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BlondeMoment
15-11-2010, 01:44 PM
AGHHHHHHH!
I can't move for STUFF all over the house!!!! We rent a two bedroom house with upstairs bathroom, downstairs is a little hall, kitchen and lounge.

I've been minding since March and in that time I have had to sacrifice my spare room for storage of highchairs and travel cots etc not to mention boxes of toys. As I result, all the rest of the stuff I need to store in the house is all over the place! It's driving me insane.

Only have two bedrooms, one we sleep in and the spare bedroom. Just me and hubby at mo but we planning on having a family soon so gotta get on top of this. We've no room in the lounge whatsoever. No surfaces as it's a patio door so no window ledges. We have one book case but thats full! We don't have a cupboard under the stairs, just a space but thats where the hoover and buggies are stored. We couldn't get another bookcase in the lounge if we tried as space is so limited.
Every month or two we have massive throw out sessions but we really are bursting at the seems now. Does anyone else have this problem? And do you have any magic ideas for storage solutions? We use our loft (although not supposed to - we rent), and we've put up shelves everywhere we're allowed to. We use all the space under the bed, and the airing cuboard LOL. Does anyone have any really good ideas? :idea:
We don't have a garage or shed either as garden is tiny and on a slope.

Andrea08
15-11-2010, 01:51 PM
hi hun ... B&Q have plastic green outdoor storage different sizes... get good stacking boxes and label them with pictures and words... then copy the lables and put in a file as a catalogue of your resources so children still have choices ..

hope this helps i know of some cms that do this and stack boxes in the garage but remember the catalogue for children to look through

good luck

BlondeMoment
15-11-2010, 01:56 PM
Lovely idea but my garden is probably the size of one of those boxes LOL.
Well, thats an exageration but the garden is a lovely free space where the kiddies can run around. Probably the only bit of free space really although it is tiny. It's also on a slope which makes putting anything in it tough. We thought about getting one of those plastic sheds but didn't purely for that reason.
If only we could afford a bigger place LOL

Andrea08
15-11-2010, 02:01 PM
mmmm difficult hun, apart from stacking boxes and shelves im stuck, esp as you not got an under stairs space... and it would be a shame to use all your own bedroom space..

is your attic room small too although it would be hard work getting toys down and up again sorry hun

xxxxxxx

BlondeMoment
15-11-2010, 02:10 PM
LOL I know it's impossibe!

The toys are all stored in the spare room so that part isn't really a problem. The kiddies have access to everything they need and are quite happy. It's my things that I need to store - ornaments, photo albums, books, shoes, table cloths etc etc. Loft is pretty much full really. It's full of our landlord's stuff so we've only just got a tiny bit of space at the edge. like I say we're not really supposed to use it.
No easy solutions heres, thats why I'm hoping someone will have a great idea. Taking off a bath panel or something LOL!!!! Done that BTW! LOL

newandlearning
15-11-2010, 02:12 PM
hi ya.. how many highchairs and travel cots do you have.. if it more than 1 do you really need 2? it sound like there is no room at all in your lounge.. is that so? I bought an expedia unit from ikea with boxes.. but I hear you don't have room for another unit.. could you put such a unit in the second bed room...

I agree that probably the cheapest thing to do is use plastic boxes but if its in your own personal space the expedia units do look a lot nicer...

this is one type of their units below

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116274#

there are others...

http://www.shopzilla.co.uk/8B--Living_Room_Furniture_Accessories_-_cat_id--13836__keyword--ikea+expedit+shelving+unit+bulk+buy


a long time ago someone said they used a shoe storer and used small plastic boxes at an angle.. this could work in a small place... easy to put away after.. albeit I'm not sure where :rolleyes: ...

can you put up shelves over another unit?

BlondeMoment
15-11-2010, 02:39 PM
Wow thanks!

Katiekoo
15-11-2010, 03:48 PM
We have a tiny house and I'm always struggling for places to keep things! We have a footstool that is also storage. I hang everything I can on the back of doors and have the usual boxes on top of the high kitchen cupboards. But I've always thought it would be great to get some storage that makes use of the space over the stairs - you know when you stand at the bottom of the stairs and look up and you see this expanse above you! I think I might have to set grandpa a stair storage challenge! Hope you have an over stairs space too :D

BlondeMoment
15-11-2010, 04:48 PM
We have a tiny house and I'm always struggling for places to keep things! We have a footstool that is also storage. I hang everything I can on the back of doors and have the usual boxes on top of the high kitchen cupboards. But I've always thought it would be great to get some storage that makes use of the space over the stairs - you know when you stand at the bottom of the stairs and look up and you see this expanse above you! I think I might have to set grandpa a stair storage challenge! Hope you have an over stairs space too :D

Now thats what I'm talkin about! Great idea! I'll look into that!

Katiekoo
15-11-2010, 05:24 PM
'Now thats what I'm talkin about! Great idea! I'll look into that!'

If you can work something out or source shelving that works for this - do let me know! :thumbsup:

miss mopple
15-11-2010, 06:02 PM
Could you rent a garage? Thats what I do. Your local council may have some to rent, usually for about £30 a month, which is obviously a business expense too :thumbsup:

newandlearning
15-11-2010, 06:06 PM
If you can work something out or source shelving that works for this - do let me know! :thumbsup:

I think it sounds like a good idea too hun.. but I could see myself getting stuck on ladder :eek:

BlondeMoment
19-11-2010, 06:14 PM
I think it sounds like a good idea too hun.. but I could see myself getting stuck on ladder :eek:

Yeah I'm loving this idea. It's such a massive waste of space all that area. Got to be a way. I'll let you know if I find one

jo f
19-11-2010, 07:11 PM
I got some very cheap draw string pump bags from ikea but could be picked up in many places, and got coat hooks to hang them on. I have toys hiding everywhere- easel and pop up tents behind sofa. Loads under beds in storage boxes. My hubby has just put up 2 cupboards in my kitchen not a perfect match but near enough to my other ones and i've bought some small white plastic baskets to put things in. Its nice to shut cupboard doors on things!
I also have things accessible to the children.
I have re arranged and re arranged and tried my best to get rid of things but I just can't- just in case!!!!

BlondeMoment
19-11-2010, 08:39 PM
I got some very cheap draw string pump bags from ikea but could be picked up in many places, and got coat hooks to hang them on. I have toys hiding everywhere- easel and pop up tents behind sofa. Loads under beds in storage boxes. My hubby has just put up 2 cupboards in my kitchen not a perfect match but near enough to my other ones and i've bought some small white plastic baskets to put things in. Its nice to shut cupboard doors on things!
I also have things accessible to the children.
I have re arranged and re arranged and tried my best to get rid of things but I just can't- just in case!!!!

Know exactly what you mean lol

Katiekoo
20-11-2010, 02:17 PM
I think it sounds like a good idea too hun.. but I could see myself getting stuck on ladder :eek:

Yeah that is a problem, I thought there might be some kind of pull down storage out there somewhere, or you could store toys in drawstring bags on hooks up there (another person suggested) and reach them with a grabber stick maybe?