Creative Small House Ideas Needed

[Gregg]

As some of you know DW and I were building a new house that, thanks to neighborhood covenants, had to be larger than what we wanted, but went ahead because we really liked the area. Two weeks ago I was approached by a realtor who had clients that loved what we are building and wanted to know if we would sell. Long story short we worked out a price, they agreed and we sold it.

While we were building that house we moved into a rental townhouse that is about 1100 sq.ft. Not that its tiny, but it is a lot smaller than our previous digs. Anyway, that turned on the light bulb for us. We always knew we didn't NEED so much house, but after living in the townhouse we decided we don't WANT so much house. Another long story short, we went house shopping, found a Fannie Mae foreclosure that is a small 1950's brick ranch in our very favorite part of town. It needs a LOT of work (that's why it hadn't sold), but has good bones and sits on an incredible lot. Our offer was accepted, we close in late June.

I'm in the renovation design process right now and having an absolute blast. The floor plan and most of the outdoor space has been worked out. What I need are some more creative, space saving ideas for the interior. This is not a micro-apartment (the bed won't be folding up every morning and there isn't a shower head over the toilet); its 748 sq.ft. plus a very strong connection to both covered and open outdoor spaces. What I'm hoping to do is pick the brains of all you creative people to come up with clever storage solutions and uses of space. I have things going such as a wall between the master and the kitchen is actually a full wall of shelves for cookbooks and nic-nacs on one side and robes, towels and pictures on the other. There will be a built-in banquette for dining with storage in the benches. Anyway, I'm looking for ideas and/or links of what anyone has found that they think is clever and cool use of space in a small house. Keep in mind that I'm also trying to impress DD who has a very high sensitivity to what is cool and LOVES small houses!

[Mrs-M]

Here (http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/craft-decorating/decorating/article/-/5826155/50-top-storage-ideas/) is a little warmup to wet your appetite, Gregg!

[Mrs-M]

This (http://www.smallhomelove.com/small-space-storage/) site is one of my favourites!

[Gregg]

Thanks Mrs. M, that is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for!

[catherine]

Have you checked out apartment therapy (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/categories/small_spaces)? It has some great design ideas.

ETA: Great site, Mrs-M!! Love those stair risers/drawer storage!

[Spartana]

Congrats on the new digs Gregg! I love small houses (I mean REALLY tiny houses) and like to look at photos of different ways to maximize space. One way I've found is floor to ceiling wall units - the convertible kind that have things like Murphy-style beds, cabinets, night stands, desks, etc... built into them. Lots of multiple uses for things that fold up into themselves. I'm personally not a big fan of IKEA (but love their coffee and food) but like to look at their small house decorating ideas - some as small as 200 sf. So you might want to do a look-see to get ideas from them. This coming winter I will probably be ready to get another place and I've been looking at some 600 sf houses I like alot. Post some photos when you guys get settled.

A fold up Murphy bed for Spartana's visits?

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=796&d=1338319609

[flowerseverywhere]

Is there a basement? On the way down our basement stairs in my house there was a wall that was not covered in wallboard. DH made a series of shelves with lips on them and we store all kinds of food and spices etc. that would normally need cupboard space. Above our washer and dryer we have shelves (you know those white plastic covered wire type ones?) and that is where we store our cleaning rags, cooler etc. Also, DH made our closets super efficient with the use of that same simple shelving. You can see what is on each shelf. It forces you to be neat instead of throwing stuff up there.

Our bikes and Canoe hang from the garage ceiling. On the garage walls are series of hooks that hold the ladder and a shelves for garage stuff like paint etc.

Of course you probably already thought of under the bed storage. I remember when we used to have our bed on cinder blocks so there was more storage space underneath, way back when. We also used to have bunkbeds for one of the kids that had drawers under the bottom bunk. That helped and I bet there is more out there. For instance instead of an end table, a file cabinet, or bookcase or small chest of drawers. Same with a coffee table, more like a chest or trunk instead of a table with four legs. Besides storage in the seats of a dining set you could have short drawers hanging under the table for things like kitchen table stuff, placemats and napkins.

