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Property/DIY

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Original poster

does anyone else like compact living spaces?

26 replies

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 15:24

i do. i love looking at photos of spaces where everything is all in one room. i saw a great space in a magazine yesterday and it has me all jealous. i want a tiny space. if it wasn't for those pesky dcs needing bedrooms!

does anyone live in a small space? how do you find it? do you have dcs?

feel free to link to pics of lovely small spaces you've seen.

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DogEgg · 17/04/2013 15:29

I love small spaces! I wonder what it says about us? I always chose the little bedroom when I was a kid and now my idea of perfect heaven is camping where we, including our tiny dog (chosen to fit neatly in small spaces!) squeeze into the titchy bed compartment in our ridiculously small tent.

My idea of porn is the Ikea catalogue - you know the pictures where they show you how to do "clever" storage in a studio flat. Did you see George Clarke's Small Spaces? Heaven.

MadBusLady · 17/04/2013 15:34

This was a great one from Living Etc. Annoyingly they don't have the floorplan online, so you'll have to believe me it was a studio (but a big one), with sitting room at front, kitchen at back and the bedroom a mezzanine.

You can't really go wrong with that window, though. It's all about the architecture. A "studio" in a Barrett box would be quite different.

Original poster

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 15:36

yes to IKEA and George clarke. i loved that show. i've only been to Ikea once when i was buying my bed and i spent most of my time in the tiny 1 bed apartment set up tehy had there. i thought it was genius. i could easily see myself (and even my massive dog!) living there if i didnt have children. maybe when they're grown i'll move to something smaller.

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MadBusLady · 17/04/2013 15:37

One thing I really love about that bedroom is that it's only got the bed and a bit of decoration in it. Much more conducive to shagging restful sleep if there isn't mounds of other stuff about. If we ever convert the loft I will have quite a small bedroom and a separate space for clothes, storage and bathroom.

noisytoys · 17/04/2013 15:59

Me, DH and 2 DDs live in a 1.5 bed flat it works great for us because we don't have any clutter and only have what we need for day to day living. The only thing I would like is some outside space. A small house with a garden would be heaven

littlecrystal · 17/04/2013 16:05

Add me. I currently live in a 2 bed house with my DH and 2 DC and I find it is more than enough for us. We rarely use our living room ? we are always found in the kitchen/diner. We rarely use our garden, too, as we like going out and about.
We are currently looking to move an area to another 2 bed and even slightly smaller house. I am not worried. I like compact living especially if it helps to relieve financial strain, too.

Original poster

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 16:08

yes noisy, that would be a must for me too. i couldn't cope with a small space if i didn't have outside space too.

i have far too much clutter and in the last 2 years have moved into smaller and smaller again houses. my bedroom is currently housing most of it tbh and i need to get it all gone. my room is the biggest here but i much prefer ds2's. it's 8' X 6'. i love how cosy it feels in there when the door is closed.

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DogEgg · 17/04/2013 16:12

Oh and beach huts, caravans, sheds that people use as artists studios, camper vans, canal boats.......ohhh I need a lie down in a very small space.

I know exactly the picture that sparked my lifelong love of small spaces........no cool shagpad this.....but if you love small spaces you too will love this picture from the Ladybird book Tootles The Taxi www.ladybirdprints.com/image/213203/joyce-b-clegg-co-co-the-caravan

MadBusLady · 17/04/2013 16:12

I'm glad I'm not the only one who lingers in the IKEA studio roomset.

Original poster

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 16:13

yes we have more space here than we need. just me and two dses (plus big dog and 2 cats) in a 3 bed terrace. when i first viewed it i thought, no way could i cope here, it's too small but actually it is more than enough. i love spaces where living, cooking, eating etc is all in one room/ area and i dont like big open plan spaces. it doesn't feel cosy. i grew up in quite big houses though so not sure where this comes from. i do know i hate the thought of cleaning a big house though!

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Original poster

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 16:16

yes dog!! i intend to have a campervan one day soon. when exp and i were together we used to dream about building a wee log cabin somewhere and living there.

that is a class picture!

i want to go to Ikea now.

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lalalonglegs · 17/04/2013 16:17

This is such a relief. I am about to do up a flat that is only about 30m2 - the bedroom will only have room for a bed, the shower-room will be, ahem, compact. I've been worrying that no one will want to buy it but, it seems, there are actually people who prefer this.

Have any of you seen the Tiny Houses films on YouTube? They're amazing.

