Official part-time resident of the great state of Vermont!!!

[catherine]

We closed yesterday!

It doesn't seem quite real because we are not moving from one place to the other yet, but now begins the process of figuring out how to outfit the house, minimally and cheaply.

Looking for suggestions.

If you were living in a 700 square foot home with your SO, what would you bring? What would you eliminate? I've been researching minimal kitchens, for instance and found a great article on kitchen essentials by a New York City chef who has a teeny kitchen. Using her advice, I put on my Christmas wish list a set of magnetized spice jars to put on the refrigerator (DD got them for me!).

Any other suggestions?

[Yppej]

I'm thinking that's more than the size of a hotel room which has bed(s), dressers, often with table and chair(s), microwave, minifridge, closet area, TV and full bath.

What do you need at home that you don't need travelling?

Is there a shed or garage to keep things in that are specific to home ownership?

[Ultralight]

Congrats!

[catherine]

I'm thinking that's more than the size of a hotel room which has bed(s), dressers, often with table and chair(s), microwave, minifridge, closet area, TV and full bath.

What do you need at home that you don't need travelling?

Is there a shed or garage to keep things in that are specific to home ownership?

Funny you say that, because I've actually drawn floor plans of some hotel rooms I've been in, in preparation for my own "tiny house" living. Not only that, but I have experience living in a hotel for 3 months and being completely fine.

And, yes, there are 3 outbuildings I could store things in.

[Williamsmith]

Enough mirrors to make it feel like a 1400 square foot home.

And congratulations...Vermont is the most permissive state in the union regarding gun laws. You can carry a gun concealed or openly without a permit! And it doesn’t matter if you are a resident or non resident! The United States Constitution is your carry permit! And if that wasn’t good enough, no city or municipality can restrict firearms further. As an example, Burlington tried to ban assault rifles and high capacity magazines......NO CAN DO!

So if I were you, I’d get an AR 15 with a 30 round mag and a Glock 26 and excercise my second amendment right as often as possible. Being from New Jersey this no doubt will seem like you landed on Mars.

Im jealous.

[sweetana3]

Spend some time at IKEA. They are genius at storage ideas and small spaces. Love their room set ups to see how things are used. Prices are decent too.

[rosarugosa]

Congratulations, Catherine! We have lived in less than 1000 SF for 33 years, so I'll try to think of whether we have any helpful hints.
DH is a great cook and he thinks a lot of gadgets are unnecessary as long as one has a good set of knives.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Cool! I remember your posting at some time in the past about wanting to move to Vermont, Burlington I think it was (?) So nice to hear of your making this wish come true! I started out in life in the next state over - in a little town called Sandown, New Hampshire and one thing I can tell you is that you will love, love, love Autumn there when the leaves change, and if they still have roadside apple cider stands (this was in the 70's, I don't know if this is still done or not). At any rate, Congrats Catherine! Rob

[razz]

Did I miss the post telling us the approximate time when you were listing your present house? Have fun exploring the options for your new location.

[iris lilies]

We havent closed on our weekend house yet and I suppose something could still go wrong, but I am proceeding as though everything will go through.

I am outfitting a MINIMAL house because we will be doing major construction over three year (my fantasy plan, not verified with DH) and I dont want to move in a lot of stuff, especially NEW stuff and get plaster dust all over it. So yeah, I am there with you.

I plan to outfit our kitchen with a set of pots and pans we already have, just got them for free. We will not have a dishwasher, so
I am going to use our silverplate set that sits mostly unused. We have a hideous set of dishes DH brought to our marriage that has beem stored for 30 year so here is our opportunity to use them! I suspect many of them will be accidently broken by the time our new kitchen is ready, what a shame that will be. ;)

Right now I do not plan to duplicate small appliances except for a toaster. unless it turns out that we acrually have house guests, we do not need a coffe maker. I will evaluate our need for a hand mixer, a crockpot, and a rice cooker.those are the small appliances we use most often. We have many others, seldom used.

Spices? We wont do serious cooking so no array of spices needed here.

Here is my plan for food: have a chest freezer in the basement and cook up freezer meals here at home and then transport them to our weekend house.

Several people here have cabins as a second home so they will have ideas.

[iris lilies]

Enough mirrors to make it feel like a 1400 square foot home.

And congratulations...Vermont is the most permissive state in the union regarding gun laws. You can carry a gun concealed or openly without a permit! And it doesn’t matter if you are a resident or non resident! The United States Constitution is your carry permit! And if that wasn’t good enough, no city or municipality can restrict firearms further. As an example, Burlington tried to ban assault rifles and high capacity magazines......NO CAN DO!

