DON’T HAVE MUCH STUFF.
That is the easy answer, but sometimes hard in the practicalities of life. But I’ll tell you about a few things that made living in a camper much more simple and doable for us.
1. Have A Place To Store Extra’s
There will always be stuff that you want to keep even though it doesn’t fit into your tiny house. For us the thought of having a bigger house someday made us keep some stuff that we wouldn’t have held onto otherwise. If you have things you want to keep, but don’t use very often, by all means, PUT IT IN STORAGE! It will leave your inside space feeling so much more clean and roomy, while still allowing you to hold onto some of those things you don’t want to get rid of. For us, we had a small storage shed that we used to store our camping gear, dog food, tools, and some books and children’s clothing that we didn’t have room to keep in the camper. This is huge. If you try to fit everything into your small house it will soon feel cluttered, un-managed, and just plain messy. And messy in a small space can quickly drive you nuts!
2. Have What You Use
Go through cupboards and closets at least once every six months (more if you can manage it!) and throw away or put in storage the things you don’t use very often. Don’t keep your dressers full of stuff you don’t need for daily living.
3. Don’t Buy An Item Unless You Have A Place To Store It
Confession; I don’t do very well on this one. Bigger stuff, yes, you have to think it through because there is simply not much extra room in a camper. But little stuff? eehhh. Clothes are especially hard because they take so little space, but they do tend to pile up, and you have to go through them more often and weed out those that you aren’t wearing.
4. Maximize The Space You Have
I love this one. Use hooks! Not only can you make things look very cozy and cabin-like, hooks on the walls can store a lot more besides coats. I have all my pans on hooks here in the motorhome, and I just love it.
You can also use the wall space well by putting up magnetic strips and using those or pin boards to catch stray papers you want to keep, or reminders to yourself.
Mirrors maximize a small space by making it feel larger than it really is.
I like using tubs or baskets to keep stuff contained, accessable, and neat.
5. Keep A Clear Surface Or Two
It is pretty essential for me to keep my counters and table cleaned off. If stuff piles up until I have no empty places, soon my brain starts to feel cluttered too, the walls feel like they are closing in, and there is no room to move. So for the sake of my sanity I have learned to keep things put away. And if there are things like dishes sitting on the counter, I get it dried and in the cupboard as soon as I can.
In a small space nothing opens it up like being able to see an empty surface or two. It keeps your home from having that “too full” feeling.
6. Minimize Toys
If you are a parent, chances are you fight the toy battle just like we do. Toys tend to pile up. Whether they come to you as gifts, or freebies, or that awesome deal you just couldn’t resist. the fact remains. Soon toys get scattered all over the house by those little, pattering, (BUSY!) feet. If you have a big house, especially one with a toy room, this isn’t a very big deal. But in a tiny house it IS a big deal. We soon found that we couldn’t have very many toys around or else we couldn’t walk in our house. So I sorted the toys into two boxes, and we put one into storage. Once a month or so, I trade toy boxes, and Gabe is thrilled to play with his “new” toys.
But honestly, children don’t need that many toys. Just recently we cut some extra foam off the pad on our mattress and Gabe played happily with it all morning. It was first a scarf, then a bridge, and finally a truck. Imagination thrives where there aren’t many toys to play with.
7. Learn To Get Along
Your relationships with the people who share your tiny house are Very Important. Small spaces are stressful to relationships. When Andy and I moved into the camper, there were only two of us, and we were (and still are) very much in love. Even so, we found that we could easily get frustrated with each other with the obstacles that tiny living brings. We learned that you have to be polite to each other. When you can’t get around each other in the kitchen without someone moving to the side, you learn fast that you either get annoyed, or you just say excuse me and wait till the other person lets you past. That politeness and deference to the other person is something that I’m really glad the camper taught us.
Andy read over this blog so far, and when asked what he would add, he said, “Be in love.” It’s true. You sure don’t need much space when you love the person you live with. 🙂