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[Homeschool_Newbie]

What are some of the biggest things that have helped you live in your home with sanity? I am speaking specifically of making things work for large families. One thing I noticed is that houses don't seem " set up" for larger families these days, so we have to come up with our own solutions. One thing I noticed is that I need to have Dh install a much deeper kitchen sink. Share your ideas. What works well for you? Would you ever consider putting an 18 month-2 year old in a bunk bed situation, or is that dangerous?  How about the clothing situation? This is one of the biggest challenges in our home. I am considering putting all 4 of my boys in a room together, and making one of the bedrooms into a " clothing room". ( kind of like the Duggars) I'm just not sure I can have them all in the same room safely..?

[seekingtruth]

Yes...the logistical challenges of large families.  I am still figuring things out and will have to make some adjustments after we move into a smaller home in a couple of months.  Some ideas...

Do you mean putting a small child in the bottom of a bunk bed?  Then I think you should be fine.  Now the top bunk would be another story- unless you have a very agile little one and a total surround on the bed.  We have put little ones together in full size beds to save space- or even a twin with heads at opposite ends if they are really small.

We have had a clothing room for the last 3 years and it has worked well to some degree, but our set up still didn't use the space effectively.  And I have run into more problems with clothes not getting put in the correct place, then put on the wrong child, things not matched, etc.  This isn't always a huge issue, but it can get annoying.  We had most of the clothes hung up.  Have decided I really haven't liked that solution as much as I thought I would. 

What I am doing now is not traditional at all, but it is working well and takes up a very minimal amount of space.  Again, my children are all the same gender, so that does simplify things.  In the past when we would go on vacation, I would pack the clothing by day, not by person and it worked well.  So now I am doing it all the time.  I just got some small boxes and separated their clothing by days.  Their sets of overalls are all together, their swim things, and each days outfits are each in a different box.  Some are just play clothes, some boxes nicer going to town clothes, etc.  The only thing left hanging is nice dresses.  I also have boxes for jammies, socks, panties, extra clothing for little ones that may need to be changed, clothing that is outgrown, things I have picked up that they have yet to grow into, etc.  You can even do this with specialty items like snowboots, hats, and gloves.  These are kept on shelves.  It makes it easier to get dressed each day.   And then the clothing goes back into that box at the end of the day to be washed.  With 6 of them they generate about a load every day or two. 
This has worked well.  I don't have to worry about space hogging dressers (and finding more of them as children are added).  And even if I don't have time to get it all folded at least it is sorted and in the boxes to be worn again. It also makes it easier to really see how much each child has, if I need to put some excess away for replacements or if I need more clothing for a child.  This may change as they get older and take responsibility for their own clothes, but with lots of littles it has really helped.  You could also do it in dresser drawers if you prefer.

Another thing that has really helped me is to have all of their toys contained in one place.  Right now it is a closet with a lock and key on it.  Then I am able to control the flow of toys and games.  I have a box that sits out to catch toys that have been separated from their mates and an old wipe box for game pieces.  I also have a cabinet for art and craft things to keep it in one place and under control.  And then my older girls each have a big plastic tote in which to keep all of their "treasures" that are not on display on a bookshelf in their rooms. 

We also have a buddy system set up similar to the Duggars.  And we have rotation schedules for things like helping mom in the kitchen.  It became to difficult to work in the kitchen with all of them trying to help at once.  So they take turns while the other ones play together close by.  And timers have become indispensable tools in my home.  I use them for a multitude of things!

That's all I can think of at the moment!

[smfmommy]

How about mattresses on the floor and sleeping bags?  Especially when they are small they don't need a full bed all to themselves.

