5 ways to make a small home work for a big family

With house prices climbing and wages stagnating we are all forced to make smart choices when it
comes to the family budget.  Years ago families would have looked to purchase a bigger home as
they added more children to their family, in 2019, this is not an option for many.

In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the smart ways to make a small home work for a large
family.

1) Separate the rooms.

If you have more than 3 kids it can be challenging to fit them all into a small home, but the best way
I have found is to separate the boys and the girls into separate rooms.  The reason for this is that
when you have boys and girls in the same room they are going to argue over the decoration of the
room and the space required for their toys.

Separating boys into one room and girls into another will still give them the illusion of having their
own decorated bedroom, and they can all share the same toys rather than getting boys and girls
toys mixed up causing drama.

After separating the rooms I would recommend installing some bunk beds.  Bunk beds are a great
space saver and you can even get them with double beds at the bottom and a single on top, the
double bed is perfect for fitting 2 smaller children in, while your older child can go on the top bunk.

2) Invest in functional furniture.

Having a small home with a large family is going to cause some problems, the biggest being space. 
You can help your situation out by investing in functional furniture that has inbuilt storage.

Instead of buying a dining table with 6 chairs you could opt for a smarter choice and invest in two
benches.  Benches often come with storage underneath them and can give you extra storage while
still looking stylish.

You can opt to make these choices throughout your home too.  In your bathroom you could choose
to install towel radiators which hold your radiators instead of putting them in an ottoman, this frees
up room and also gives you lovely warm towels.

3) Get rid of furniture that's not needed.

As your family expands you are going to need more furniture, but in my experience families buy
too much furniture and their homes become overcrowded.  My advice would be to either sell
furniture that doesn't get used much or put it into storage for the time being.  Self-storage can
be a great space saver for growing and large families.

I used self-storage when my first child was born as we couldn't afford to move home at the time
and all of our rooms were full of baby equipment.  Self-storage allowed us to store some of our
larger furniture until our baby grew older and didn't need as many large items.

4) Give clothes to charity.

Clothing is one of the biggest killers of space there is.  It doesn't matter how organised you are,
your clothing seems to creep up on you and take over your home.  

Not only does having too much clothing take up room in your home but it also makes your life a
living nightmare when you have to get your children's clothes ready and you have a top that's
4 months old and bottoms that are 2 years old in the same drawer.  

To keep on top of having too much clothing I would recommend either selling your clothing
online or giving it to charity if you can afford to.  Not only will your home thank you for it but
you will also be helping others out who are not as fortunate as you.

We now give all of our clothing to charity after 6 months of usage.

5) Get creative with spaces.

In a small home, you have to be smart with everything you do, otherwise, it will become a dump
that will make you anxious and unhappy.  Being smart and creative with your rooms is a great way
of having more space in your home.  

One way of being creative in your home to free up space by using furniture of different shapes to fit
the rooms you have.  Instead of having rectangular basins in your bathroom you could opt for round
ones, this may seem silly but the lack of edges makes the room feel larger and it makes the room
easier to navigate around.

You should also look to fill any alcoves that are not in use.  Alcoves can offer vital storage space for
books and other children's toys, just don't overdo it because you could clutter your home worse than
before.

Conclusion

Living in a small home as a big family can be difficult, but it can be done.  I have lived in a 3 bedroom
property for years with my partner and 3 children and by making the choices above our home is more
than big enough.

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