This month I am starting a Big Family Logistics series, and I am VERY excited about it. Often times we get asked NUMEORUS questions concerning how we make it work with so many kids. How can we afford them? How we get anything done? etc. I wanted to take some of the reoccurring topics we get asked and explain how we realistically make life happen with a big family. I hope you enjoy reading this Big Family Logistic Series. Now let’s dive into Part One of our Big Family Logisitics Series, how do we make space for everyone?
Make the Flow of Your House Work for You, NOT the Other Way Around
As you will see we have moved MANY times over the years. With Sam working retail his company transfers him roughly every year or two to help clean up and improve sales at a store that is doing poorly. We enjoy the moves because they are fun new adventures for our family. Because we are constantly moving ever few years, we have adopted the idea to make the space in your house work for you. Not against you. Whether you are in a three-bedroom apartment or home you may have to make the best of the space you are in at the time. This may mean going minimal-ish, rethinking the bedrooms or even the flow of your home. Below are the many ways we have been creative in making space for our growing family without adding more bedrooms.
Making Space in the Master Bedroom
For over 5 years now we have consistently had a baby, toddler or sometimes a combination of the two in our Master Bedroom. While this may sound crowded, it is not as bad as it seems. Our room contains a Queen Bed, Bassinet for the newborn, and Crib for when the baby is older. We do have a small Hutch for baby’s clothes and small Rocking Chair in our room as well. Over the years depending on the size of our room we have also been able to have a Dresser, sometimes with a TV sitting on top, or End Table squeezed in there as well.
When Olivia was born, Sam and I were living in a one-bedroom apartment. We created a space just for her in a corner of our bedroom. This was our “nursery space” until we moved to a two-bedroom apartment when she was almost a year old. With each new baby that we have added to our family, we forgo having a Nursery. Our babies tend to stay in the Master Bedroom with Sam and I until they are at least one or 18 months old. Then they move into the Girls or Boys Room.
Making Space in the Girls’ Room
For our Girls’ room we have tried a few different arrangements over the years. Typically, it has doubled as a Guest Bedroom. Whether that be having our older Girls bunk in there with Olivia when they are home. At other times if my Mom is staying to help me postpartum, she will stay in whatever spare bed is available.
For a while the Girls’ Room contained a Bunkbed with a Trundle and a Crib that Olivia slept in until she was almost two years old. A few years ago, we switched over to matching Twin Beds with one containing a Trundle underneath. With nothing but boys being added to our family over the years this setup has worked well so we have yet to rethink or change it.
Making Space in the Boys’ Room
When I was pregnant with our second boy, Luc, we move into a three-bedroom apartment. We decided it was time to have a Boys’ Room with Wyatt as the first occupant. Luc stayed in our Master Bedroom from birth until shortly after his first birthday. Over the years we have added Luc, Asher, and recently Anderson made his way into the Boys’ Room as well. Here are a few different ways we have made this space work for our growing family over the years…
First Boy Moves In
When Wyatt was only about 6 months old he became the first boy in the Boys’ Room. At that time there was only a crib in the space because we gave him the smallest room in our three-bedroom apartment.
Second Boy Moves In
Luc joined him a year and a half later and took over the Crib, so Wyatt moved into a Toddler Bed. By this time the Boys’ Room was slightly larger as we had moved into a three-bedroom house we were renting from family.
Third Boy Moves In
A year and a half after Luc moved into the Boys’ Room Asher joined them. At this point we needed to expand to Bunkbeds and a Toddler Bed as the boys were now 4, 3, and 2 years old. The Boys’ Room would have been too tight for two Twin Beds and a Toddler Bed in it, as we had just moved yet again after a job transfer. This time into another three-bedroom house in a different state.
