Small space living

[coribells]

Sometimes feel like I am the only person on MN that doesnt live in a big house.
I have a two bedroom flat, have two sons ( am single parent) I never seem to have ennough space for everything, or any space for myself really. Just wondering how others cope with living in flat with active kids. How do you store all the toys, bikes and kit for example?

Well we have 2 adults and 4 dc in a very small 3 bed terrace.

use the height of the rooms for storage -
so tall trofast units for toys,
full height wardrobe (we had one rail under another when they were younger so 3 dc shared a standard double wardrobe
Tall drawer unit
Storage under cot/bed

Be very very very ruthless with toys/clothes everything tbh

Inspiration

Shelves everywhere
Hooks if there isn't room for shelves. Aim to have nothing stored on the floor that doesn't have to be.
Plastic boxes so everything has a home
Decluttering (and try to avoid people gifting big toys unless you think they are really worth the space)
Are your DS's old enough for bunk beds?

Could you make room in your bedroom for a little chair/tv/bookshelf so you have a child free retreat?

It is not easy I remember our flat dwelling days. We had to rent a garage!

The boys bedroom is quite big. They didnt get on with bunks so they have two single beds. there is quite a bit of floor space, but there is a radiator against the wall rather than the window, which causes a bit of a problem . Its the toy storage thats the big problem.

We had deep shelves floor to ceiling and ikea trofast. Huge drawer full of duplo under the bed.

How old are they?

Can you use under the beds for storage, ?gltc have an underbed play table and storage ( try and buy off eBay) . Chests for storage that you can use top as table. Storage under sofa?

Vacuum bags for linen, unused clothes etc
Ruthless decluttering (I aspire to a one-in one-out policy)
Under bed storage
Lend out big items you don't use often- like travel cots- to someone who can store them and give them back only when you need them.
Hooks over the back of doors.

What ages? I have two boys at primary school. We have bookshelves for books. Big boxes for things of a type: cars, Lego, wood railway, transformers,art stuff, dinosaurs, whatever their thing is. Couple of toy chests for odd small toys, water pistols, special diggers etc. Shelves for jigsaws and board games. Er... underbed box for dressing up clothes?

Bulky toys that don't fit any of the above and don't pack away small: keep the best 2 or 3 for each child and get rid of the rest - I'm thinking huge lorries, toy workbenches, Pumpaloons, huge castles, train/car tracks that don't fit together with anything else. We have those shoved in a huge cupboard but I'd be very happy if it was selectively burgled!

sorry what a lot of "huge" in that post.

Yes , two boys primary school age. Just had someone around to quote for a built in cupboard. Hope that will help.

Remember as they get older their toys get smaller

Is a built in cupboard going to give you flexibility in the future?