ISO interior design help for maximizing tiny space

seeker

Thu, Oct 10 2013, 11:13 pm

Trying to figure out if we can make our tiny apartment work for our growing family a while longer - by rearranging furniture and such, no major remodeling. I think this needs professional input. Does anyone here know someone (yourself included) who is especially skilled at this kind of need? Free brainstorming help is welcome but I am willing to pay a professional to do this right. People who have worked with interior designers before, how much should I expect to be charged for this? I do want to do it the professional way but I also can't afford to totally break the bank over this. I imagine the most we'll get out of this is another 4 years or maybe even less before we'll just HAVE to move.

seeker

Thu, Oct 10 2013, 11:33 pm

This is more complicated than that. We may have a bit of clothing excess, but other than that we really don't have much junk and what junk we do have is in my mother's basement. We need to rearrange and refurnish the space to make it work better for us. Currently we have one small bedroom (appx 13' sq), one slightly larger all-purpose room, one nice-sized kitchen, and one regular bathroom. As our kids are getting older and needing more space, I'm thinking that what we need to do is reconfigure the bedroom to include more practical storage and some work space, make an eat-in area in the kitchen, ditch the dining area and remake the all-purpose room into a kids' bedroom and play/living area. However, the kids' room is going to need some creativity because the room it will be in includes the entrances to the apartment itself as well as all the other rooms and closets, so it will need to be worked out to give the kids a relatively peaceful sleeping area and not to block access to anything. It's a real puzzle and might not even be feasible. But before deciding that it's entirely unrealistic I would like to have some second opinions, before re-launching the bigger-apartment hunt that was going nowhere, which if it did get anywhere would raise our rent considerably and still need furnishing.

seeker

Fri, Oct 11 2013, 12:03 am

That's food for thought... there's not much room to divide but I can see putting some kind of furniture in a position that would make the beds and door not visible to each other... I can't divide up the space too much because then it would be too hard to walk through. Picture an approximate 13'x15' rectangle where EACH side has a door in middle: One side has the door to my room, one side has the kitchen entrance, one side has the apartment entrance, and one side has a closet and short hallway to bathroom. It's hard to visualize...

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 8:50 pm

Former interior designer here!

First of all, the rule for tiny apartments is "build UP". Ikea book cases are the best. The "Billy" series is the least expensive and most flexible. They have extensions you can buy to reach all the way to the ceiling. Get clear plastic storage boxes for everything, so that you can find stuff easily and put it back when you're done.

For the best ideas, I suggest getting this book. It's worth every penny http://www.amazon.com/Small-Sp.....64547 this book is excellent, too http://www.amazon.com/Apartmen.....AQKBY

seeker

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 8:59 pm

We have a billy and a Hemnes :-) but I really think it's a lost cause. Did you catch what I'm dealing with? I have me, Dh, and an almost 2-yr-old in a room that's about a 13 ft square, another room of about the same size with my almost 4-yr-old, entranceway, and all dining/activity space for the family, and a long skinny kitchen that can't really be changed much but that fits 2 bookshelves in addition to all our food needs. Sigh. Plus, the family room has no window and the other rooms' windows open into a corner so they don't get much airflow.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 9:06 pm

Without seeing your actual floor plan, there's only so much I can do. That's why I gave a vague answer and suggested you look into the books for ideas.

You have 3 bedrooms? I'm jealous! My house is much smaller than yours, with weird window placement as well. Not only that, but I inherited my great grandmother's furniture, which is huge and bulky. I love it too much to get rid of it, but it makes designing around it a real challenge.

I wish I could be there in person to give you more useful information.

I just had a thought. Bunk beds for the kids. Have them sleep on the lower bunk, and store all the toys on the top bunk. Saves a TON of space, and gives you room for new additions to the family. You can hang a curtain around the top bunk to make a play tent area, and when the kids get older they can "graduate" to the upper level (with a little ceremony) and they can use the curtains to have a feeling of privacy from their younger siblings who are now on the bottom.

ra_mom

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 9:11 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

3 rooms

1 bedroom

seeker

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 9:14 pm

WHERE did you get the 3 bedroom idea? Honey, we're in a STUDIO with a fake wall down the middle:
Main room: 3.5 year old, dinette table/chairs, toy shelves, book shelves, closet, entranceway (13 ft square plus entranceway sticking out from that square)
Bedroom: Me, DH, 2y/o in crib, our dressers. About 13' sq.
Kitchen: Long and skinny, but nice amount of storage. Room to work on counter, but not really to eat for the whole family, so the table in other room stays.
Bathroom: Standard apartment issue

No room for any full size bed, hence no bunkbed. Kid is in toddler bed, trying to figure out how to get crib into that room too so we can gain a bit of privacy in the bedroom. Will probably have to ditch the dinette set for something smaller. But again, we keep dreaming of leaving too hard to put time/money into redoing here... though we should have done that two years ago and had three good years out of it. I HOPE in another year we'll be ready to leave...

ra_mom

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 9:20 pm

seeker wrote:

If the kitchen cabinets/counters are all along one wall you can install a fold away breakfast table shelf along the other wall and add some stools.
I have seen toddler size bunk beds which can accomidate both children.

Scrabble123

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 10:56 pm

A store like Ikea may be good for you. Ikea products are inexpensive and a great way to save space! My friend's landlord "commandeered" her play room and she was able to store everything in her boys' small bedroom with the help of some ikea originals!

seeker

Mon, Jul 28 2014, 11:49 pm

Even from IKEA, a full makeover would cost somewhere around $2000 - like I said, way worth it if we'd done it a couple of years ago when we really should have, but not sure it pays when we'll anyway outgrow our space imminently even with the best arrangements. Maybe it does. hard to say. One thing I've learned about IKEA furniture is that it doesn't travel very well, but then again I guess you save on some moving expenses that way too Tongue Out

Transferring baby won't help: 1. there's no place to transfer TO, until further rearranging; 2. She is STILL (GRRRRRR!) waking up several times a night demanding to nurse and if she wakes up big sis we are in trouble.

Meanwhile, anyone want to buy an oversized dinette set?! (It happens to be a REALLY nice set. And very sturdy. But that comes with very heavy, so a real hassle to move.)