I'm being downsized!, What am I going to do...? Options

[Mizukithepanda]

So, for the past nine years, January has been house-hunting month for my family. Every year my parents go out and look at what the market has to offer and see if there's anything around that doesn't completely blow for what we can afford. Anyway, the first day my parents go out house-hunting, they find a place they love and sign the gosh darn contract. Now, this place is "perfect" except for one tiny detail: the bedrooms.

The bedroom I have currently is 11x13 and I'm seriously cramped in it. I only have seven pieces of furniture and they're all necessary - in fact, they're not enough. My closet's pretty full and I even have a giant cabinet full of crap lining the hallway and boxes upon boxes shoved in the garage because I just don't have the room for any of it. In this new house, the largest bedroom aside from the master is 10x11 - a good deal smaller than what I'm already in.

Here's a really crappy picture to show what I mean:

(IMG:http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b55/Mizukithepanda/MizukisRoom.png)

The house itself is only 350 square feet larger than our apartment and there are only three bedrooms. The living area we have, while spotlessly clean, is already jam-packed full of furniture - the 350 extra square feet aren't going to help that much (since the kitchen's about twice the size of what we have, and there's an extra bathroom). Downstairs, we have two whole garages packed ceiling high with crap we can't fit in our apartment as it is.

So... just what the h-e-l-l-o operator am I going to do? Moving out isn't an option for me at the moment, and I can't go any smaller than what I already have and be able to live in it. My parents are aware of this, and they've been trying to think of a solution, but aside from buying me all new furniture (we're talking dresser, bookcase, bed frame, mattress & boxspring, nightstand, and desk) to fit this room - which would cost us money we don't have - there's been nothing that could work.

Any suggestions? I'm kind of desperate.

[Lindstrom]

Sell some of your stuff? Clothes you don't wear as often, books you might not care about anymore, things like that. Though I'm less attached to my belongings than most people probably are so you might be less inclined to do something like that. The nightstand would probably need to go and the area to the left of the bed would have the bed pushed into it. Consolidate stuff on your bookshelf and cabinet and see if you can use one less piece of furniture.

I've always believed that if it's in boxes and you never use it, then you might as well sell it.

[Crystal Talian]

I see you have a desk in your room. Is there maybe someplace else you could put that? I'm guessing you use it to study and stuff, maybe you could do that in a room other than your bedroom?

Other than that, I'd agree with Lindstrom and say to sell some stuff you don't need.

[Mizukithepanda]

I suppose that's another problem - there isn't another room I can put anything in, and I'm not inclined to sell anything since I use everything that's in my room and out in the hallway regularly. Actually, there's a ton of chocolate pudding out in the garage I do need that I just had to put aside for awhile as less important due to lack of space.

The desk is where all of my computer stuff is, and every bit of surface area in my bedroom is covered in necessities. I have to put my tv (as well as other things) on my dresser and I have all sorts of things in (and on top of) my bookcase - I've had to consolidate it several times to fit more stuff and now there's just nothing doing. All of my drawers (including the large ones on the nightstand - which is actually a mini filing cabinet) are full of things I either need or can't sell and my closet isn't full of unused clothing, but rather more stuff that I have to drag out on a regular basis. (I don't think I mentioned this, but my closet's a walk-in...)

Geh. I just don't know what to do. Buying a smaller bed and a narrower, but taller dresser might help matters a bit - as would finding a ceiling to floor bookcase, but that's what I'm trying to avoid...

Another thing that I've been thinking might help is to put in some serious shelving - though it wouldn't help as much as I'd like it to.

Oh yeah, and that cabinet pictured is not the one in the hallway... It's actually a china cabinet chock-full of fragile keepsakes. (Whose drawers and cabinet space are where I put my computer and video game cords and programs and stuff as well as all the books that won't fit in my bookcase, any of the numerous shelves I have, or out in the hallway.) I don't have any other place this can go either. ._.

My room basically functions as its own apartment... I don't spend much time anywhere else.

I think if the new house had an extra living area or something, this wouldn't be so much of a problem, but it doesn't...

[Lindstrom]

We probably have different ideas of what constitutes a "necessity". Only things I can't get rid of are a certain amount of clothes, my bed, a light source, a small set of tools, and all my important documents. Everything else I could live without if I really had to. I don't even have my TV hooked up but I leave it there cuz nobody else has space for it (as a result I store a lot of stuff for other people). I guess that doesn't really help you though. But the truth is that if you don't have the space for it, you don't have the luxury of owning it.

You can have my old bedroom if you want. Kind of a long commute though.

[Zen Clarke]

Here's a really crappy picture to show what I mean:

(IMG:http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b55/Mizukithepanda/MizukisRoom.png)

My room looks like that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lalaeyes.gif) Like, my furniture was like that before my room got a makeover. Eh. I can only give you advice for your current room and how to get more space in there....

[Mizukithepanda]

Yeah, your idea of what's necessary is quite different from mine. Granted, I've always been far more attached to my stuff than most people anyway...

I'm already fully aware that the nightstand will need to go, I've pretty much planned to compensate for that somehow - I'll just have to find more storage for the stuff that's inside it and I guess I'll have to find a new place for my clock/lamp/etc. (If there is one... ._.;) Heh. I can get pretty creative when in a pinch, so I'm not too worried about that... Really what worries me is where I'm going to put my desk and china cabinet. There really isn't any other place for them to go aside from my room, and soon, there won't even be that. :/

*sighs* Anyway, I think I'm gonna try and figure this out myself. If anyone else has a decent idea, they can pm me or leave a comment.