In a lot of houses you can built the storage to the ceiling. Like a bathroom. Who says you need a under sink cabinet but not an over the sink one? Like a really big medicine cabinet. As long as there is some kind of mirror in there it could work.

[catherine]

I've actually started taking notes when I go to some hotel rooms that are more like suites. I remember seeing a GREAT layout in a Marriott Courtyard--I had gotten an upgrade, and I love the layout because it had a living area with a table that could double as a study or dining table, a small kitchenette tucked into a corner--not very obtrusive, wall-to-wall windows and then there were big french doors that separated the living area from the sleeping area. The sleeping area had two double beds. I pictured that if you could do the wall of beds a la Spartana's Murphy bed design, you could actually entertain nicely by walling up the beds and opening up those big french doors.

I was also just in a hotel (a suite) where there was a little carved out TV nook that I thought was so clever--it was cozy and allowed for conversation in the living area if someone else was more interested in watching TV.

[SteveinMN]

Congratulations, Gregg!

I've mentioned it in another thread, but Sarah Susanka's "Not So Big House" is part of a series you should be able to check out of your local library (or buy if you like it well enough); lots of ideas less oriented to storing things away than to integrating the appearance of the house and making it feel bigger than it is with good sightlines, etc.

[fidgiegirl]

I second Susanka!

Also, make sure you have the right sized furniture. I still wonder if we'd purged all the furniture and pulled everything off the walls in the old house, would we have been able to make it work? But DH couldn't let go . . . ah, all water under the bridge, because we're in our lovely new home. But it's one area in which I don't think it pays to hang on to your old stuff necessarily. It's better to have it be right-sized.

[Float On]

What a neat opportunity Gregg.
I hope you can post some before photos after you close and maybe we could come up with some ideas room by room.
Is it two bedroom/1 bath? Attached or detached garage? Back yard shed to re-do into a private study/guest room?

[Float On]

OK Mrs M that shoedrawer stairs thing is something I'm bookmarking. I'm so tired of tripping over the boys size 15 shoes at the back door - setting them in drawers in the stairs would be PERFECT!!!

[Merski]

I second or third! Go to the library and get susanka's books. There are also other books on storage or living in a small house there too no doubt. Keep a notebook with simple drawings and your thoughts about why that particular storage solution appeals...

[Gregg]

Thanks y'all, so many great ideas and suggestions! For the record I pretty much ran out and bought Sarah Susanka's books the day they were released even though at the time we were living in a not so small house.

The house is just a plain Jane small brick ranch. It is very non-descript right now. Here is the realtor's tour (http://movinghometour.com/home/?TourID=1345388) if anyone wants a closer look. It currently has two small bedrooms and one full bath upstairs and it does have a full basement (a walkout no less!) that we will completely finish into a bedroom, my office, a rec room for our teenage DD and friends and a storage/laundry room. The upstairs is going to transform into a master suite and a great room that includes the kitchen, dining and living rooms. There is a one car, detached garage that is going to become a (just barely) two car, attached garage with a carport.

We are working through various possible lifeforms for a shed in back. So far I know there will be one. It will have several windows on the south side to I can use part of it as a green house to extend the gardening season. It will house the mower, snow blower, tiller, garden tools, bikes in the winter, etc. in the other part. It may get insulated and drywalled and house a guest bed in a small loft or at least I will build in the capability to finish that later.

I have seen the stair drawers before and love them. As a hobby woodworker it would be fun to build them. In this house, however, the area under the stairs (and the stairs themselves) are going to be getting significant reinforcement because this will be our tornado shelter. The storm track of the infamous Hallam, NE tornado a few years back was only 10 miles from here so I'm not taking chances. Nonetheless that is the kind of creative ideas we want to incorporate throughout the house.

[Aqua Blue]

One thing I like in my current home is closets with a storage cabinet above. I also like when they put drawers underneath the closet. I have out of season clothes, Seasonal decorations etc in that storage. Someone I knew who had the undercloset drawers had no dressers and it sure made the small bedroom seem larger. I like built ins to maximize space and decrease clutter.

