I'm doing it, closing off another room!

I shut off the 2nd bedroom last year to start the journey into downsizing (considering a tiny home as my next move).    

Was reading last night while thinking about the work I need to finish in the main bedroom (flooring, ceiling paint, baseboards) and decided to condense the bedroom into the living/dining space!    Drew out some sketches to see where it will all go.   Gives me an excuse to get rid of the super old destoyed sofa too.    I'm excited about this experiment.

This takes my 672 sqft house down to 432 sq ft of living/heating/cooling space!    

Honestly my biggest concern is my dogs having a quiet private space when they are home alone;  we are pretty urban and that side of the house has some pretty intense dogs and neighbor noise.  Right now they are on the other side of the house from that.   But  at least right now the AC unit isn't in the window so it's a bit quieter.  

You have a great idea for how a person can get used to going from a big house to a tiny house.

The way our house was built was similar to what you are doing now.

Having a Living/dining/bedroom though mine included the kitchen.

We did not go that route though as we made the garage into two rooms, a bedroom, and a laundry room.

We still have way too much stuff.

It is good that we can close the bedroom off because the dog barks at every single noise she hears.  She barks when a plane flies over, when the house pops, etc.

Maybe others will see how you are doing this and do it too.  This idea will be good this winter to save on heating bills.

I have considered putting an ice tent in my double wide   to cool a very small space and to heat a small space.       I also close off rooms but considered what if I make the sleeping space smaller so that I could keep it warmer and spend less....    

Downsizing does have benefits as well as heating and cooling only the area you need.

Long holiday weekend, got everything moved,  the dogs are getting used to sleeping in the living room,  and crating there when I leave.   Tomorrow will be the first long work day home alone for them, but they are doing fine.   The old destroyed sofa goes out to the curb for pick up today.    It needs some tweaking (I don't need 3 chairs in there)  and fiddling with the space for freer movement, but the bedroom is cleaned, the heat is turned off in there, the windows are covered, and I put a weatherstrip on the inside bottom of the door.   Let's see what it does for next month's heat bill, and how stir crazy I get when it's too cold to go outdoors!

I still have a small bookcase "stored" in the bedroom, and clothes in the closet there.   Will think on that.   The idea is NOT using the space at all as though it didn't exit, not keeping "stuff" in it while pretending to live smaller ;)    I COULD put the bookcase on top of the dresser as a type of hutch,  but I don't want to cover the window.   Once the sofa is GONE maybe I'll re-evaluate the layout.   If I moved the table in front of the window,  moved the dresser to THAT wall,  I COULD indeed put the small bookcase on top.    It might even open more floorspace.  

Heather Staas wrote:

The idea is NOT using the space at all as though it didn't exit, not keeping "stuff" in it while pretending to live smaller ;)  

Most people who live tiny have designed it to use every bit of space. If you're doing it with existing layouts and furniture, I can imagine there would be compromises.

However, if you really want to empty a closet and bookshelf, have you considered raising your bed on bed blocks (we do that for some seniors who have lost hip function) and then put storage bins under your bed? Out of season or rarely used clothing can be in bins pushed to the back, and more likely to be needed clothing in bins near the front.

Yeah,  I'd love a self-contained drawer base for the bed platform, that would be excellent use of space and it would also keep the dog hair and dog toys from getting under there as well ;)   Bins I'm afraid would make a housekeeping nightmare, and would be difficult for me to get down and pull out if it were anything regular/daily use.    Good thoughts!  

Maybe I'll keep an eye out on marketplace/craigslist for a bed platform with drawers...  

Heather Staas wrote:Yeah,  I'd love a self-contained drawer base for the bed platform, that would be excellent use of space and it would also keep the dog hair and dog toys from getting under there as well ;)   Bins I'm afraid would make a housekeeping nightmare, and would be difficult for me to get down and pull out if it were anything regular/daily use.    Good thoughts!  

Maybe I'll keep an eye out on marketplace/craigslist for a bed platform with drawers...  

Excellent idea! I love those Ikea daybeds with big drawers (well, the quality is not solid wood but I love the idea). Where I live it is easy to get one second hand. Good luck!