Space planning on steriods

My home is just about the right size for a family of four. While I love my cohabitants dearly, they are all of the male persuasion, and they band together to create a home that is dirty, cluttered, and urine-soaked on the best of days. Inspired, I cleaned out the front hall closet this week, and collected items to give away, including a pair of too-small toddler cleats that Boy #2 is finished with, a couple of pairs of old running shoes, and a tunnel. Boy #1, the oldest, is in the process of sowing the seeds of becoming a world class hoarder. Unfortunately for me, he caught sight of the giveaway basket, and lay on the floor howling over the fate of aforementioned cleats and tunnel.

Mind you, he is nearly 10. Can he even fit through the tunnel anymore? He could nary venture to squeeze a big toe into those cleats, but he is intrinsically attached to anything and everything that has been a part of his life. While the boys are out, I constantly troll the house for things to give or throw away, lest our somewhat spacious home become overrun with piles, stacks and junk. Which begs the question...what do you do when your living space is barely big enough for your family? What do you do with your stuff?

I think about cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Bangkok, where space is at a premium, and whole families live in one or two rooms. Residents in those cities are likely more practiced at taking care of their space because there just isn't room for clutter in a small apartment or house. I spent a year in the countryside of Japan living in a two room house with another person. Every night, we rolled out the futons in the "bedroom", and every morning, we rolled them back up and stored them in the closet. The washing machine was outside the sliding glass back doors, and the kitchen had a small, two burner stove. Pillows became multi-purpose -- chairs during the day, headrests during the night. And the sink was built right into the toilet.

It was, in fact, the Japanese that invented the capsule hotel. Hop on into the pod and have good night's sleep. Claustrophobia, anyone? This is space planning on steroids.

I think you learn to fill up the space that you occupy, and if you run out of room, just send your stuff on out to the pachinko graveyard.