So if I were you, I’d get an AR 15 with a 30 round mag and a Glock 26 and excercise my second amendment right as often as possible. Being from New Jersey this no doubt will seem like you landed on Mars.

Im jealous.

Interesting! We can all go visit catherine with our guns.

I like that, “the U.S. constitution is your carry permit” in Vermont. Brilliant!

[jp1]

Congratulations! It's always exciting to move to the next phase of one's life.

In answer to your question, when SO and I moved from NJ to San Francisco 9 years ago we went from a 1300 sq foot 3 bed/2 bath house to a 700 sq foot 2 bed/1 bath apartment. We picked it purely because of the insane view of downtown and the rooftop deck outside our front door. It worked out fine for us because it also came with a 1 car private garage where we could store all the things that just don't fit in a bedroom closet or kitchen cabinet. The garage was 4 levels down (SF is really hilly...) and around the corner, but it was fine for storing things like toolboxes and small electric tools, bike, my beer brewing stuff, extra boxes of kitty litter, bags of clothes waiting to be donated, winter coats that we'd only need if traveling, etc. Since you have outbuildings I wouldn't be worried at all.

[Float On]

Every piece of furniture should have drawers or shelves. Bedside tables? Use small low dressers. Coffee table? Mine is a trunk stores my off season clothes. End tables in living? Drawers or doors. I keep my childhood chiffarobe in the kitchen. 4 drawers and a door.

[Williamsmith]

If I could be serious for just a second.......I am very happy for you Catherine and I wish you many happy years in your Thoreau like abode. I would love to send you and your DH a house warming gift....something small but useful....

[pinkytoe]

We just moved into our 385 sf basement while we remodel the kitchen. I find that if I hand wash dishes as we go that very minimal dishware is needed - two of everything with perhaps a box of extras packed away somewhere out of the way. We have a tiny wet bar with about 16" of counter on one side. I am keeping silverware and small knives in a little teakwood caddy rather than using up drawer space since I only have one drawer. I have a toaster oven, microwave and electric kettle and can add a crockpot if needed. If I didn't have a fridge upstairs temporarily placed in the sunroom, I would purchase a tiny fridge. The only furniture we have is a small two shelf metal and glass coffee table and a loveseat. Tiny round dining table with two chairs. TV is hung on the wall to free up space. A useful thing if you have wall space is a little table top that attaches to the wall and can be raised up when not in use (may be IKEA). In the bedroom, there is a full-sized bed, reading chair with a floor lamp and two small bedside tables. You could also mount swing-arm style lamps on the wall next to your bed rather than table lamps. I will learn as we go and pass on suggestions that work. Seems like looking up tiny homes to see their interiors would be helpful too.

[mschrisgo2]

So I am thinking 700 sq ft isnt all that small, because I lived in 600 for 12 years, and a little over 400 for the last year and a half. I think the key really is small scale furniture. For instance, my desk was once a console table in the entry hall of a much larger home. It's 42in x 20, and has 2 drawers, just right for storing a laptop computer, a few papers, pens, etc.

My dining table is 48x30. Its very comfortable for 2 people. I have 2 extra (folding) chairs and can make it work for 4 people.

Nightstands are 2-drawer. Bed is a full size. Because i have dogs, i wanted to maximize floor space. So my 2 living room chairs are Ikea Poang chairs, with open frame bottoms. I have a loveseat rather than a 3-seat couch. I wish it had storage underneath, and am keeping an eye out for something to swap it with. Living room and bedroom both have wall lamps.

Kitchen is about the same space as I had in the 600 sq ft apartment. I do have extra serving dishes/ party stuff in a couple of bins. They are in the shed now, but were on the deck during the good weather, because that is where I entertain.

So, yes, it is very doable. As well as comfortable, and easy to clean, a lovely simple life :)

[herbgeek]

Congrats Catherine! I think one thing that is very important for a small house is to have places to put things away and not out in view or on counters. In a small house it's easy to look cluttered.

Personally I'd rethink the spices on the frig. Not just for the clutter reason but also light breaks then down quicker.

I second the idea of flexible Ikea furniture that can fold up when not in use.

