pinterest on how to make containers from cardboard boxes and old jumpers. I've made my first box with an old chunky jumper which I haven't worn for years and it's now serving as a cute container for nappies! Definitely looks better than nappy packaging!
Baby steps

twocultures could you link that please? I need a bit of storage for a specific space, and think I will need to make it. Is the glue gun essential?

Lots of shelving. A big wooden toy box in the living room with a soft close lid which can double as a seat when visitors come round.
We lived in a teeny tiny flat when DS1 was young so I sympathise!
If you have a garden get a nice little shed to store stuff like ironing board, Hoover etc.
Lots of those vacuum bags for spare bedding and putting away coats in warmer weather.

Cluttero here you go www.hometalk.com/6617971/cute-storage-boxes-from-old-sweaters-and-boxes hope it works.
Here's mine, it's not perfect but I'm really happy with it considering I'm really bad at any sort of diy stuff + the jumper was an awkward stretchy fabric.
I think so, unless there's some other sort of glue but you'd have to look into it. Because not many stick to fabric...

Always I've been on the lookout for a toybox that doubles as a bench for a while but need to save up first to get something nice.
Also cluttero you can make them from rope/twine if you look on Pinterest or odd wood bits (for those you would definitely need a hot glue gun)
I'm currently in the process of sorting through some clothes we were going to give away to see if there's more stuff I can use for these boxes, i also think I'll pay a visit to the local market soon to hunt for some off cuts of fabric

Brill thanks. I have cut down an old cardboard box to the right size, (after I ejected the spider & nest shudder) but it could use a cover.

We have just such a bench box- it was from IKEA for about 20 quid, but I can't see it on their website now. I'd rather it had drawers though.