I also saw a platform bed once that had a huge hinge so you could open it up and store stuff underneath.

[catherine]

Cute house! As you said, a lot of potential there!

How about this fun site: http://www.houzz.com/ranch-house-redo/

[Float On]

Thanks for the realtor tour - I could seriously see the back deck extended full length - covered and made into a sunroom/screened area - giving you nice outdoor (bug free) sitting and dining area.
Adding a carport/covered walkway between garage and house is a great idea.

Is laundry currently in the basement? When you redo the upstairs could you move it to your main living area? I'm just always thinking about my mama who has to carry the laundry 2 flights down to the basement and she is almost 70. I'm trying to talk them into moving the laundry to the first floor.

[Stella]

Great links and great ideas here! I love this kind of thing.

I've been getting a lot of ideas for using space on Pinterest lately.

Pull out cabinet by fridge (http://learning-to-b-me.blogspot.com/2011/03/cabinet-diy-completed-and-tutorial.html)

Behind the door shelf (http://www.remodelandolacasa.com/2012/04/behind-door-shelf.html)

Closet desk (http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.ca/2010/12/new-happy-place.html)

Bike Shelf (http://knifeandsaw.wordpress.com/bike-shelf/)

Closet door storage (http://ana-white.com/2011/03/closet-door-storage)

Rain Gutter Bookshelves (http://raisingolives.com/2009/07/raingutter-book-shelves-tutorial/)

[Stella]

Is laundry currently in the basement? When you redo the upstairs could you move it to your main living area? I'm just always thinking about my mama who has to carry the laundry 2 flights down to the basement and she is almost 70. I'm trying to talk them into moving the laundry to the first floor.

Alternatively, if there isn't room for the laundry upstairs, we built a dressing room in the basement near the washer and dryer. We used the IKEA Antonius storage system and gave everyone a big bin for pants and another for shirts and small bins for underwear and socks. We share space on hanging racks for dresses, suits and other hanging clothes. Each person has their own laundry hamper, so clothes (in general) stay in that room. We have a 6 level (split) house and never since I was seven years old have we managed to actually haul laundry up to the bedrooms. I decided if it hadn't happened in the intervening years between elementary school and my 30s it probably wasn't going to. :) It makes for a lot of space in the bedrooms too. We use closets for other things, like desks.

[Mrs-M]

What super thread this is! Thanks for the tour, Gregg! Very sweet! Ditto what Float On, suggesting Re: your back deck. What a grand room/place that would if it was larger, covered, and screened-off. Wow! Just think, Gregg, you'd be able to sit there in the morning (with your coffee) and talk to all of us! You'd be king! LOL!

[redfox]

When I designed & built a 512 sf house, I looked at sailboat designs for storage ideas.

[Kestrel]

DH and I are involved in starting a cohousing community in Boise, and we're looking at about 1000-1200sqft. Haven't bought the property yet, and there's a lot to work out still, so move-in might be two years away. I'm a "form follows function" person, so for me it has to work efficiently or I won't be happy. Anyway, we want to learn and make-use of all the energy saving and design and space-saving hints we can find as well. We know a lot of what we're looking for since we built our own home (1500sqft) with our very own hands 35 years ago and it's still going strong today -- but we'd do some things differently now. Live and learn ...

(edit: no, we don't still live in it.)

[Sissy]

OMGoodness, Gregg! That house looks so much like mine with the hip style roof (you'll love that for minimal maintenance). gosh, have fun. I think that there have been some great ideas already.

[Aqua Blue]

The book, In laws, Out laws and grannie flats has lots of inspiration.

[small & friendly]

I second Susanka!

Also, make sure you have the right sized furniture. I still wonder if we'd purged all the furniture and pulled everything off the walls in the old house, would we have been able to make it work? But DH couldn't let go . . . ah, all water under the bridge, because we're in our lovely new home. But it's one area in which I don't think it pays to hang on to your old stuff necessarily. It's better to have it be right-sized.
You are so right. I think a lot of that oversized furniture was designed to fill the voids in oversized houses. Give me small, cozy, intimate spaces with furniture that is proportionate.