Coping tips for a small apartment

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2007, 8:22 pm

I live in a small apt, and we have a bunch of kids. We have barely enough room for beds and toys in the kids room,
my kitchen is tiny, we have no playroom, tiny bathroom, everything is tiny, and I dont know how to fit our things in comfortably. so far we're ok, but I'm worried about the future. I also worry about how to entertain my kids now with so little floor space. they've gotten creative by playing forts under the dining room table, and under one of their high beds.
is anyone else in this situation? do you have any creative ideas for me on how to make more space or more effectively use the space I have?

and by the way, we are thinking about moving, but its not really possible for another while.
so until then I have to make do with what I have.

Tefila

Mon, Jan 01 2007, 8:30 pm

Use your walls. Exclamation

..............ok to clarify if I were in your predicament 1) I would get rid of whatever furniture I could live without. Instead of reg sofas get the ones that turn into beds,
2) get rid of draws and use shelves, walls are empty and one can't sit or play on them (though some boys would beg to differ). So use them for storage by putting in shelves, cupboards everywhere but on the floor.
ALso think out of the box and experiment by moving stuff around, you may just find some space then that you thought you never had.
I used to do this when we had two kids and were living in a small apartment.

amother

Mon, Jan 01 2007, 8:55 pm

also how many kids per rooms in the apt would you say is the max. like if you have a 4 (med. size)room apt, could you have 4 people= 2 parents+ 2 kids in it? or more?
whats the ratio of kids to rooms?
how many kids can you fit in one average size bedroom?

basically at what point do I throw up my hands and say tough luck we have to move now!!!! Wink

mommy24

Mon, Jan 01 2007, 9:44 pm

It depends on how big your apartment is. when we first moved in to ours ppl joked that the bedrooms were so big we could have 5 kids in just one bedroom. we have 4 kids in one bedroom right now, we have a crib for the youngest, the other 3 sleep on a bunk bed htat has a high riser that pulls out. in the morning the high riser goes in right after they wash negel vasser and makes the room less cluttered.

do you have a storage room? we put all the big toys, swings, ride ons, and baby toys, anything outgrown , etc in our storage room.

to make toys less of a clutter we store all toys in the kids bedroom in those plastic rolling drawers (the ones that have 4 drawers and wheels on the bottom) we keep 2 of htose in the kids room. they have their own bookshelf too where they put thier books and can keep some toys on top and some on the shelves.

I try to keep toys out of the living room, but of course that doesn't always happen. we have the play kitchen plus hteir little table and chairs in the living room, where they can color and play board games. but besided that I found its best if htey just play in the bedroom this way you have at least one room that can stay a little less cluttered and you may feel a little more relaxed.

SingALong

Mon, Jan 01 2007, 9:51 pm

I found great ideas and prorducts on websites that sell oganization stuff. one thing I found useful was an undersink cabinet shelf that went around the pipes. also, these sites give good ideas. try googling organize-it, organize everything, stuff like that and see what comes up.
good luck!

queen

Mon, Jan 01 2007, 11:14 pm

Firstly, give yourself a pat on your back, as it's not easy being in your situation! (I know you think you don't have a choice, but I'm sure your husband appreciates your making the best out of the situation)

My humble adice would be to get rid of whatever you can. Stuff you don't use, have not used, old clothing, broken toys etc.

Good luck, and hopefully tides will change soon and you'll be able to move.

cheerios

Tue, Jan 02 2007, 12:43 am

Quote:

also how many kids per rooms in the apt would you say is the max. like if you have a 4 (med. size)room apt, could you have 4 people= 2 parents+ 2 kids in it? or more?

I think that depends on you as an individual. I have a small 2 room apt. (and if you count the tiny corner that's called a kitchen it would be 3) and I B''h manage with two kids. Yes, they both sleep in our room and that's fine for us. Some ppl. who wouldn't want that would put them into the dining/living room, but we're happy with them in our room. (And yes, we are looking to move.)

Quote:

basically at what point do I throw up my hands and say tough luck we have to move now!!!!

There's a saying in Hebrew that goes something like this: even a huge ballroom is not enought space or enemies, but friends can live on the edge of a sword.
Let's try to enjoy this closeness (me included) and try to do what we can with what we have. Think of the bright side of small apartments: you don't have to climb two flights to get the crying baby, everything is within reach...