How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

jumblejack

Grey queen, I have the smallest kitchen in the world. I have no access to the back door as that is where the fridge freezer lives. I dint have room (nor the money) for any luxuries other than a washing machine in there. I can't even have a door to the kitchen as it would mean not having the room for wall units.

I recently discovered those metal bars that you can hang butcher hooks on from ikea. I have them under my 3 wall units and now all my cooking utensils and cups are rehomed which has freed up a bit of drawer and cupboard space.

I would also like to utilise the bit of space above my cooker but the gap is too narrow for those metal racks that pans go on from ikea, ggrr. Will keep my peeps open though as this would free a lot of space under my sink!

Hope it helps!

BitterAndTwisted

It's occurred to me that there could be plenty of "dead space" up at the top of walls where they meet the ceilings which could take some cupboards or shelves to be fixed up there, even if they were only a foot high or less and had to be hinged horizontally. I have my ironing-board hanging up on the wall in the boiler-cupboard in the kitchen along with a few other things like a bucket and the dustpan-and-brush.

The nine inch space on top of my kitchen cupboards is stacked with goodies from Approved Foods. I really need a little kick-step to access them more easily.

MaLarkin

This question of storage is one we all seem to find a problem.

I'm lucky in that I do have a garden and later this year OH is supposed to be starting work on a summerhouse for me. The idea is that it will be somewhere for me to do my sewing. I love to sew but it drives me crazy when I have to put everything away because we need to use the table for a meal. It's going to be properly insulated so hopefully I will be able to use it in all but the coldest weather.

Question is could I store food in there or would the extremes of temperature. (sunniest corner of the garden) be too much for it?

Also someone was talking yesterday about storing eggs. I have read (years ago so can't remember where) that people used to store eggs for winter by coating them in melted wax and storing them in trays of fire ash. Makes sense I suppose because you would be excluding the air which should preserve them. No idea how long for. Assume ashes were just a handy soft bed to stop them being broken.

de1amo

i just paced out the lenght of my place--its 23 paces long and 4 paces wide x 2 floors- is that 184metres square----i know the kitchen is proportinally small at 3 x 3,5paces.--most places here are sold by square meter and it is usually on the deeds but for some reason i seem to be logged as the whole block's square meterage.--on top of the 184m there is a storage room the size of a garage so enough for DHs junk lol

i am going off buying a holiday home--money would be tight if i dıd and i feel a little insecure at the moment.-places in the city are much bigger than holiday homes--they are like uk proportions!

Softstuff

I think the key to living in a small space is quite simply having less "stuff". Hubby and I wouldn't move into a bigger place even if we could, the only dream we might have one day is building our dinky unit on its own piece of land.

When people start looking for "storage solutions" it occurs to me it's generally a bit easier to get rid of the stuff instead. If we tried to cram a normal home with its normal contents in here we'd be living in hell. If something isn't used for 6 months in our house (barring the Xmas tree) it's gone. If I purchase a replacement for something, I get rid of the original. We have a one in one out rule.

These are a few ideas from us, if they'll help: CDs and DVDs go into folders rather than keeping the entire case. I'm currently going through the few recipe books I own (most I get from the library, these were found in charity shops) and copying out the recipes I will actually use before sending them back to the charity shop. I don't feel a need to have many books given the information available online and the joys of the local library. Photos have been scanned and are now stored digitally (with a back up). I only keep clothes the size I am, it prevents me returning to the size I was. We own 2 changes of bedding, so I can swap between them and 2 sets of towels, anything else would just be wasted storage.

I'm a bit fanatical about living with less. And actually enjoy reducing what I own. But then I always was a freak :rotfl:

maryb

I have a length of worktop cut in half along its length so that it is not very deep running down the long side wall of the boxroom I use as a sewing room/study and a full depth worktop at right angles to it across the shorter wall of the room (not much wider than the window - the whole room is really a glorified cupboard). The narrow bit of worktop is just the right depth for my laptop and a filing tray so that keeps the main bit of worktop clear for working on. Under the narrow worktop I have a shelf that is about 8" deep and on that I have several of those mini chests of drawers that IKEA sell. They store all my sewing things and are fairly easy to get at but it doesn't stop me using the narrow worktop as a desk, just digs into my knees if I sit too close.

I like to be able to sew if I need to without having to spend hours setting up - it means I can deal with repairs etc almost instantly plus I have almost everything I need already to hand because I save all sorts of bits and bobs that might come in useful and that has saved me a tidy sum over the years. But I don't have the room for a separate sewing room and home office (aka junk room as far as the DDs are concerned)

MaLarkin

Hi softstuff

That must be a very "freeing" way to be. Not for me I like my stuff around me.

Do you stockpile food at all then?

Softstuff

MaLarkin wrote: »

Hi softstuff

That must be a very "freeing" way to be. Not for me I like my stuff around me.

Do you stockpile food at all then?

It's also very easy and quick to clean! I do have some food stockpiled (I had more before then end of last month, it was a tight month). I tend to have enough to feed us well for 2 weeks, and interestingly for another 2, so a month at a push. I turn it over pretty regularly. Most of it stays in the kitchen, but I also have a kitchen overflow in the wardrobe (our kitchen is very tiny, I have 1 hob working!).

lostinrates

Oh dear, have I got interested in another fast moving thread? Barely time to think today let alone catch up on a weekend's worth of posts.

Having no boiler any more has meant no more clearing up leaks all day which is wonderfully liberating, but I'm getting worried quickly about next winter. I'm planning on buying several tonnes of wood for next winter in lat spring/early summer. we have a little well seasoned stuff left, though its all very small and a dry barn to store in. Next winter we'll hopefully have a woodburner in the room that's now the kitchen bit will be the study. we'll have loads of wood in three winters time: we took down sixty trees after moving in, but they are all resinous leylandeii so need to season for AGES.

I have eggs hatching this morning....some under a hen some in an incubator....in the incubator it looks so far like one boy and one girl.....I hope we don't have lots of boys. I've promised some girls to an MSE chum and chicken keeper so after after this lot are hatched the incubator gets disinfected and turned back on again. My hens laid all winter its NOW we are low on eggs as I am trying to get incubator batches together got a couple trying to go broody with this spring weather. In real old style we are trying to make everything work to supprt itself, we're holding our first ''event'' fr our business in April and desperately trying to turn the place from tumble down to presentable on the outside in what feels like no time, while trying to get a garden going to feed us and doing repairs to patch the house up.

Mornings like this what I'd do for very non - old style landscapers, building teams and cleaning crew!

SD-253

kezlou wrote: »

Oh and wilko's has some really good deals regarding hime brew, water butts etc Think i saw a tap (for a barrel) for about £v1.75.

We pay £24.75 for xxl broadband and phone, then i think it goes up to £36 after 6 months for the next 12 months.

Wilkos appears to be good for just about everything plastic bins, seeds you name it.

For broadband and phone (with free calls including 0845 and I think 0870 at night and weekends) then I think it will be hard to beat Plusnet at £21.24. This is my monthly charge and is not a special offer. You can also get some quite large payments if you get other people to change. There is a limit on how much bytes (can not remember the technical term) you can use but unless you down load large files you will never come anywhere near it.
PS no Indian call centres although understanding the Yorkshire accent can be just as difficult!! they are not reading from script.

Now this is not a big money saver but is everyone aware that if you cannot get natural gas where you live then you are still entitled to the dual fuel reduction that people get when they buy both from the same company?