[flowerseverywhere]

Congratulations.
Before you acquire any electrical appliances or gadgets think about this. In 1925 only half of the homes in the US had power. All of our gadgets are a very recent phenomenon. Think about that for a bit

we spend about 30% of the year in an small RV and you have to get in your mind what you don’t really need.for instance, I would not acquire a coffeemaker strictly in case company came. Tell them you have tea. If they really want coffee they will figure it out. How many dishes do you really need? Glasses? Towels?

You can cook marvelous meals on a stovetop and in an oven, or on a grill. Also, think multi purpose. If you must have an end table in the bedroom, or a coffee table,get one that will function as storage. A tv can be mounted on a wall. A kitchen table can have fold down leafs. For me a comfortable bed is #1. A table with good wooden straight chairs, and a few comfy chairs to sit and read would be my priority to acquire in that order.

[catherine]

Spend some time at IKEA. They are genius at storage ideas and small spaces. Love their room set ups to see how things are used. Prices are decent too.

Funny. My son, on one of his many moves here and there, in which he'd dump stuff in our garage on the way, left this IKEA table (https://silkroadselect.com/products/ikea-gateleg-table-white-1626-2928-1014). We've been bemoaning the fact that it has taken space up in the garage and we were going to get rid of it, but whew! One instance in which NOT getting rid of something probably paid off. This is a fantastic gate leg table that will be so functional, and I LOVE the 8 little drawers it has.

And I had NO idea, until I googled it to show you the link, that it's worth almost $1k!!! And to think I almost curbed it for the garbageman!

[catherine]

If I could be serious for just a second.......I am very happy for you Catherine and I wish you many happy years in your Thoreau like abode. I would love to send you and your DH a house warming gift....something small but useful....

2053

Thanks, Williamsmith!

Thoreau-like is true! We went out there to see it before the closing--could only see it from the road above because it hadn't been plowed, but from that vantage we could see that it's the wee-est house on the block. And those houses are already wee! But that's what I love about it.

As for the guns... if I ever wind up single, and if I ever wind up without a dog, and if I ever decide to stick it out in the winter with no neighbors, and if the crime rate ever gets above 2 a year in Grand Isle, THEN MAYBE I would consider one of those firearm benefits Vermont bestows on its citizens, and THEN I'd have to take a big chance that I'd actually be able to use the darn thing without killing myself accidentally. But I get what you're saying. Vermont is a strange dichotomy of die-hard rugged individuals who will NEVER give up their gun rights, and Bernista/Bernisto progressive liberals.

[catherine]

Congratulations.
Before you acquire any electrical appliances or gadgets think about this. In 1925 only half of the homes in the US had power. All of our gadgets are a very recent phenomenon. Think about that for a bit

we spend about 30% of the year in an small RV and you have to get in your mind what you don’t really need.for instance, I would not acquire a coffeemaker strictly in case company came. Tell them you have tea. If they really want coffee they will figure it out. How many dishes do you really need? Glasses? Towels?

You can cook marvelous meals on a stovetop and in an oven, or on a grill. Also, think multi purpose. If you must have an end table in the bedroom, or a coffee table,get one that will function as storage. A tv can be mounted on a wall. A kitchen table can have fold down leafs. For me a comfortable bed is #1. A table with good wooden straight chairs, and a few comfy chairs to sit and read would be my priority to acquire in that order.

Thanks, flowers everywhere. Great ideas. As for the coffee, I think I'll be leaving behind my beloved Cuisinart grinder-and drip-coffeemaker-in-one. It's a bit of a behemoth. I was thinking French press or just one of those cones that you put a filter in and drip the coffee yourself. Or gift myself an electric pot similar to the one I gave my DD for Christmas. It has a thermostat on it and you can choose the right temperature for coffee, black tea, or green tea (which requires a lower brew temp).

[catherine]

Congrats Catherine! I think one thing that is very important for a small house is to have places to put things away and not out in view or on counters. In a small house it's easy to look cluttered.

Personally I'd rethink the spices on the frig. Not just for the clutter reason but also light breaks then down quicker.

I second the idea of flexible Ikea furniture that can fold up when not in use.

Thanks herbgeek! You have a good point on the spice jars. The refrigerator is actually located in the pantry, so I'm hoping it will be darker there, and the jars are actually stainless.

Mschrisgo2, jp1, pinkytoe, FloatOn, sweeten: thanks for sharing your experience, and support! I really am looking forward downsizing!

IL: this is fun that we are sharing our second-home moving adventures! We're going to have to swap photos and ideas along the way!

