Make Monday: Making More Room

So this weekend, we took the time to move things around trying to make room in our tight little space of 1200 square feet for a new baby. We moved furniture around. We added shelving to empty wall spaces. And we bought some more organizers. All for the purpose of adding one more (I might add small person but who will take up a lot of room) person in the house.

Our town home does not seem too crowded YET ( I say that loosely). We do have a lot of stuff and since I am always going through it, the bare minimum of stuff. But the question is how do we cram more in here and where do we put it?

Before we got married, I lived in a studio loft apartment downtown for five years. I had a lot of stuff housed in there but even more so after my husband moved in once we married. I still marvel how we survived in that 800 square feet space together for a year until we got our house. What is even more amazing is the amount of stuff that we had to move out of there....we had enough for several trailer loads.

I am trying to apply some of the same principals I learned during that time to now on maximizing space.

1. Utilize wall space. We added lots of shelves in closets and the laundry room for storage. Do not leave wasted space that can be used for something but rather think going up on the wall instead of out. Hang your pots and pans from hooks beneath a shelf. Store your Cd's and DVD's up on a shelf on the wall instead of taking up floor space.

2. Pack efficiently. Think of ways outside the box to store objects that you want to keep and need only for a short time of the year. For example, reduce your clothes space by using saver bags for clothes and linens out of season.

3. Keep only what is necessary. If you have not used it in a year and it is not a keepsake, then get rid of it. Storing items you no longer use or value take up much needed space. Regularly go through to keep from accumulating junk that sits around the house. Have a bin near your door to drop these items in as you find them.

4. Think function. Will this arrangement work to enhance our needs right now or will it hinder us in our daily activity? Put things you use most often in a more accessible location while things you less frequently up higher or behind.

5. Utilize hidden space. Maximize extra storage space again by thinking outside the box. For example, try under bed storage containers to house items.

Tip Tuesday: Packing up the Christmas Decorations

I think I am getting smarter when it comes to packing up the Christmas decorations. I mean at least it has become easier over the last few years to find things the next Christmas just by following a few storing tips.

1. Choose clear plastic bins for storage. Personally, I have a few clear plastic containers with green and red lids clearly marking them Christmas. Being clear allows you to peek at the contents inside.

2. Put things in order. I have learned to reserve one bucket for items that are needed at Thanksgiving time, labeling them, "open me first." These items include advent items, Christmas music, and other things that you tend to need right away. Easy access allows you to find these items when needed the most instead of stumbling upon them after the fact at a later date.

3. Group like items together. Again, I group similar items in the same bucket. One bucket is for all the Christmas tree decorations alone while the other bucket stores decorations for around the house. This way I only have to get the tree bin down when I am decorating the tree.

4. Label as much as you can. Instead of digging through each box, try labeling items for easy access. This will ensure successful and stress-free decorating.

5. Utilize items from around the house you for added storage. Visit Resourceful Ways to Store Decorations.

Happy packing! That is what I am doing.

Make Monday: A Solution for Wrapping Paper!

I hate buying too much wrapping paper for Christmas. If you buy too much, you have reels of paper leftover to store for an entire year. If you buy too little, you do not have enough to get you through the Christmas wrapping season. Then you still end up buying too much paper and end up storing it for next year. Thus you have the cycle of wrapping paper.

And I hate wrapping paper rolls because they are so hard to store and keep nice. Down on the floor the paper gets crinkled being bumped around. Plus you run the risk of the kids unrolling the paper, chewing on the roll, or even blowing into the roll. Against the wall, paper rolls constantly fall down succumbing to a similar demise. Finally, putting the rolls into a plastic storage container means you have one more large plastic bucket to store and find room for an entire year all for a few rolls of wrapping paper.

Currently I keep my wrapping paper, tissue paper, and bows in a hang up plastic device (on a hanger) in the closet. This keeps things accessible for year round birthdays and celebrations that require one present to be wrapped at the last minute. The plastic container hangs next to my craft table complete with scissors, tape, and ribbon for additional easy wrapping.

This year....I bought too much Christmas wrapping paper and now I am not sure where to store it. This picture came across in my email from a friend. And it looks like it would work without taking up wasted space on the shelf or floor of the closet.

Making this simple solution of stringing some wire across the ceiling of the closet could solve my problems. I thought it seemed like a good enough idea that I think I will pass it on for today's Make Monday project. A Make Monday project to help you solve a common problem around the house.