Is Your Growing Family Causing Your Home To Shrink? Use These Tips To Get The Most From Every Square Foot

12 July 2016
 Categories: , Blog


You don't have to follow the popular trend of living in a "tiny house" to experience space issues in your home. All it takes is a growing family, normal amounts of clothing, toys, furnishings and perhaps a pet or two to make the average American home feel as if it is suddenly two sizes too small. For some families, the need for more space will mean buying or renting a larger home, but others may not be willing to take out a larger mortgage, pay higher rent or leave the area where they have made their home. If your family is unwilling to move but in need of more space to be truly comfortable, try some of the following ideas to help make your current home feel much more spacious. 

Store seasonal items off site

In many homes, closets and other available storage spaces cannot be used to their best advantage because they are filled with seasonal items, making it impossible to keep needed items neatly put away. Some of these space hogging items include:

  • seasonal clothing
  • seasonal window coverings, couch throws and decor items
  • seasonal sporting goods, such as football and hockey equipment, skates, water toys and patio furnishings
  • holiday decorations 
  • snow shovels and other seasonal tools and gear

To gain the space that these items take up in your home, consider renting a convenient storage space from Affordable Transfer Co Inc. or another storage space near you. By rotating seasonal items into this type of off-site storage on a quarterly basis, your home's closets, garages and other storage areas will be able to be used to neatly store the items your family currently needs, making your home feel less cluttered and more spacious. To get the most value from your rented storage space, choose one that offers full service options such as home pick up and delivery of your items upon request. 

Establish annual traditions to keep clutter at bay

Some of the clutter that makes a home feel too small is often made up of items that family members have outgrown or no longer want or need. To keep clutter from becoming a problem, consider starting a family tradition of having an annual garage sale to dispose of unwanted items. Add a fun aspect to this by earmarking the proceeds for vacations or other fun activities to be enjoyed by the entire family and challenging each family member to part with as much of their clutter as possible. 

Learn to appreciate manual power 

If your kitchen counters, cabinets and pantry are filled to overflowing with gadgets and small appliances, consider switching out most of them for non-electric kitchen tools, instead. Your hands plus a few pieces of versatile cookware and some good quality knives, wooden spoons, a box grater, whisks and a few other items can be stored in a small space while replacing space-hogging, bulky appliances such as electric griddles, fryers, roasters, food processors, bread machines and many others. 


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