Fourth Boy Moves In
Now, two years later, and within the past few weeks, we added Anderson to the mix. So, now the Boys’ Room contains his Crib along with a Twin Bed and set of Bunkbeds. In our most recent move, we gave the larger room to the boys so they could all fit. We are now able to fit so much in the Boys’ Room. In a few months Micah will outgrow his Bassinet and need to be moved into the Crib. When we shuffle everyone around again, we may part ways with the Twin Bed and add in another Bunkbed or maybe add a Trundle under the Twin Bed. Having four boys ages 6, 5, 4, and 2 with two Bunkbeds to jump off of and onto, makes me nervous!
Two Boys’ Rooms?
While having numerous Beds in a room at times sounds super crammed remember that we do not have Dressers, Toys, or any extras in there. The boys’ clothes are kept in Bins in their closet. I am also able to store diapers and wipes as well as Clothes Bins of the boys’ hand-me-downs in there too. With the number of boys in our family growing we genuinely hope to expand to 4 Bedrooms one day with two of those Bedrooms being earmarked for boys. Maybe a Big Boys Room and Little Boys Room?
Rethink the Space in Your Home
There will be many times when you will have to get creative and rethink the flow of other spaces in your home to make room for everyone. Below are a few ways we have made that happen over the years.
Rethinking Space in the Dining Room
One way we have been able to rethink the flow of our house without adding extra square footage is by how we use the Dining Room. In one house we rented, the entrances to the Dining Room had doors, so we decided to use it as a Master Bedroom. Then we turned the original Master Bedroom into a Big Girls’ Room. The Big Girls were home most weeks and needed their own Big Girl space from all the Littles. We then used the eat in space in the Kitchen to gather for meals rather than have a traditional Dining Room. Mealtime was tight when the Big Girls were home, but we were happy to be all together. When we made this arrangement to create more space, we had three kids under the age of 3. Plus, the two Big Girls, and another on the way.
In another three-bedroom home we rented in we used the small Dining Room space to create a Home Library/Playroom. This was a space we all LOVED! The Livingroom in this particular house was overly large so we resituated it to make the front of the room the Livingroom. The back half we turned into a Dining Room for our family. During our time in this rental house, we had 4 kids ages 5 and under. Plus, the two Big Girls, and one on the way.
Rethink Space for an Office
When I originally started creating this blog, I thought I HAVE to have an Office Space! Sam was sweet enough to convert our funky Entryway in the house we rented at the time into a small Office for me. Everyone that came into that house usually came through the Kitchen Door leading from the outside rather than the Front Door, so this space was unused. Sam built me a floating desk. Got an office chair, and put up a baby gate so the younger kids couldn’t get in. This space served me well… until we moved. Now my Office Space looks like the Kitchen Island, the Dining Table, the Master Bedroom, a Coffee Shop, etc. I still dream of having a legit Office Space. Though as we have added more children to our family, I have become more laid back about how and where I can get my work done.
Rething Space in the Garage
One of the three-bedroom homes we lived in belonged to family. We often discussed buying the house from them if they were ever willing to sell. However things change, and Sam’s job took us to another state so that no longer was a possibility. During the time we were there we talked about IF we ever did buy the house we would close in the exposed Garage. Then turn it into either a Master Bedroom or large Family/ Dining Room area.
Another home we rented had an unattached Garage. During our time here Sam used it as a Home Gym. This Garage also contained a Loft upstairs. We talked about turning it into a Big Girls Room or Office for myself if we were to stay in that house longer. With a move on the horizon those things did not come to fruition.
Making Space by being Minimal but Not Minimalist
Before the arrive of our second baby, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment. It was much smaller than the previous two-bedroom apartment we just moved out of. I remember once all our stuff had been brought in, sitting in our new Livingroom with boxes surrounding me thinking where is all this CRAP going to go??? Even though we only had Olivia plus the Big Girls who came home a few times a month I began my journey of becoming minimal-ish.
I won’t call myself full on minimalist because I like home decor. We love books. Also, with each passing year we keep adding kids. However, we have learned to make do with the basics and make space for a few fun extras. Living life this way has helped us lived comfortably in spaces of give or take 1300 square feet for our growing family. Here are a few ways we keep things minimal- ish.
