Space saving techniques

Because we have limited space, we have to be creative with how we use this space.  It's important to me to have the things I need, but to fit them in the space we have.  Here are some things we have done so far to best use our tiny bits of space.

We bought this really cool set of pots and pans.  It has 3 pots, a soup pot, a frying pan and two lids that fit everything.  It fits into less than a cubic foot of square space.  The handles are removable and they are nice heavy duty pots and pans.  Instead of taking up an entire cabinet, my pots and pans now take up a very tiny bit of space.  Best pot and pan set I have ever had...love this...I wish I would have had this for years even when I had more space.

Here is all our dishes.  Everything we eat off of fits in this little cubby.  We have plates, cups, bowls and even little bowls for dipping sauces and it all fits right here.  And if Ken and I gave up our favorite ceramic bowls with handles it would fit even better.  But we like them too much. 

A few months before we moved we bought these cheap plates for everyone.  I used nail polish to put names on the back.  You could only use your stuff and if it was dirty come meal time you could wash it or starve.  It took about 3 days to get everyone in the groove of washing their own dishes right after a meal.  The nail polish has chipped off the backs, but now everyone is used to washing as they finish so it's not been an issue.  The same goes for silverware.  The drawer is set up by person, not by utensil.  There is no need for extra utensils, but we do have a set in the back in case we have guests.

Here is our command center.  This is where the love seat was.  That got ditched right away because this was more important to us.  It's still a work in progress, but a ton is stored in this little bit of space.  The next goal is to get everyone's computers changed to laptops.  This will create a lot more space and flexibility.

One of the chairs is a charcoal storage box that we use to store cat food.  Right now her cushion is a blanket, but when I have time I am going to make her an actual cushion.  I didn't have a place to store the cat food bin and people started sitting on it before we got folding chairs...so it was decided it would do double duty permanently.

Extra toiletries are stored outside in these bins.  We figured it doesn't matter if toilet paper and razors experience freezing or boiling hot temps.  This way we can still stock up at Costco.

When it gets warmer consistently we are going to make a cute patio area outside the door here instead of broken stepping stones and an empty bird feeder.  Currently we are rocking the trailer trash look :)

We even found flat hangars at Ikea.  This way we can fit more clothing in our closet.  It's all about the little things.

Before we moved we took all our DVD's and computer games and threw away the boxes.  We put them in paper sleeves and now store them in these two black boxes (in alphabetical order of course).  This saves us many shelves of space.  

I feel like I haven't had to give up anything important.  I have everything I need, just a little more compactly. Although I am constantly on the lookout for better ways to store stuff. 

Now I need to go do a deep clean of the RV...I will be back to writing again in about 10 minutes :)