For clothes this is how we keep it manageable.  We have two in each room (we have 5 going on six) and one three drawer dresser in each of the girls room.  I have a larger dresser in the baby room but I keep a lot of the clothes he is about to grow into in the bottom drawers.  So each girl gets one drawer in the drawer for pjs, socks, and underwear.  In the closet we have a sweater holder hanging up for each child.  All their play outfits are folded and in the slots.  We keep their clothes down to 8 outfits or less.  They also have a few church dresses hanging next to the sweater cubbies.  My girls wear clothes more than once before placing them into the laundry (homeschooling allows them to do this without ridicule).  This keeps the laundry monster down a good deal.  It also fits nicely in just half of the closet which allows me to pack the other half with off season clothes and other items I have to store somewhere.  Having full outfits in each cubby also keeps them from wearing outlandishly mismatched clothes like I did when I was little. :-)

We do have a playroom for toys and little to nothing is kept in the bedrooms.  I think the key to a large family in a smaller space is to declutter like mad.  :-)

 

[Homeschool_Newbie]

You ladies have some good ideas!

Seeking truth wrote:

What I am doing now is not traditional at all, but it is working well and takes up a very minimal amount of space.  Again, my children are all the same gender, so that does simplify things.  In the past when we would go on vacation, I would pack the clothing by day, not by person and it worked well.  So now I am doing it all the time.  I just got some small boxes and separated their clothing by days.  Their sets of overalls are all together, their swim things, and each days outfits are each in a different box.  Some are just play clothes, some boxes nicer going to town clothes, etc.  The only thing left hanging is nice dresses.  I also have boxes for jammies, socks, panties, extra clothing for little ones that may need to be changed, clothing that is outgrown, things I have picked up that they have yet to grow into, etc.  You can even do this with specialty items like snowboots, hats, and gloves.  These are kept on shelves.  It makes it easier to get dressed each day.   And then the clothing goes back into that box at the end of the day to be washed.  With 6 of them they generate about a load every day or two. 
This has worked well.  I don't have to worry about space hogging dressers (and finding more of them as children are added).  And even if I don't have time to get it all folded at least it is sorted and in the boxes to be worn again. It also makes it easier to really see how much each child has, if I need to put some excess away for replacements or if I need more clothing for a child.  This may change as they get older and take responsibility for their own clothes, but with lots of littles it has really helped.  You could also do it in dresser drawers if you prefer.

I am a bit confused about what kinds of boxes you use...?

[Homeschool_Newbie]

I think the key to a large family in a smaller space is to declutter like mad.  :-)

smfmommy- I think you are right! This is something I intend to do soon!

One thing I can't seem to get around: If I keep my boys inside all day, they stay clean... and miserable. I like to let them go outside, but my yard is VERY muddy... This means at least 1 set of very muddy clothes every day.

[seekingtruth]

boxes- whatever you can get that is about the appropriate size.  I have some dish pans, some plastic containers that look like little laundry baskets.  I want to get more of these as finances allow.  Diaper boxes would work.  I am actually using some beer bottle boxes at the moment because it is what I was able to get and they are all the same size and have handle holes on each end.    ( It was actually funny to hear one of my daughters try to pronounce the name on the side of one of the boxes)  The plastic ones are more durable and can handle wet clothing, but they cost money.  The hanging cubbies also sound good if you have a place for them.  Sometimes you just have to think outside the box (or in the box) to solve a dilema! 

About the muddy clothes.  I remember someone on here or WTM at some point talking about having a set of carhart type coveralls and rubber boots for their little ones to wear outside.  These were just taken off in a garage or mud room area.  It protected clothing from getting ruined everyday!  And I believe they come in insulated , non insulated and even overall versions for different seasons. Something to consider.  I may have to do this after we move as my girls will be able to go outside more.

[ladyhen]

We had five children in a house that was about 1000 sq. ft.   Pretty close quarters, imo, especially when that oldest boy hit his teen clumsy stage.      

A couple of the best things we did;
 1)  put cabinets in bedrooms; base cabinets so they could use the shelves for clothing and the tops for display and/or a work and play surface.   Shelving above the cabinets for books and toys.
2)  dh built bed frames with extra height so that the space under beds could store full sized plastic tubs. 
3)  we severely limited the amount of toys and clothing available to the children.  (and, yes, homeschool does simplify this option, but can be done with p. school children)
4)  Keep to a schedule on chores.  If the house is clean and uncluttered it is much less stressful to live in.