Rob, UL, and rosa: thank you so much for your well-wishes. It is truly a beautiful area of the country!

razz--we are going to wait out the summer. Call it hedging our bets, or simply being too overwhelmed psychologically to tackle getting rid of the contents of 30 years in one place right away. One step at a time. DH and I are committed to just letting dust settle and exploring our adventure first.

[iris lilies]

Funny. My son, on one of his many moves here and there, in which he'd dump stuff in our garage on the way, left this IKEA table (https://silkroadselect.com/products/ikea-gateleg-table-white-1626-2928-1014). We've been bemoaning the fact that it has taken space up in the garage and we were going to get rid of it, but whew! One instance in which NOT getting rid of something probably paid off. This is a fantastic gate leg table that will be so functional, and I LOVE the 8 little drawers it has.

And I had NO idea, until I googled it to show you the link, that it's worth almost $1k!!! And to think I almost curbed it for the garbageman!
Gateleg tables are the BEST! I was looking around for one and also “discovered” one in our basment. I had forgotten about it, and it has sentimental value for reasons I wont go into. It had been holding junk, but now it will be kitchen table. It doesnt have drawers, though.

[herbgeek]

Don't forget to put on your calendar: SnowFarm Vineyard has weekly free concerts! And Blue Paddle Bistro has some really yummy food.

[Tybee]

Congratulations on being a Vermonter!!! How cool.
And great find on the gateleg table, btw.
I bet you can get many things up there for the house. It has a woodstove, right?

[iris lilies]

Congratulations.
Before you acquire any electrical appliances or gadgets think about this. In 1925 only half of the homes in the US had power. All of our gadgets are a very recent phenomenon. Think about that for a bit

we spend about 30% of the year in an small RV and you have to get in your mind what you don’t really need.for instance, I would not acquire a coffeemaker strictly in case company came. Tell them you have tea. If they really want coffee they will figure it out. How many dishes do you really need? Glasses? Towels?

You can cook marvelous meals on a stovetop and in an oven, or on a grill. Also, think multi purpose. If you must have an end table in the bedroom, or a coffee table,get one that will function as storage. A tv can be mounted on a wall. A kitchen table can have fold down leafs. For me a comfortable bed is #1. A table with good wooden straight chairs, and a few comfy chairs to sit and read would be my priority to acquire in that order.

Wall mounted tv is essential in a small space,
I would think. Good idea!

As for furniture, I am collecting 6 seats that are upholstered. Doesnt have to include a sofa, but it might. I already have two and need 4 more. I want free or thrfit store stuff but have been worried about bedbugs in thrift store items. But last night we stopped at Goodwill and saw three sets of chairs that looked nice and were clean, but I would want to examine closer for bedbug activity. The furniture at St. Vincent De Paul thrift store has been awful.

Anyway, at this moment we plan to use plastic lawn furntiture as a main table and chairs until the right free thing comes along, which it will soon. There is a constant stream of free stuff around here, and we have many friends empyting out their houses over the next 12 months so more will come.

[catherine]

Congratulations on being a Vermonter!!! How cool.
And great find on the gateleg table, btw.
I bet you can get many things up there for the house. It has a woodstove, right?

Thanks, Tybee! Yes, it has a woodstove. And I definitely plan on holding off on buying stuff until I get there. (besides the very cheap curtains I got from Country Curtains during their liquidation sale). One of the things I love about my NJ house is the fact it's a collection of "finds" and I hope the same will be true for this house. Already my realtor is giving me a daybed for my guest room/office--which has a pop-up trundle.

In my mind the priorities will be: sofa, dining chairs, office desk and chair. Those things must be in place before we move in. I'm hoping to find used bentwood chairs, and maybe painting them a sage green or red. Or maybe a couple of each color.

[frugal-one]

Enough mirrors to make it feel like a 1400 square foot home.

And congratulations...Vermont is the most permissive state in the union regarding gun laws. You can carry a gun concealed or openly without a permit! And it doesn’t matter if you are a resident or non resident! The United States Constitution is your carry permit! And if that wasn’t good enough, no city or municipality can restrict firearms further. As an example, Burlington tried to ban assault rifles and high capacity magazines......NO CAN DO!

So if I were you, I’d get an AR 15 with a 30 round mag and a Glock 26 and excercise my second amendment right as often as possible. Being from New Jersey this no doubt will seem like you landed on Mars.

Im jealous.

WOW... That is all I can say about this post!!!!!! Not good.

