Making the most of a small house

[nananoo]

Hi. We have a lovely home, in a area we really like. The schools in the area are not bad either! Problem is... we are running out of space.

We have 2 and a half bedrooms (smallest room is only a cot room) and two children (with a ten year age difference between them - making sharing a room difficult). The house is listed, so we can't extend. There is no garage for storage, only a damp cellar which is unsuitable for converting into another room (we've checked!). We have two small reception rooms, and I have thought of converting one of these into a bedroom - but it would make our living area tiny if we do this. I also work from home, so I have to squeeze in a desk somewhere (preferably quiet).

I would love to hear about any creative ideas anyone has had for making the most of their small homes - especially as their family grows up.

Is a conservatory allowed?

Or a garden room? You could use it as an office / den for older children + spare bedroom with a sofa bed? Also lots of cupboards / shelves for storing 'stuff'

The garden office sounds great!

In the meanwhile, as a no-cost solution, could you make the half bedroom your study and use one downstairs reception room as a bedroom?

Do you have a dining table in your kitchen or the second reception room?

Put as much as you can on the walls- tvs for example and wall to ceiling storage. Don't own a lot of things too! We've thought of switching our big bedroom with our kids one as they need the space in the day more than we do in the night.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm afraid listed building regulations and the size of our garden prevent both a conservatory and a garden room.

Can you make the half bedroom yours? On the basis you have the living space and need only somewhere to sleep / store clothes. Expect location of bed to determine how many wardrobes you could get in. Then grab one of the bedrooms back in 10 years.

Can you go up into the attic? If theres a big enough attic space?

Thanks for all of these suggestions. The half bedroom used to be my office (it was such a luxury!). Unfortunately, this bedroom is 7 ft x 9 ft and because of it's shape, too small for even a standard single bed. The attic unfortunately cannot be extended into because there isn't enough headroom (and listed building restrictions). The only suggestion I had come up with was moving a bedroom downstairs for a few years as we have a table in the kitchen. Then I could have my office back. Luckily, we (well me and DH) do not have too many possessions so it isn't a very cluttered house.

Do you have a floor-plan by any chance of your home you could upload? Its hard to say without knowing layout and dimensions.

It sounds like you need a good conservation architect. It is possible to make significant changes if these are soundly based. An architect could also provide ideas on alternative ways of living. Try talking to your local spab branch and look at planning applications for other listed buildings to see who is working in your area. Another place to look is the conservation architects register.

7x9 is big enough for a single bed if you compensate for the awkward size of the room by building it in mid air as you don't use a straight wall (where you could put a single on the floor if you had one obviously) but instead across the room with the two squarest points.

Small ladder up to it - lots if storage/ desk for a child underneath.

There must be a way to tank the cellar - you just haven't found it yet

Use box room for office & one of the reception rooms as a bedroom, problem solved!

I would put office in small bedroom, adults in one bedroom , and children in the other. Can you build some kind of bed in the children's room so they are built in, with storage etc and little privacy curtains. I think they re called Dutch bunks. Something that will last and that an adult can fit in.

Also declutter and don't buy any excess. Get rid of anything you haven't used in the last 6 months.

We have the same problem. We have changed our dining room into our13 yr old sons bedroom . My 4 yr old daughter has his old room and my dh has her old tiny box room as his study. We have put a nook bench in our kitchen and table. Our house still feels so small sometimes though !

Do you have to stay in this house? Maybe it's time to consider moving.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=office+in+a+cupboard&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=BfzlUMygDYWs0QW8j4CoCA&sqi=2&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=672

Have you got an alcove/odd shaped nook that could be converted into an office. We're having this done as it's hard (for us) to justify a whole room. A good joiner/cabinet maker will be your friend. Try boat builders/fitters - serious problem solving in small spaces.

Cellar conversions are expensive. But if you want to stay a good architect with listed status experience and SPAB will be invaluable. If your're grade II/II* there can be wriggle/compromises made with the conservation officer.

Thanks everyone! I think what we need is a good architect. Anyone know roughly how much some advice, rather than detailed plans, might cost? I think it might be money well spent.

Sorry I haven't any floor plans to offer , but just to say that the main problem with the cellar is the headroom. It would be difficult to dig down further because there are steel supports/bar strengthening the front of the house. Wouldn't want to mess with these! I think the best we could do is just tank the cellar so we have some dry storage space.

Also in the cot room - there is a big sash window which dominates that exterior wall. It is only a foot off the floor which means that a full size single bed would have to be specially made with a very low base to sit below the window. Any handy cabin style bed would block the window completely.

Yes - I often wonder if moving would be better (until I do my sums!). I would avoid buying a listed building again!

This might not be particularly helpful, but I've just read your last post and my current bed is a low down, Japanese style bed. It's still got room to store flat things underneath and has a headboard etc. it's from ikea - MALM I think, but I'm not sure if they do singles. It's worth a try anyway!

Shelter charity does an event once a year where it matches you with a local architect for 1 consultation. You only pay a donation to the charity.

www.architecture.com/UseAnArchitect/Home.aspx

You conservation officer can be a cheap way of getting ideas for the house.

What about encorporating the loft space into the bedroom space for extra vertical space?

We live in a tiny space and can't alter the property.

I get a lot of inspiration from blogs like this and This.

And we declutter like mad - I read a lot of minimalist blogs. - eg we don't own a tv, just a mac which we use as a TV and for work, homework etc, we don't own any DVDs or CDs, movies and music are all stored on a hard drive. DS sells his toys at a car boot sale twice a year before his birthday and before Christmas and buys something he really wants with the money. DH and I donate a bag to charity at least once a month and don't own duplicates of anything... When I'm reading a book i use a postit as a bookmark and i write on it who Id like to give the book to when I've finished it. It's a different way of life but our tiny flat is a lovely home and I wouldn't swap it for a mansion - a mansion would need me to spend a lot more time working to pay for it and maintaining/ cleaning it and I've got other things I want to do with my time...

A Murphy bed for one of the downstairs reception rooms for you and DH? Try searching tiny house living on YouTube and you will get so much inspiration! I don't think you should move, I thiNk with careful planning and maybe some decluttering you can make it work!

Try checking out the minimalist thread over on good housekeeping forum here! I think if you decreased the family's belongings like crazy it would make a huge difference.

Also, it's common in Japan for example to have multi functional living spaces, it's very usual for a day time living area to turn into a bedroom at night, it just takes thinking and clever storage.