Organized Tiny Living

When living in a small space, one can not keep everything they had in their 2000 sq foot space from before…there are a few things to consider.

What do I need to live?  What do I need to live comfortably?  What are my necessities?  If at first you do not know what exactly it is that you are going to need in the tiny home, bring it, and once you have sorted through what you thought you needed you can downsize the stuff again.  When we were moving out of our house, we put all the stuff we believed we needed with us in the RV (AKA “the tiny home”) there wasn’t even a spot to sit down!  We went through the stuff again and decided carefully if we could part with it or we should find a home for it in the tiny home.  The stuff we didn't need was either stored, donated it or went to one of our sons.  Then we went through everything again a third and fourth time and still found more stuff we could part with.

If you have trouble parting with particular items, maybe storing them somewhere for when you live in a bigger space is a solution or if you know in your heart you need to relinquish that item, but you are having a hard time letting it go, take photographs of those things and make yourself an album that you can look at those special things when you want to.  For example, Dan had a number of trophies he won from fishing that he took photos of.  He then gave the trophies back to the organization he won them from to recycle and make new trophies with them.  This is an excellent way to help with parting with these particular items.  People have done this with their former residences, fine china, knick knacks, and decorative items that they want to remember.  I now take photographs of special greeting cards I receive from friends and family,.  This helps me with not accumulating paper, but I can look at the photo and reread the card whenever I desire.  This is an excellent tool that will really help anyone that is struggling with the downsizing process.

Spaces available in the “Tiny Home” and how to maximize them…

Most RVs actually have quite a bit of storage already, but there are ways you can maximize that space as well.  Adding shelving into larger cabinets works great.  Splitting the cupboard in two can really maximize space and also make things easier to find.

Bunk beds that were once used by our two sons and became useless space are now turned into storage spaces.  Our “pack and play” is a storage space that is accessed from the outside of the unit and the lower bunk would fold up to accommodate lawn chairs, tables, a barbecue, ground mat, etc while traveling and upon set up of the unit and removal of the stuff, the bunk would fold down for sleeping.  Dan eliminated the lower bunk and bought a drawer unit that is normally sold for closet organization and built it into the lower bunk facing the inside of the trailer and sealing off the space from the outside “pack and play”.  This drawer unit has been an excellent space saver and has increased storage and accessibility immensely in itself.

The upper bunk became storage as well and we put a sliding basket on rails towards the back part of the top bunk as it can be very difficult to access.  The basket allows us to more easily get to the stuff we don't need to get to very often, but tucks it out of the way into a space that would otherwise be useless.

Shallow baskets were added under the couch to increase storage as well.

Under the bed, there is storage as well.  To increase the usability of this area, I used a large basket and a large tote to house various items.  I also found shoe hangars that hook around the edges of the box of the bed and keep them out of the way and off the floor.

Multi over the door coat hooks were added to the bedroom and bathroom doors.  A laundry line was put in over the tub for drying wet items.

The key to enjoying living in a tiny space is to maximize storage and be organized.  When you are organized it makes a world of difference and living in a small space becomes completely freeing and easy.