[SC lady]

CLOTHING STORAGE
One of the things that has really helped with having children sharing rooms (for us) has been to do away with all drawer-type furniture.

Smaller children are constantly tempted to empty the drawers, toss the drawers or over-cram the drawers. This only created another job for me, policing the clothes that had been previously folded and sorted. It also meant that the drawers were often broken by the over-filling OR by little hands investigating how to loosen the knobs (which were then lost). . . . And I nearly had heart failure the day I heard a crash and found a little one beneath the chest-of-drawer he had overturned after trying to climb the drawers (he was okay because it fell against another piece of furniture).

In place of these, there are several solutions. You could have all clothing placed in a central location, but with limited space, there may not be a place available for this.

What we did was to purchase flat plastic bins with snap-on lids. I placed labels on the end (index cards & packing tape) & each child got 5 bins. These are stack-able and take up MILES less space than a free-standing chest of drawers. All 5 bins stacked are 30 inches tall -- side by side, the two stacks are 32 inches wide. Additionally, there are bins made that will easily slide under a child's bed (we use those for toys). We still use the hanging rod in the closet for clothes, but other clothing items all go into the bins, nicely folded and sorted. Little ones can't easily access the bins to toss them. The bins are see-through, so I know if older children have tossed them & catch things before they get too out of hand.

SOCKS 
I have been waging a war on socks for a LONG time. My efforts to keep socks darned, clean, sorted & paired have often placed me at odds with those free-thinkers in my family that think they look just as nice on the ceiling fan or flying across a room.  It's an ongoing process & I have not yet claimed victory, but here are some of the things I do.

Adult socks are marked with an initial or purchased in a style that makes the owner obvious (i.e. mom's socks have pink stitching, dad's have arch support, brother uses crew style, etc.). Children's socks are marked on the toe according to size. This way, if a sock survives one child and is passed on to another, the child just switches color (rather than me trying to remember that the "Ls" now go to the child that has the initial "P").

I wash, sort and fold socks separate from other clothing. Each child has a plastic shoebox for his socks (clear w/ snap-on lid). When I fold socks, I fill the appropriate bin and then put it in the child's room. Widowed socks are placed in a handled cloth bag that sits next to my chair -- their mates sometimes turn up and they are re-united later. After a few rounds of laundry I may use the widows as rags or toss them away. This bag also holds socks with holes. I keep darning eggs, thread and needles in a box near my chair. It gives me something to do when there are spare moments. Surprisingly, it doesn't take much time to darn a small hole once you've practiced a little.

I STILL lose mates to socks, but I've noticed that the number has gone WAY down now that the usual suspects are no longer hunting for a mate in a tossed up drawer. . . I suspect that the family actually likes having socks that match without holes, but they haven't said. In the end, the fact that it saves me time and money (because I'm not hunting rogue socks or socks without holes) makes it worth it (for me). It's just a LOT easier to find footwear on the way out the door now than when everyone was running around grabbing mismatched socks that didn't even fit.

[seekingtruth]

Remembered a few more things.

For kids socks and panties, I mark them with a dot. The oldest has no mark, #2 has one dot, #3 has 2 dots, etc.  It makes it easier for them to know whose panties/socks belong to who and if they get passed down I just add another dot.  I have some socks that have been passed enough that they had so many dots they got turned into smiley faces.

And the learning how to get dressed girls can tell which way the panties go by the dots on the back. 

And now I only buy one brand of socks for DH.  It makes it much easier to sort and match them that way.

Oh and if a child doesn't finish their meal, I use a white board marker to mark the lid of their bowl so that we don't play the "who's food is this" game. Also works great for leftovers.

[InEverything]

This was just the thread I needed!  Please keep the ideas coming ladies!

We have a 1000 sq. ft. home and just three children now.  They share a room.
We get a lot of flack from people.... "isn't that a fire hazard?"  "when are they going to get their own rooms?"  "when are you going to move or add on to your house"?  "what about when they are teenagers"  (this is the question that worries me the most)

Do some of you have more than two kids to a room? What about teenagers?

