os storage

doddsy · 17 April 2006 at 6:25PM

We went to a car boot this morning and got 8 preserving jars and another demi john. On the way back I called in for more milk for hm yogurt and it got me thinking. What do you os'rs do for storage????

My utility room has b/m, s/c, y/m and micro lined up on one side with bottles and jars above. The understairs cupboard has the large containers of vinegar, gloop, more jam jars, pickled onions, sloe gin. Upstairs I keep bogofs in large plastic boxes with lids under the bed, beside boxes with all my craft stuff in. I have a large chest freezer as well, but I really could do with a garage or shed for potatoes etc. My little kitchen is bulging at the seams!!

thriftlady_2 · 17 April 2006 at 6:47PM

I am lucky in that my garage has a door from it to the kitchen.So,just inside the garage I have wall shelves with all my jam jars,jams,jellies,marmalade and chutneys.There's also a large sack of spuds, a basket of onions,cooking apples,a 10 kg bag of basmati rice and a small chest freezer.I have another small freezer in my utility.We hope to replace the two freezers with a large chest freezer soon.

I keep all my baking supplies in 4litre ice cream tubs in a wall cupboard.I have quite good cupboard space in my kitchen because I don't have a dishwasher or tumble drier.I have a very big fridge.

The cupboard under the stairs which is also in the kitchen, houses our paper recycling box.When we get our new freezer I shall have room in the utility for paper recycling.

squeaky · 17 April 2006 at 6:53PM

There are several different threads on containers... the longest one is the one in the link:-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=137901&highlight=contain%2A

doddsy · 17 April 2006 at 8:07PM

Thriftlady - your garage set up sounds terrific, I have been a bit shortsighted I think because I have an allotment for the first time this year, and I won't have the space to store all the potatoes and onions I'm planning on.

I also do not have a td or wm, but cupboard space in the kitchen is very limited, my worktops are groaning!

Prudent · 17 April 2006 at 8:11PM

I don't have a very big kitchen -or much other storgae around the house. I got a loft ladder put in plus loft flooring and lighting. I have a shelf unit in my loft for all the bogofs, reduced items which can be stored for a while. Cat food gets stored in the garage.

Aril · 18 April 2006 at 1:52PM

If you can get to it there's a lot of storage under the bath. OH made me a new bath panel which splits and is held up with magnetic strips. Each section has a handle for ease of removal.
Aril

moggins · 18 April 2006 at 1:59PM

I do have a cellar but it's very damp and you have to be very careful what you put down there, it would be great for growing mushrooms though

RacyRed · 18 April 2006 at 2:47PM

This thread got me thinking. I live in a small flat in the middle of a city with virtually no outside space, no garage or shed. I have 5 usable standard storage cupboards in my kitchen, an airing cupboard (stuffed) and that is about it other than the usual wardrobes, under-bed storage etc.

As we are tied to the city because of our jobs. Our flat has some advantages, like being incredibly conveniently situated and having the most fantastic views over the Thames Basin from huge windows, so we have decided to stay where we are for the time being rather than face massive commutes to work each day (I'm talking 3 hours minimum here instead of the 45 or so we currently have ).

As with so many city dwellers, my "living footprint" on the planet is quite small, but that has meant having to compromise with what I can and cannot do re OS living.

We do tend to be fairly ruthless about not hoarding stuff, but are still trying to work out how to keep some lovely furniture and similar we do not want to part with but have no space for in the flat. We have a small storage room we hire for this, but this year's target is to reduce the need for it to nil or at least to a smaller one.

I have recently begun to reorganise the entire flat to try to make better use of space. Our guest bedroom has gone now, we calculated that it made economic sense to use local B&Bs for guests (we pay) instead of having about 1/5 of our usable space "waiting" to be used. Sounds a bit unsocial I know, but it works for us and our friends and family understand.

So what was the guest bedroom is now the "technology" room. As well as the computer and other electrical equipment it houses the 4 drawer metal filing cabinets I use to store out of season clothes, bulk bargain buys of loo roll, flour etc. Soon I will be squeezing a small chest freezer in there too, as I am finding that batch cooking is very economic but I need more freezer space. I'm considering adding a shelf of some sort in there to store my BM, SC and grill as there is simply not room in the kitchen. One of the bits of furniture I want to keep may be adapted to help with this.

Aril, your under bath storage sounds great! I have often wondered how I could use that space.

So the urge to do something OS is, for me, sometimes over-ridden by practicalities of space.

needmoney · 18 April 2006 at 2:51PM

RacyRed my daughter has just done away with her guest room too and made it into another bedroom and used the smaller one for the computer etc. They too claculated the time it was used for guests was not worth it.

1sttimer_2 · 18 April 2006 at 3:03PM

You sound very well organised RacyRed - We live in a huge old house with 5 bedrooms and there is only 3 of us live here, and we STILL don't have enough storage space!

I think the only way I would have some was to put my OH in storage for a while till I clear all the (his) junk out of the house LOL. He is trying to do his best by 'allowing' me to move things from one room to another so I can decorate! It only packs up the other rooms, but I plan to buy a new sideboard/beauru for the hallway so I'm trying to say to him that if something comes in, then something goes out! It falls on deaf ears tho as he thinks whatever you get rid of you will need it immediately after! He did agree to selling an old wardrobe tho - so he's moving in the right direction.

Although the house is big, it's the rooms that are big, there is no natural storage spaces due to the house style. There are no alcoves as the chimney breasts are built on the outside. There is no larder or cistern cupboard but we do have a garage under the house which (besides holding a very redundant car) is damp so wouldn't be very useful.

This post is not really storage friendly but I will have to show him this thread to see what he says!

Bargain_Rzl · 18 April 2006 at 4:32PM

I really understand where Racy is coming from. I've never had much space - I've lived in student bedsits and house-shares all my adult life and am hoping to buy a small flat next year (probably studio with partitioned bedroom). So I just can't have that much stuff.

Until last March I rented a self-storage unit which cost me about £30 a week :eek: I originally got it because my current accommodation was originally supposed to be very short-term (I've been there nearly 4 years!) but it took me nearly three years and four grand down the drain before I realised how little of the stuff I needed. I could kick myself when I think that if I hadn't wasted all that money, I might be able to afford my own place now rather than next year :doh:

Currently I have partial use of a loft, and my (very cluttered) bedroom uses every inch of available floor space. If the bedroom was better laid out (for example if half of one wall wasn't occupied by a cupboard with the boiler in) I could fit more stuff in. Also if I thought I was going to be there much longer I'd put some shelves up above my digital piano, to hold books and sheet-music.

To be honest the thing I'm really looking forward to about getting my own place is the amount of space I'll have in the kitchen cupboards and freezer - even in a flat as titchy as the ones I've got my eye on

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os storage

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