In one of our homes we gave our 3 young children the biggest bedroom and it was the best decision! They had their own little half bath and space for 3 little IKEA junior beds in a row and storage for their toys. We’ve also previously turned closets into offices or play spaces. Love the ideas you shared here!
I'm so thrilled I've found you. I couldn't agree more. I write about crafting a smaller, simpler, more beautiful lifestyle. And I'm not talking about minimalism either. Or anything extreme. But I actually feel as if open plan floorplans don't always create the best setup for living smaller -- it's complicated haha. I enjoyed your post!! ~Miriam
Miriam, thank you so much for such a kind comment! The open floor plan one is definitely divisive— maybe it’s something to dive into more in a later post. 🙂 so glad you found this corner of the internet too!
I love this! I would also add: if you’re buying new furniture (or new to you), make sure it fights the space! I see so many places that feel cluttered because the furniture is sized for a suburban 3000ft house and not the 900sq ft apartment!
Such a good point! Also, more furniture is not always better! Our kitchen island has seating on both sides— great in a lot of ways, but it really adds to the ‘visual clutter’ in a way I didn’t expect. Thanks for reading and commenting!
We have a dining room then a strangely long livingroom that really only allows you to use about half the sapce as living area no matter what furniture you put in here. So we turned the unused half.of the living area into a dining space & the dining area into a library/hangout/homeschool room. It's suits us much better
I encourage your dreaming for the basement, but also caution: Basement flooding will become increasingly common with the more sudden and violent rain patterns we have now thanks to climate change. Maybe you design with that in mind? Drywall designed for damp spaces, a sump pump, dehumidifier, and no upholstered furnishings or carpet on the floor. If I were looking into making a basement space usable, I'd also consider digging out a deeper window well for an egress-style window.
Thanks so much for the suggestions! We doubled the window size over the winter and will be putting in a sump pump, the moisture resistant drywall, and tile instead of carpeting. We are hoping that will resolve the issue! I don’t think I’ll bring myself to store things that would be easily water damaged (ie books) in the basement though. The inclement weather— even in fairly climate change resistant places like Pittsburgh— is SO concerning. Half the people we knew had flooded basements this year!
Haha, thanks so much for the comment! Maybe in some cases it’s not “knock down a wall” but rather “put up a wall!” We love our open floor plan but I know it’s not for everyone.
In one of our homes we gave our 3 young children the biggest bedroom and it was the best decision! They had their own little half bath and space for 3 little IKEA junior beds in a row and storage for their toys. We’ve also previously turned closets into offices or play spaces. Love the ideas you shared here!
Thanks so much for reading, Kate! I love the visual of 3 little ikea beds in a row. :)
I'm so thrilled I've found you. I couldn't agree more. I write about crafting a smaller, simpler, more beautiful lifestyle. And I'm not talking about minimalism either. Or anything extreme. But I actually feel as if open plan floorplans don't always create the best setup for living smaller -- it's complicated haha. I enjoyed your post!! ~Miriam
Miriam, thank you so much for such a kind comment! The open floor plan one is definitely divisive— maybe it’s something to dive into more in a later post. 🙂 so glad you found this corner of the internet too!
I love this! I would also add: if you’re buying new furniture (or new to you), make sure it fights the space! I see so many places that feel cluttered because the furniture is sized for a suburban 3000ft house and not the 900sq ft apartment!
Such a good point! Also, more furniture is not always better! Our kitchen island has seating on both sides— great in a lot of ways, but it really adds to the ‘visual clutter’ in a way I didn’t expect. Thanks for reading and commenting!
We have a dining room then a strangely long livingroom that really only allows you to use about half the sapce as living area no matter what furniture you put in here. So we turned the unused half.of the living area into a dining space & the dining area into a library/hangout/homeschool room. It's suits us much better
I love that! Sometimes large rooms are surprisingly difficult to manage but it sounds like you came up with a great solution!
I encourage your dreaming for the basement, but also caution: Basement flooding will become increasingly common with the more sudden and violent rain patterns we have now thanks to climate change. Maybe you design with that in mind? Drywall designed for damp spaces, a sump pump, dehumidifier, and no upholstered furnishings or carpet on the floor. If I were looking into making a basement space usable, I'd also consider digging out a deeper window well for an egress-style window.
Thanks so much for the suggestions! We doubled the window size over the winter and will be putting in a sump pump, the moisture resistant drywall, and tile instead of carpeting. We are hoping that will resolve the issue! I don’t think I’ll bring myself to store things that would be easily water damaged (ie books) in the basement though. The inclement weather— even in fairly climate change resistant places like Pittsburgh— is SO concerning. Half the people we knew had flooded basements this year!
Don’t forget that sump pumps DIE! And don’t function if the power goes out, so get a sump pump alarm and a battery backup. ASK ME HOW I KNOW!! 😆🙄
Ahh I can only imagine! Thanks for the suggestion!!
Open plan homes are a scourge.
Haha, thanks so much for the comment! Maybe in some cases it’s not “knock down a wall” but rather “put up a wall!” We love our open floor plan but I know it’s not for everyone.