Right this minute my husband and two boys are building triple bunk beds in the garage!

I am very content with my home but when people start to question me I have allowed discontent/worry to creep in.

Just looking for more encouragement.  I would like to have one more baby at least.

Thank you!

[seekingtruth]

We currently have 5 sharing one room.  And we have place to put them elsewhere if we wanted to.  we did have 3 in one room and 3 in another.  But one of the room stays pretty cold, and the little electric heater is expensive.  So to conserve, I shut that room off and moved 2 of the girls back into the room with their other sisters and the baby (15months) back to my room.  After we move the 6 will be in two bedrooms and the new baby in our room for a while.

So I wouldn't worry about it.  Our modern american perspective of what is "right" is very skewed!  Historically and Globally- only having 3 in one room of a 1000 sq foot home would be considered a luxury!  Yeah for triple bunk beds.   

[denim&lace]

"isn't that a fire hazard?" 

How would it be a fire hazard to bed three children in one room?  Would they put off so much heat as to spontaneously com bust?  Doesn't reason tell you that in the event of a fire, you would only have to scramble to ONE room to save all of the children, rather than multiple rooms?  So wouldn't they be safer in one room than multiple rooms?  

In my opinion our spoiled society has it backwards about teenagers needing their own rooms as well.  Why would a teenager 'need' their own bedroom?  What do they need 'privacy' for?  What would they be doing in there alone that they wouldn't do with brothers and sisters around... maybe teenagers should be REQUIRED to share a bedroom!  They can change clothes in the bathroom.  That takes care of the modesty issue, otherwise, what do they have to hide?

We currently have a three bedroom house.  7 People.  The boys have a bedroom (10yo, 9 yo, 4 month), the girls have a bedroom (13 yo and 2 yo) and the parents have a bedroom.  We plan on having more too!

My grandma and grandpa raised 10 children in a one room shack with a dirt floor.... and NONE of them have done time in prison...    (though a few of them are pretty looney    )

    

[ladyhen]

We have had 4 in a room for a short time, but most of the time it was 3 in a room.  They did fine.  All that the bedrooms are used for in our family is sleeping and dressing.   We don't allow any playing or bringing friends to their rooms. 

I agree about the American society expecting too much 'stuff' and space for children. 

In answer to having teens in the house, it isn't (or shouldn't be) much different.  As they got older (and larger!) they became for responsible, so there was less need for me to help with their chores.   The amount of clothing increased A LOT when our children reached teen age, though.     This only meant getting more creative with clothing storage and usage of the space available.  Our girls were willing to give up some of their floor space for a large wardrobe to hold more of their hanging  clothes and a small dresser to hold hair things, makeup, and precious things. 

Our second child slept in our bed until she was about 4 yrs old (okay, past her 5th birthday  ) and she was willing to tell everyone she met how much she loved sleeping with Mommy and Daddy.   We got pretty tired of the unwelcome comments and instruction we were getting from nearly everybody.  We began to be a little more private about what goes on in our family.  We taught the children that the things that happen in our family are private and that they should come to us if somebody is asking questions. 
Sure made life easier! 

[sohnnenstrahl]

Love it, D&L. My mom as a teenager slept on the back porch, as she had 12 brothers and sisters in a 3-bdrm house. Can't think of any of them who went to prison, either.

When we lived in a 7-bdrm house, we used two bedrooms for six people. All the kids slept in one bedroom.

My cousin has eight kids. 4 girls in one bdrm, 4 boys in another, parents in the other. All bdrms are small there, and bunks are necessary even to fit them in. There is one dresser in each of the kids' rooms.

These "standards" of numbers of kids to a bedroom are indeed a result of American materialistic spoiledness.

Oh, I forgot: When I was a kid, and we went to Grandma's, the one with the 13 kids, most of those kids were still living at home (Mom was the oldest), they crammed as many of us into a bed as would fit, and army cots were permanent pieces of furniture. Those were very happy times.