[iris lilies]

About the coffee maker and guests, I mean overnight guests. Hermann, MO where we are moving is a tourist town and perhaps people will come and stay with us for a festival weekend.

and here is one of the coolest things about Hermann and St. Louis—there is a daily train from STL to Hermann. I can walk to the STL Train station from my house, ride 1.5 hours (exactly how long it takes to drive) and step out of the train onto the main street of Hermann. This is MIRACULOUS in flyover country! I could theoretically walk from the Hermann train stop to our new house and I HAvE actually walked that distance, about 1.5. miles. But if we have guests who take the train we would pick them up in Hermann train stop. Notice here is no “station” just a stop.

[catherine]

and here is one of the coolest things about Hermann and St. Louis—there is a daily train from STL to Hermann. I can walk to the STL Train station from my house, ride 1.5 hours (exactly how long it takes to drive) and step out of the train onto the main street of Hermann. This is MIRACULOUS in flyover country! I could theoretically walk from the Hermann train stop to our new house and I HAvE actually walked that distance, about 1.5. miles. But if we have guests who take the train we would pick them up in Hermann train stop. Notice here is no “station” just a stop.

Wow!!! That's fantastic! I LOVE towns where you can walk to the train!

[Float On]

About the coffee maker and guests, I mean overnight guests. Hermann, MO where we are moving is a tourist town and perhaps people will come and stay with us for a festival weekend.

and here is one of the coolest things about Hermann and St. Louis—there is a daily train from STL to Hermann. I can walk to the STL Train station from my house, ride 1.5 hours (exactly how long it takes to drive) and step out of the train onto the main street of Hermann. This is MIRACULOUS in flyover country! I could theoretically walk from the Hermann train stop to our new house and I HAvE actually walked that distance, about 1.5. miles. But if we have guests who take the train we would pick them up in Hermann train stop. Notice here is no “station” just a stop.

We did an art show in the Hermanhof vinyard room right next to the train station one year. It was such a bad show most of us spent the days drinking wine and thinking about jumping on that train. To me that train made Hermann seem like the perfect little town.

[SteveinMN]

I would love to send you and your DH a house warming gift....something small but useful....
A Glock? :)

Seriously myself, catherine, congratulations on closing and on the move!

DW and I seem to get along pretty well with not much more than 700 square feet at our disposal. The floorplan here is 1000-1100 square feet upstairs. Subtract the two bedrooms which are used largely as closets and a dining room we use only for company and we're probably close to the 700. It's plenty of room if it's configured right and if you -- as we do -- have storage elsewhere (basement and garage for us). We could be far more parsimonious in our belongings if we didn't have the space so we haven't resorted much to the storage furniture and such that people have mentioned here. But if half the house disappeared tomorrow, we'd get by.

[Williamsmith]

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=2053&stc=1

Thanks, Williamsmith!

Thoreau-like is true! We went out there to see it before the closing--could only see it from the road above because it hadn't been plowed, but from that vantage we could see that it's the wee-est house on the block. And those houses are already wee! But that's what I love about it.

As for the guns... if I ever wind up single, and if I ever wind up without a dog, and if I ever decide to stick it out in the winter with no neighbors, and if the crime rate ever gets above 2 a year in Grand Isle, THEN MAYBE I would consider one of those firearm benefits Vermont bestows on its citizens, and THEN I'd have to take a big chance that I'd actually be able to use the darn thing without killing myself accidentally. But I get what you're saying. Vermont is a strange dichotomy of die-hard rugged individuals who will NEVER give up their gun rights, and Bernista/Bernisto progressive liberals.

I would call the strange dichotomy........Charming.

[ToomuchStuff]

Congratulations on the house. Since your going to be fixing up things, and your dealing with small spaces, I will recommend you remember to check out, http://www.ana-white.com/ as you might find it simple to build what you need, rather then find it at times.
Check out your local library and look at books about Bungalow's and the time frame when they were built. There were a lot of built in's and people tried to have storage in everything. (ottoman's, today they would be using couches with storage under them, etc)
As for that local table, there are other styles I like and when you deal with expanding furniture, it tends to get more expensive. I would like to build one at some point, based on the Stakemore expanding wood cabinet. They missed one thing that I thought would be of benefit, put a drop leaf on the back side.

[iris lilies]

Ok, lets talk under-bed storage. I will have to visit the IkEa here in town, a place I dislike immensely except for their tiny houses (those, I love!) . but anyway.

IKEA and others have these platform bed thIngs that have drawers. You put the mattress on top. There is no box spring.
or, they also have this dodadd hydraulic system that lifts your mattress up and you can store anything under it. Not as expensive as it sounds.

but then, I think about how much I have always wanted an antique spool/spindle bed. If it were high enough, I could just store things under it. But I guess I would have to buy appropriate sized plastic tubs to do that.

