Gulp --- I'm sorry I hit the post button before I Explained my reason for posting here !

I need to read more before I post ...but living in a small house has gotten mne crazy ! I'll read up & be back with my discussions .

** What an entry , huh ??? LOL ***

Hi, Kathy! Good to see you here!

Kathy,
Welcome to our small homes. We have been a tad quiet lately, but I still check to see if something is going on. Weekends always seem to be very quiet. Lots of great ideas and support. Maybe we can help a bit on the "crazy" part. There are posts on learning to love and get through...all stories seem to end with loving these little spaces.

Welcome to our "little" forum ;o)
Nora

Welcome - Always a challenge to deal with. You have lots of company here.

Carol

Welcome! Despite the challenges of living in a small home, it turns out that a having a smaller home is a very 'green' thing to do. So we're just ahead of the curve here! I simple tell my friends: "Of COURSE I could have a MUCH bigger house... but that's not being very responsible, now is it?"

Welcome, toomuchglass. We do gripe some about lack of closet space or something, but for the most part we are pretty happy with our small homes. A lot of us are just too darned tired of cleaning so much. People here have lots of good ideas and are willing to share what they've done to make their space seem bigger.

Tell us about your house, okay?

I'll add my welcome also. It is rather quiet here, but I still check it out from time to time. DH and I just figured out the sq. footage of our little cottage, and it is 630 sq. ft. Yikes! I just read recently too about small houses being a 'green' thing to do, flgargoyle. We do have a workshop, a barn, a storage building, and two small Ted's sheds, on our 1/4 acre, with several gardens. Space is definitely a problem. We have LOTS of books and keep collecting more. We may turn the workshop into a great room which would take care of books and computers out of our small cottage. If we do that, it's down the road yet. For now, we are appreciating our little abode.

FlowerLady

Wow, flowerlady, how do you get a workshop, a barn, a storage building, and two small Ted's sheds and "several gardens" all on only a quarter acre? We are selling our 1.4 acre lot with cottage and workshop and moving to a more urban environment. The new home is a bungalow of 1300 sq. ft. and only has a very small old workshop/shed. We need LOTS more outdoor storage and not sure where to put it!

Hi, toomuchglass...

I have two little boys, my husband, and myself in a small Cape. It's a pretty little house with ceiling beams, wide plank pine floors, and a big fireplace. We've been very happy here.

Then the other day my husband said, "Let's get a child- sized table with two small chairs for the kids to do their artwork. Then they can just sit down and draw or color whenever they want without you having to haul everything out to set it up on the kitchen table."

"What a great idea!" I said, and began to feverishly search the web for kids' art tables.

Then it occurred to me: where would I put this marvelous kid-sized table and chairs? In the livingroom? Sure, if I tossed out one of my chairs and rearranged all the remaining furniture I could make room. In the small computer room? Only if I tossed our desperately needed bookcases. Maybe I could perch it on top of the train table that hogs the center of their (shared) bedroom.

I finally realized that in my house, where each December brings the nail biting decision of where I'll fit a Christmas tree, an art table, however small, just isn't in the cards.

So even though I love my home, I do feel your pain!

Crystal

Welcome. I'm forever hopeful that what my tiny house lacks in space and room, I can make up for in charm. I've seen many good examples right here and this forum has given me many good ideas. Hope you find it useful as well.

we raised 3 sons in a 1100 sq ft house. talk about crowded, but we managed.

Crystal 386 - Have you considered a wall hung 'table' that flips up when the kids want to draw, and just little hassock type seats, or folding ones that can go anywhere when not in use?

I'm already getting inspiration ! For awhile - I thought I was the only one around that couldn't fit a Christmas tree in my house ! LOL

Crystal,

What is the possibility of adding a table piece to a shelf of one of your bookcases? You could buy some wood and finish it the same, hang it with a piano hinge, use shelf brackets that fold out underneath for support. This wouldn't take up your bookcase storage. Just a thought. No thought on chairs.

Hmmm...good ideas. The little folding chairs would work well--I could squeeze them into a closet when not in use. I'm sure I could fit a fold down shelf onto a wall or bookcase--I have to look into this! Thanks!

Crystal

How about having it mounted low enough, that they could sit on the floor. They could use pillows that could go just about any where. Gail

We have the child sized table and (2)chairs as our coffee table. One side has two drawers for crayons, puzzles, books etc.. The two chairs fit under the ends of the table. When the GK's are not around, the two little chairs hold books, and the coffee table has other books :^), coasters and remotes. When kidlets are here, the coasters and books go on the end of the hearth, the remotes go beside Pa's chair(they are off limits to kidsters) and it becomes kid city!! I finished the table with stain and several coats of polyurethane...so far we haven't had any disasters that paper towels or a microfiber cloth couldn't solve!!