If there is a legitimate need for privacy, as stated in another post, the bathroom is perfect.

[InEverything]

I love it!!!

You ladies are just the encouragement I needed.  We agree with you wholeheartedly....

Being alone for long periods of time never benefited anyone, I agree.  We also don't allow closed doors, except for dressing.

Thank you thank you thank you! 

[leslieincali]

My friend that has 8 children has something similar to this in her kids closets.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/191-1946872-7360548?ASIN=B000NBT2PU&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B000NBT2PU|6Shelf_Hanging_Closet_Organizer&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B000NBT2PU&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001

Each child has one and their entire outfit including socks and unders go in each bin. They have 2 church outfits each. I think they are on hangers. The out of season clothes are put completely away. I'm not sure what she does about work clothes. I imagine in a tub under the bed. I think I'm going to go to this system. I'll need several grub  outfits to be used for muddy play.(which is anything in out backyard)

[Homeschool_Newbie]

Thank you all for your replies... I am just taking it all in and thinking about which ideas would work best for us. You all are very creative.

[joyfulmarmee28]

We have 10 people living in a house thats just over 900sq feet. The house is about average in size for the area we live in (but not for the no. of people 

We currently have 3 sets of bunks in the biggest bedroom (not much space left after that!). Each has an older child in the top bunk and a younger one in the bottom. our two youngest preschoolers top and tail. This works well in winter as it's only one room to heat with an oil heater. DH and I sleep in what was the living room(right next door to the kids room, so we can keep an eye on them ). Baby sleeps with me or in a pram in our room.
We do get complaints from realatives that the kids should have their own room, or girls should be seperate from the boys. But no offers to help us achieve that. We have talked about adding on but are on a low income and no extra money to achieve this. We do live in the country so the kids have lots of space to run around and get dirty
The kids don't seem to mind too much, but i guess it's just what your used to...

We converted one of the tiny bedrooms into a family wardrobe/library. One wall has a floor to ceiling bookself overflowing with books. The opposite wall we built cupboards with selving to put the clothes. Each child has 3 shelves. We also still use the hanging wardrobe in the main bedroom for anything that needs it like dresses, DH best shirts,etc.

It works ok but we really need to get rid of some more clothes. We seem to have just too many! 

[CKSMOM]

Love this thread ladies. 

[SC lady]

These are ideas I've read about to increase square footage/storage space.

The area above your shower. A shelf of water resistant wood can be placed above the shower. The ones I've read about suggest using cedar slats.

Turn closet space into a sleeping nook. This can be done for a single person with storage above or -- using sturdy shelving support -- as a bunk system for 2 beds that are out of the way.

Create shelving between wall studs. On an interior wall, the studs can be exposed and a shelving unit built that won't take away from the floor space.

Build an exterior shower for use in the summer.

When it comes to fitting many beds and storage, you can get a lot of good ideas by window shopping RV and trailer campers. These beds are braced to the wall on 1 or 2 sides and then supported by storage furniture on the other. It reminds me of berth sleeper cars. An impressive use of space I saw in an older camper trailer was a 4 bunk assembly with a walkway left between. In that space, a wardrobe was built with a hanger bar for clothing as well as shelving. Beneath the lower bunks was storage. In some models, this was made as a triple bunk with the lowest bed at floor level (and no storage beneath). This link has a photo of one such setup:
http://www.kellyhicks.com/26QBBLITZ/BUNKWARDOBE.JPG
and here is an L-shaped configuration that works around windows:
http://www.heartlandrvs.com/media/images/gallery/09%20SD%203300FB%20Front%20Bunks%20&%20Wardrobe_web%20copy.jpg

You may even be able to get the fixtures for these items at RV/Camper supply shops.

  Nice thread!

[AndysJess]

I've seen a bathroom with the shelving between wall studs.  It provided tons of storage space in a tiny bathroom without taking up floor space.  It would work well for bedrooms as well, IMO.

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