Keep Small Spaces Organized
How to Avoid Clutter in Small or Modular Homes
This article offers suggestions advice for families living in small spaces, including how to avoid being a pack-rat, and getting rid of the excess
Young families all across America are downsizing due to the state of the real estate market. So how can these families make the most of the space (or lack thereof) in their new homes? One Nashville woman offers a few space-saving tricks she learned when her son was born on July 31.
Melissa Kaupke lives with her husband Matt and son David in a modular home in Tennessee. The Kaupkes couldn’t afford to buy a house when they married. Instead, they bought a lot and a modular home, or trailer, that has 300 square feet.
“One of the things that I hope to keep with me when I am living in a house is the willpower to actually throw things away,” she said. “When we moved here I threw out my wedding bouquet. When it comes down to it, how much sentimental value can those flowers hold? And where have they been for the last year? In a shoe box in the back of the closet. And where would they stay for the next three years? In a shoe box in the back of the closet.”
The Kaupkes store their heavy-duty dishes in the shed in their backyard and use paper plates for most meals. Melissa said not only does this eliminate the need to do dishes, but the paper plates take up less room in the cupboard. Environmental issues did not play into her decision.
“The key to living in a small space is getting rid of the crap!” Melissa said. “We are the opposite of pack rats. Anything that is not important goes. I am not afraid to throw things out and hopefully, when I look through my larger house, I will see that I have not simply acquired meaningless things because I can expand my possessions to fit my living space.”
www.MyGreatHome.com is a Web site for modular home owners. The tips on the site include “look(ing) for furniture that serves more than one purpose.”
The Kaupkes bought David an expandable travel crib that converts from bassinette to crib.
“(It) will fit him for at least eight months. Perhaps we will live in a larger space by the time he outgrows it,” Melissa said.
The writers at www.MyGreatHome.com recommend adding hooks to closet doors to store ties and belts, giving little-worn clothes to charity at least once a year and installing double-tiered hanging rods for shirts and pants.
“This way, they can hang above and below each other, taking up less space than hanging side by side,” according to the site.
Melissa said she only keeps three pairs of shoes in the house and rotates her winter and summer clothing in storage.
“One of the benefits of living here (is that) we have a yard,” she said. “It is enough room for the dog to run. I would rather live in the little living space with the yard than a bigger apartment with no yard!”