HandMini · 17/04/2013 16:21

Another "small dweller" here. Me, DP and 2 DDs in a small 2 bed London flat.

How we make it work: We chuck loads of stuff out (well, give to charity or freecycle). We think really carefully where something is going to be put before any purchases bigger than a pineapple. We have a garden with a shed and we stick loads of non-precious stuff in there. We are pretty ruthless with the DDs toys and our books and if something hasn't been played with for a while we give it away. We also ask grandparents not to buy big toys. Like others have said, we spend all our time in the kitchens so we extended that room by making living area smaller.

The noise does get to me sometimes, you can hear everything in the house and when that means TV, radio, blender, DD1 shouting, DD2 crying, I do sometimes feel like sticking in the ear plugs....maybe I should.

Would love inspiration for doing up the second (small) bedroom for both DDs, as DD2 will move out of our room soon.

Original poster

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 16:27

yes lala! they are brilliant. i love them. i dont think you'll struggle to sell your property at all. small is so much easier to keep tidy! big seller for me right there.

i'm trying to find the Ikea apartment i was talking about. i think it was something like 12' X 12'. and gorgeous.

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LaurieFairyCake · 17/04/2013 16:27

I live in a really small house and it's a nightmare to clean or decorate.

I've just painted one third of the living room floor and all the furniture is piled up on one side meaning that dh and dd are going to have to come round the side to the wee kitchen at the back for dinner.

I love small spaces as they're cosy and I'm happy to buy and create them in sheds or summerhouses, caravans or conservatories but actually doing things in them is really difficult.

I've had to put all my craft stuff and books in a rented garage so we can get our house up for sale as it made the place look incredibly cluttered.

LaurieFairyCake · 17/04/2013 16:28

And those lovely Ikea rooms are lovely because the 'ceiling' is 12 foot away. My crappy house has a 7ft ceiling.

That means in those lovely sets there is an extra 5ft of storage above your head all the way round that normal houses don't have.

BrianButterfield · 17/04/2013 16:33

I don't live in a small space but I love looking at them - Apartment Therapy is a great site for photos. I love fold-out furniture as well.

MadBusLady · 17/04/2013 16:33

True, Laurie and the pictures in the catalogue are always of apartments with huge lovely warehouse windows too.

VerySmallSqueak · 17/04/2013 16:37

I live in a small space.
Mainly I like it but it is a constant battle to keep all the stuff down and it can get noisy.
I always thought a smaller space would be easier to keep clean but it doesn't work like that - there's less to clean but it all gets more constant use so gets dirtier quicker!

Original poster

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 16:40

good point laurie!

i'm looking for the ikea one but cant find it.

will check out apartment therapy. thanks brian

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FlowersBlown · 17/04/2013 16:42

I lived in a small new build and hated it. No space to move, put something down and you're tripping over it 5 minutes later. We tried our best to be organised but whenever I visited any of the neighbours they had stuff everywhere, because the storage options were so limited! I found it oppressive, but that was probably partly the new build, low ceiling, small window nature of it as well.

Original poster

WTFisABooyhoo · 17/04/2013 16:52

all the new builds ive been in recently have had an appalling lack of storage, even for 4 bedroom family homes! massive big kitchen diner, downstairs toilet, master ensuite but no cupboard anywhere for the mop bucket and hoover! i think new builds really fall down on that aspect tbh.

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fussychica · 17/04/2013 17:11

I live in a fairly small place now after living in a much bigger home. It's taking a bit of getting used to, especially my v small kitchen - luckily it is well laid out. We do have two cupboards in the hall though which is a real bonus. It's fine for me & DH but when DS comes home from Uni it feels a bit cramped.
Agree with WTF re storage. We have been looking at some 3/4 beds and lots of them are actually less usable than our 2 bed as they are so badly laid out.

HandsomeEddy · 17/04/2013 17:28

We have a small house but it has 3 bedrooms. Our living space is one kitchen/diner/living room. With a small bathroom and 3 small bedrooms. We're me, dh and ds.
We're much happier since we've moved from our last, larger house. Not sure if it's because the space works better for us, or if it's because we've had to simplify our possessions so much though?
Obviously, Ikea is king in our home too!

HandsomeEddy · 17/04/2013 17:31

YY also to what Handmini said wrt toys!! People think we're so cruel for not buying DS piles of toys for Christmas, but we're better off for it (in more ways than storage) I reckon.

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