Tell me about yoir under=bed storage.

[rosarugosa]

I have one plastic under the bed storage box. I used to have 2, and my goal is to get to 0. I find vacuuming under the bed an annoying task and it is certanly wasted space, so I really like the idea of a bed with built-in storage underneath. I've never slept in a bed without a box spring though, so I'm not sure how I would like it and that is a critical consideration.

[iris lilies]

I have one plastic under the bed storage box. I used to have 2, and my goal is to get to 0. I find vacuuming under the bed an annoying task and it is certanly wasted space, so I really like the idea of a bed with built-in storage underneath. I've never slept in a bed without a box spring though, so I'm not sure how I would like it and that is a critical consideration.
Yes, I wonder about the lack of a box spring. I will have to lie down on these platform thingies at the IKEA store.

[mschrisgo2]

My daughter has the IKEA Malm storage bed. The drawers are quite large and you need space tp pull them out, i. e. to fully use them, unless you are just storing larger things. It had a hokey set of brackets to hold the slates up and in place. We went to Home Depot and got 4 1inx1in stringers and used those instead. Is it comfortable? She loves it! However, she recently said she wishes she had gotten the “lift” bed, just for ease of use. (And it is a few inches taller).

I have Ikea’s Very least expensive bed. I put 2 plywood panels on top of the slats to keep them in place. I have a cheap IKEA mattress that I put a Costco memory foam topper on, sooooo comfy! And,
Actually, you could use a box spring and mattress on any of the IKEA beds, just check that the height is comfortable for you.

My dream/goal is a Murphy bed, with a sewing center in front of it. I figure the bed is wasted space during the day. If I could fold it up, not only would dog hair and other things not collect under it, but I could actually use the room during the day.

[JaneV2.0]

I have an old iron bed with slats only and a cheap (but effective) foam mattress with topper. I sleep well. I don't like innerspring mattresses and don't see the point of box springs.

[Zoe Girl]

I have an Ikea bed with slats, I really like it but I also like firm mattresses. I have a lot of plastic storage bins underneath that you can't see. That is more flexible than built in drawers actually. I can't pull them all out where they are so there is a bit of an adjustment if I want to get to certain ones, but those are things I don't need often. I have moved a couple times with this bed and in my current room I would not be able to pull out the drawers if I had built in ones. So if you are not sure I would go with the plastic bins, they come in all types of sizes and heights.

[ToomuchStuff]

Ok, lets talk under-bed storage. I will have to visit the IkEa here in town, a place I dislike immensely except for their tiny houses (those, I love!) . but anyway.

IKEA and others have these platform bed thIngs that have drawers. You put the mattress on top. There is no box spring.
or, they also have this dodadd hydraulic system that lifts your mattress up and you can store anything under it. Not as expensive as it sounds.

but then, I think about how much I have always wanted an antique spool/spindle bed. If it were high enough, I could just store things under it. But I guess I would have to buy appropriate sized plastic tubs to do that.

Tell me about yoir under=bed storage.


Lets start by correcting one thing. Please lift up the box that your mattress is on, look under it and then come back to this thread. In past times, there were a lot more box "springs" (I grew up on a 40 year old mattress, with box springs under it). Now and for a long time, MOST sold are actually BOXES, with NO SPRINGS.
So a fabric colored box, with a flat top the mattress sits on.
Guess what a platform bed is?
I've been sleeping on a platform bed since I bought my house, in my 20's. The one I found locally, has one giant drawer that has wheels on it to slide to one side or the other. I added some extra wheels, due to carpet in that room. I would much prefer smaller drawers and expect I will build the next one to get what I want. (my current one has slats, so if you toss and turn, you can slide the mattress enough, that things could be knocked off the headboard, and end up in the drawer. That was a fun morning trying to find glasses)
Those hydraulic cylinders, started as a thing for more modern day Murphy beds, and someone decided they were a good idea, to assist older people getting under the mattress.
One person I knew, had access to a lot of wheels, and took an old, cheaply made chest of drawers, and put wheels under the drawers to use them under a bed. Plastic tubs have the advantage of a lid, and the disadvantage of if you need to put extra stuff in them, they can't be overfilled (they hid a present in one drawer).
I like firm mattresses and with a firm mattress and the platform bed, it is similar to having a board under the bed. My building of one, will involve not slats but solid plywood, as a cover to keep things out.