Basic Furniture throughout House
We keep the furniture in our home pretty basic. Not only so we can use our space creatively, but we are also able to get by with less space when we don’t have stuff crammed everywhere.
Livingroom Furniture
When you come into our home you will not find a Coffee Table, End Tables with Lamps, or large Plants in our Livingroom. Just your practical Sectional. A Glider Recliner Chair for rocking babies. A TV Stand with a TV. Numerous floating bookshelves on the wall, and a Toy Basket in the corner.
Bedroom Furniture
Peak into the Bedrooms and you will see not everyone has a Dresser. Olivia is the exception and currently has a three-drawer Dresser. For the boys rather than a Dresser they each have two large Wooden Bins, which are stackable, in their closet. Each boy, Wyatt, Luc, Asher and Anderson, has one Wooden Bin that is for Pjs, socks, and undies. The other Wooden Bin is for pants, shirts, and sweatshirts. My Baby has a small Hutch in the Master Bedroom that holds all his clothes.
I use some Drawers that roll out from under our Master Bed to store my clothing. Sam currently has some Baskets and Floating Shelves in our Master Closet that hold his clothes. One way we are able to get by with such limited dresser space is because we also keep clothes fairly basic. Each child has roughly 5 pjs, 5 outfits, 2 sweatshirts, a jacket or coat, and enough undies and socks to get them through a week. We do most of the laundry one day a week with a few loads done throughout the week as needed. This helps having a Capsule Wardrobe for our Family possible.
Homeschool Furniture
Another thing you will not find in our home as of right now is a Desk even though we homeschool. We typically do our schoolwork either at the counter or the Dining Room Table. Now I will say a friend offered to give us a small desk in the next few weeks and we gladly accepted! Olivia does have one of those old school “desks” in her room. This way she can do her independent work or art in her room if she needs space to work in quiet.
Minimal Clothes + Toys
No Limit to Books OR Crafts
Like I mentioned before, we keep clothes pretty basic. Toys is another thing we don’t overdue. We have a Toy Basket in the Livingroom and a Rubbermaid in a spare closet. This contains extra toys that we rotate out from time to time, such as Cars, MagnaBlocks, Duplo Legos, and Lincoln Logs. Olivia is the only one who is allowed to have toys and books in her room. That is limited to some dolls and accessories, Calico Critters, and MagnaBlocks. We do have numerous books that I try to either rotate out seasonally or as I change out the toys. Typically, I rotate out the Toy Basket in the Livingroom on a bimonthly basis. While the toys in the Toy Basket stay the same for a few weeks, we do have different crafts we do day to day. This might be Playdoh, Watercolor Mat, Paints, Mondo Llama Craft Kits, etc.
The reason we have such a simplistic approach to toys is from the book Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by Dr. Kim John Payne. In this book, he has a chapter all about simplifying your kids’ environment. He explains that by doing so you create a space for your children to, “increase their attention and their capacity for deep play.” We have also seen how this cuts down on sibling squabbles and makes cleanup for the kids less overwhelming.
Home Decor is Dual Purpose OR Functional
Most of the Home Decor you will find in our home could be considered dual purpose or functional. We have linen tote bags hanging on a coat hanger by the Front Door. Floating bookshelves in the Living Room. Pitchers above the cabinets in our Kitchen. Hats hanging on the wall in our Master Bedroom. Artwork hanging on twine in the Dining Room. We decorate this way to not only help be creative with storage, but also because we think everyday items make lovely decor.
Share With Us Your Ideas
I hope by now you see that you don’t have to have a 4+ bedroom, three bath, 2000+ square foot home in order to make space for a big family. Are there any other big families out there that would like to share the unique ways you make space for your family? Please do so in the comments.
Curious how we afford a Big Family on a single income? Be sure to check back next Wednesday for Big Family Logistics Series (Part Two)- Let’s Talk Money!
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