5 Ways to Thrive in Your Small Space with Kids

My husband, son, and I share less than 700 square feet. Keeping it orderly requires daily dedication and discipline (especially with a 4-year-old!) but rewards us with fewer expenses and therefore greater financial freedom. We’re part of a larger trend: After years of a “bigger is better” mentality, families across the country are embracing smaller homes to save money, reside in the cities they love, and live more sustainably. Whether you’ve chosen to stay in a small space or find yourself in one just for now, advice from my new book, The Little Book of Living Small, will help you love every inch you’ve got.

No piece of furniture requires more square feet than a bed, so look for one that makes the best use of space, like a loft, storage, or Murphy bed. Andrew Barkan and Polly Hall, who produce children’s music and podcasts as Andrew & Polly, use this unusual stacked-bed setup for their kids, who share one of the two bedrooms in their Santa Monica, California, home. The elder child sleeps in the upper, custom-made bed; the younger one in the lower, made from IKEA components.

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This is a glimpse of our son’s room. It might sound crazy, but we gave him the larger of our two bedrooms so he could have more room to play. Some friends are surprised when they see our setup, but it keeps kid stuff mainly in one room, and my husband and I feel as if we have more adult zones overall.

Live in a warm climate? Leverage your outdoor space. When the Barkan-Halls renovated their California home, they added a full wall of hinged glass doors that open up to a newly built deck they can use most of the year.

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The large kitchen window slides open over an outdoor countertop, giving the family another fun way to serve everyone. To stretch the season, you can use your own patio; consider adding an outdoor heater to warm up the spot.

When I couldn’t find what I needed to fit the narrow spaces on either side of our bed, I had floating nightstands made by the Etsy vendor TimOBrienWoodworks. Wall-mounted lights keep the tabletops clear. We store our clothes in the bed’s built-in drawers and use small baskets under the nightstands as hampers.

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When the Nielsen family moved from Salt Lake City to Manhattan for work, they invested in an Oeuf bunk bed to create a cozy sleep spot for each child.

Professional organizer Shira Gill, of Berkeley, California, chose an L-shaped sofa to make efficient use of her living room. The bonus: It creates the illusion of a foyer across from the front door even though there isn’t one. The round coffee table has a small footprint, as does the backless settee at the far left, which offers additional seating for guests when they come over.

This article originally appeared in Parents magazine's May 2020 issue as “Big Ideas for Small Spaces.”